Number of Participants: 80
Hours Donated: 4
Value of Time Served: $2,704
Event Type: Veterans & Military Families
Sport: Boys Lacrosse
Date: May 4, 2023
Location:
Wachusett Regional High School
Main Street, Holden
MA
About:
We have done our annual camo game with Shrewsbury high school for the past 13 years. Each year we host the game on our turf field. Each school coordinates a fundraising effort to raise money to donate to Project New Hope. Each year we invite members of the executive board from Project New Hope to come to the game and be recognized for their continued efforts to serve the veterans of our community. We recently renamed the annual camo game to the Philip A. Jackson in honor of Phil Jackson the former Wachusett Boy’s varsity lacrosse coach who started the tradition. This is a great event that brings rival programs together to support one great cause.
Approximately 80 + athletes between four teams volunteer they time. Each athlete spends raising awareness through word of mouth at each school and on social media to advertise for the game.
This was our 12th year doing the game together with Wachusett. It was the idea of former longtime Wachusett coach Phil Jackson who is a military veteran. He proposed the idea to me since we are rival schools and in close proximity that we do a “camo” game with the proceeds going to Project New Hope located in Worcester. The beauty of Project New Hope is that all the proceeds or any type of donation stays local in Central Massachusetts so we are really helping our local veterans out. Each year the Shrewsbury High team has designed a “camo” Shrewsbury Lacrosse Shirt that the players wear for warmups and under their jerseys and they sell as many as possible with proceeds from the shirt sales going to Project New Hope. Wachusett who always hosts the game puts canisters out for donations and this year they also began to sell shirts. I would say it’s our biggest game of the year and one the players always remember. Alumni always come back and say how much they remember playing in the camo games and how important they were to them. Coach Jackson retired 2 years ago and his former JV Coach Derek VanOudenhove took over seamlessly. We have renamed the game The Philip A. Jackson Annual Camo Game. This year in addition to selling shirts we also collected food items for the food pantry at Project New Hope. Bill Moore who started Project New Hope always comes to the game and is honored pre-game in a ceremony and we have developed an outstanding relationship with Project New Hope and the two schools.
Here is the link to the website for Project New Hope:
https://www.projectnewhopema.
The pictures are of the plaque from when we renamed the game, another picture of two of my captains and one of my assistant coaches this year donating food items at project new hope prior to our game, and a picture of this years camo shirt that we sold with proceeds going to Project New Hope.
Nate Skermont
Head Coach
Shrewsbury Varsity Boys Lacrosse