Former All-American lacrosse player Richard J. Schwab '79 is the founder of a girls' lacrosse league that has grown to more than 250 players on 18 teams
Richard J. Schwab '79 doesn't hesitate to pick up a lacrosse stick and take the field with a group of third- and fourth-grade girls practicing their lacrosse skills on a warm autumn day. The girls, all skinny legs and ponytails, giggle as they practice switching the lacrosse stick from hand to hand, but the laughter stops as soon as the play starts.
The girls wear protective goggles and mouth guards, reminding observers that lacrosse is a serious game and safety is a priority. Schwab flashes the kid's a grin as he corrects form here and there and encourages the players, who include his daughter, Allison.
They are there on the field thanks to Schwab's energy and enthusiasm for the game, which spurred him to launch a girls' lacrosse league for elementary and middle schoolers in the Lower Merion, Pa., school district in 1996.
Today, the Lower Merion Youth Girls Lacrosse League has more than 250 players on 18 teams and a season that runs from April to June. The response was so great that fellow Haverford alumnus George Dick '84, the girls' lacrosse head coach at the school district's Harriton High School, added a travel team and a fall session for the younger girls who want to play more.
A League of His Own
It all began when Schwab's oldest daughter, Amanda, then a fourth grader, wanted to play lacrosse. The school district didn't have a program for girls her age. So Schwab, who played high school lacrosse himself in Lower Merion and was a star lacrosse player at Haverford, started a girls' league.
The league for first- through eighth-grade girls is independent of the school district but uses district fields. Some of the high school players are volunteer coaches in his league, Schwab explains. “We're sort of the minor-league system for the high school,” he says.
“There are a lot of girls who went through this program who went on to play in college who never would have played,” Schwab notes. At the same time, he adds,“I try not to make it very competitive—it burns kids out. If they have fun, then I've done my job.”
Players also have the opportunity to start at a very young age. A few years ago, Schwab started a lacrosse team for first and second graders, which he coaches himself. The youngest players spend most of the time working on their skills, but by the end of the season,“some of the kids are really very good,” Schwab notes.
“He was the person who really got girls' lacrosse started in Lower Merion,” says Dick. They met when Schwab served as a volunteer assistant lacrosse coach during Dick's sophomore year at Haverford. “To be honest with you, Rich does everything,” he adds. “He doesn't like to delegate anything. It's his baby.”
Living Lacrosse
Schwab, 52, a physician and the co-director of the Penn Sleep Center at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, lives in Bryn Mawr with his wife, Edna, and their four children. In addition to running the Lower Merion girls' league, he plays regularly in lacrosse tournaments on the Philadelphia Grand Master Eagles Team.
On Oct. 2, Schwab was inducted into the Thomas Glasser '82 Hall of Achievement, which recognizes former athletes who have made significant contributions to the success of Haverford College athletics. As a senior in 1979, Schwab was Haverford's first men's lacrosse player to earn All-America honors. Schwab was voted team MVP in 1976, '77 and '79, and received the 1979 Varsity Cup.
Lacrosse is also a constant in his family's life, with all of his children playing the game at various levels. They watch each other play and critique each others' moves, Schwab says. “They think I'm moving in slow motion. All of my kids can outrun me,” he chuckles. Obviously, that doesn't dampen his enthusiasm.
“Rich loves the game, and you can see it,” says Dick. “Without him this league wouldn't exist.”
