Loyola’s Crane Named Yeardley Love Unsung Hero Award Winner

BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland men’s lacrosse player Jason Crane (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake High School) has been named the 2013 male recipient of the Yeardley Reynolds Love Unsung Hero Award, the One Love Foundation announced today.

Crane joins the University of North Carolina’s Zoe Skinner, the female award winner, as this year’s honorees. Now in its third year, the award celebrates selfless acts of initiative and commitment performed by Division I lacrosse players.  The duo are being awarded based on their exceptional dedication, integrity, humility, hard work, community service, leadership, kindness and sportsmanship, traits Love exemplified on-and-off the field.

In January, Crane organized a trip to Newtown, Conn., with teammates to put on a lacrosse clinic for youth players in the town affected by the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Crane gathered many of his teammates, and they departed Maryland, or their homes as it was during Christmas break. A total of 14 Greyhounds gathered in Newtown to lead a clinic in the town where 26 adults and children were killed just weeks before.

Crane reached out to Jim Wallace, the Coach Training Coordinator for the Newtown Lacrosse Association, and Wallace invited the Greyhounds to lead the clinic. The clinic drew more than 100 Newtown youth players, ranging from third through eighth grades, despite the fact that Crane and the Greyhounds put their plans together in less than a week prior to coming. At the clinic, the Greyhounds taught lacrosse skills and team play, as well as interacted with the kids on the field.

“In recruiting, it is hard to measure the intangibles of a player, but we recognize that we hit a home run athletically and intangibly,” Loyola Head Coach Charley Toomey said. “The initiative and leadership skills that Jason showed in organizing this were incredible, especially considering he was only a freshman at the time. The relationships we have developed with the families from Newtown are ones that we will continue to hold close for years to come.”

Wallace added, “Jason knew that words were not enough, and he took action. His action brought smiles and laughter to our community; I can’t begin to tell you the importance of that. Jason and his teammates didn’t just run a lacrosse clinic, they brought hope to our community. He is the kind of student-athlete that you want your child to look up to and to emulate. We will always be thankful to Jason for what he did for our community during our darkest hour. Jason has shown us that good can come out of tragedy, and what great people do without being called upon to help: to take matters into their own hands to provide comfort. He has inspired us to find the good, to remember that people care and that there is good in this world.”

Since then, Crane and many of the players kept in regular correspondence with the Newtown youth, and more than 100 residents of the town attended Loyola’s April 13 game against the University of Denver at Ridley Athletic Complex where they took in a tour of the facility, watched the game and then played on the field with the team after the game.

“Jason’s compassion and enthusiasm to help those around him truly embodies the shared memories of Yeardley and she how gave herself to others without asking for anything in return,” said Jeff Tousignant, Newtown Youth Lacrosse’s president. “His offer to help our community and rally the support of his fellow teammates to visit our children in their darkest moment brought smiles to their faces and those of their families; it helped put laughter back in their voices.  It is something our children and parents will never forget.  I could think of no finer person to receive this wonderful award.”

Sharon Robinson, Love’s cousin and a member of the award’s selection committee added, “We are so impressed with both Zoe and Jason and are proud to celebrate the positive influences that each of them had on their teams and on the community at large. Like Yeardley, they both epitomize the goodness in collegiate athletics which is sometimes overlooked in our society.  They are amazing student-athletes and we salute them for their humble leadership.”

As a freshman long-stick midfielder, Crane played in 12 games this season, picking up five ground balls and causing a turnover.

The winners were chosen from a pool of applicants nominated by either a coach or person associated with Division I lacrosse programs throughout the United States.  The award’s selection committee highlighted 10 finalists (five women, five men) earlier this month and then chose the winners to announce leading up to the culmination of the NCAA lacrosse season.

Each winner will receive a silver bowl recognizing their accomplishment, and a $250 donation will be made in their name to a charity of their choice.

Loyola Men’s Lacrosse To Host Newtown (Conn.) Youth Lacrosse Players

BALTIMORE – The Loyola University Maryland men’s lacrosse program will host nearly 50 players and family members from Newtown (Conn.) Youth Lacrosse on Saturday, April 13, when the Greyhounds host the University of Denver in their regular-season home finale at 1 p.m. at the Ridley Athletic Complex.

On January 3, Loyola freshman long-stick midfielder Jason Crane led a group of 14 Loyola men’s lacrosse players to the Connecticut town that was touched by tragedy just one month prior when a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School killed 26 people.

Loyola players put on a youth lacrosse clinic in Newtown that was attended by over 100 young players. The team has stayed in communication with those players, and many will be making the trip with their families to Baltimore for Saturday’s game.

The players and families from Newtown will receive a tour of the Ridley Athletic Complex and be on the field with the teams prior to faceoff Saturday. After the game they will get to participate in a “throw-around” with Loyola players on the field and attend a postgame reception with Loyola players and their families. In addition to the game-day experience, Visit Baltimore!, the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel, Under Armour and other local businesses have come together to provide the group with several exciting activities while they are in town.

Tickets to Saturday’s game, which will feature two ECAC Lacrosse League teams ranked in the top-five nationally, are available at www.loyolagreyhounds.com/tickets.

NEWTOWN, Conn. – Fourteen members of the 2012 NCAA Champion Loyola University Maryland men’s lacrosse team took time from their holiday break today to travel to Newtown, Conn., to lead a lacrosse clinic for youth in the town that was forever changed last month by the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The trip, which was student-athlete organized, was the idea of freshman Jason Crane (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake-AA High School).

Players departed Maryland on Thursday morning and picked up teammates on the trip to Connecticut. Others who live in the New England region met the team in Newtown.

Crane reached out to Jim Wallace, the Coach Training Coordinator for the Newtown Lacrosse Association, and Wallace invited the Greyhounds to lead today’s clinic.

“Obviously, we knew the town was hurting, and I found Jim’s e-mail address, and I asked if there was anything we could do,” Crane said. “He said it would be great if we could do the clinic and talk to the kids.

“When we got here today, Jim talked to us for a while, and he told us how many of (the clinic’s) kids were in the school at the time of the shooting. He said the town has been very quiet, and there is a lot of sadness. The kids are dealing with things that no elementary or middle school kid should have to deal with. He talked about how our presence helps the kids out in ways that we can’t even imagine.”

Today’s clinic drew more than 100 Newtown youth players, ranging from third through eighth grades, despite the fact that Crane and the Greyhound put their plans together in less than a week.

“As soon as I got (Crane’s) e-mail, I texted him and said I was in,” junior Brian Schultz said. “It has been a moving experience. We are trying to do anything we can just to raise spirits a little bit. In Maryland, you can’t really gauge what it’s been like here, but we’ve heard some really intense stories from Jim and others.”

At the clinic, the Greyhounds taught lacrosse skills and team play, as well as interacted with the kids on the field.

“Hopefully, we can influence them positively,” Crane said.

Loyola opens its season on Saturday, February 16, at the University of Delaware, and the Greyhounds open their home schedule on Saturday, February 23, with a NCAA Championship Game rematch against the University of Maryland.

There have been two high profile violent acts this month.  First, the Jovan Belcher murder-suicide on December 1^st in which he murdered his “on and off” girlfriend in front of his mother, then drove to the Chiefs practice facility where he turned the gun on himself in front team employees including his head coach and general manager.  Belcher and his girlfriend left behind a two month old baby.

The second act of violence being the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in Connecticut last Friday in which a young man named Adam Lanza broke in and killed 26 people including 20 children.  This prompted widespread signs of support for the victims and their families from athletes across all sports but most prominently, the NFL.

Flags were flown at half staff, there were moments of silence, pregame tributes, decals on helmets, and the New England Patriots even sent up a flare for each victim before their game against San Francisco.  Players such as Victor Cruz and Chris Johnson wrote on their equipment to remember those lost in the horrific incident.  Countless others took to social media to voice their opinions about how to prevent future acts like this and show support for those affected by it.

In the wake of both of these tragedies debates about gun control will and have already surfaced.  Calls for more strict regulation of assault rifles with surely be heard.

I’ll quickly summarize what any logical person should agree on.  Stricter gun regulations would make gun crimes go down in numbers.  This is proven in other countries such as Canada and those overseas.  While it may not be a drastic decrease, every life you can save is worth saving, right?

Three out of four NFL players today own guns, according to a recent USA Today article. This is nearly 25% more than the national average.

People will continue to fight for the “right to bear arms” and people will continue to own guns; especially NFL players.  This is almost for certain in our society and I am not suggesting that people give up their guns entirely.

The news recently came out that even a member of our beloved Ravens forfeited his guns to authorities.  While Terrell Suggs did not give his up arsenal of six guns, including an AK-47, voluntarily, other players have a chance to do just that.  They have a chance to set in motion an effort to fix the problem they were so vocal about over the weekend.

Since the Jovan Belcher incident, at least seven NFL players have voluntarily turned in their guns.  This is an important step forward and an incredibly mature act by these players but it is not nearly enough.  If these men are so concerned about the horrific violence we witnessed less than a week ago in Newtown, Connecticut (as evidenced by their on-field tributes and Twitter feeds) then they should put their money where their mouth is and turnover their own guns.

NFL players are some of the most famous and influential people in the United States.  Thousands of Twitter followers and fans hang out every word they say.  Its time they show some action and make a real difference.  NFL gun owners have a chance to show those who are apathetic and those who believe the problem cannot be fixed that it indeed can be.  These players can step up and be figureheads in the effort to prevent more events like these from happening.

Hall of Fame running back and social activist Jim Brown once said, “A huge crisis like this lets new leadership step forward.”  NFL players can be this new leadership.  All it takes is a little sacrifice and effort.  Things they aren’t strangers to on the football field.