After moving from New Jersey to Owensboro 8 months ago, Pete McKendrick and his family were surprised by the limited interest in lacrosse. Wanting to create a youth league to allow his sons and other local kids to learn and play the sport, McKendrick began to research.
While attempting to create a league, he learned that the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) has a youth program called PLL Junior Sixes, held in cities hosting a professional team. After reaching out to the PLL, McKendrick convinced the organization to create their first PLL Junior Sixes league in a town that doesn’t host a professional team. Thus, the Boro Lacrosse Club was born.
“I think we are a guinea pig for the PLL to see how this works and how we can make it work in a community that is not a traditional lacrosse area,” McKendrick said. “We went from being more or less our own entity here before we even launched to being branded and licensed as part of the PLL. We are still our own entity, but we are backed and supported by them.”
Registration is currently open, with kindergarten through eighth grade being the target audience. Parents can sign their kids up online at Owensborolax.com.
McKendrick acknowledged that, ideally, 50-60 kids will sign up. The plan is to create multiple divisions based on age, with four teams per division and 8-10 players per roster.
“Playing time is limited, and touches are limited when you are on the field,” McKendrick said. “My goal is to keep the teams small not just for the sake of our numbers, but really for the sake of playing time. I want these kids on the field with a stick in their hand as much as possible, getting as many touches possible.”
Games will consist of two 16-minute halves with a running clock, with the season starting by the end of March and lasting 8-9 weeks. While a full-time location has yet to be found, McKendrick was aiming for games to be on Sundays.
Where field lacrosse played at the high school and college level is 10 on 10, the PLL JRs league play six on six – consisting of five field players and one goalie. This allows the kids to play attack, midfield, and defense all at once and doesn’t pigeonhole them into a specific position early.
Another change includes no faceoffs after every goal, instead, they will only occur at the start of each half. The PLL has started playing 6v6 during part of their season, and sixes will also be the Lacrosse played at the 2028 Summer Olympics.
McKendrick acknowledged that starting a program like this in an area that doesn’t boast a rich lacrosse history will be a challenge, he is looking forward to it.
“Let’s grow a great program not only for the Owensboro community, but Western Kentucky in general,” McKendrick said. “Where there isn’t a lot of youth lacrosse, let us be the standard that the PLL Junior programs are measured against. It’s obviously going to take some time, but baby steps. We will get there, and this is just season number one.”
