HLL Organizes Trips to Brown, Princeton and Yale – Where Coaches and Players Show Kids the Ropes

[gallery order="DESC"] Huddled together on a New Jersey Transit traincar back from Princeton, two dozen HLL boys anxiously awaited their turn to list off their top five Ivy League schools.

“[Visting these schools] helps  initiate a vital dialogue about pursuing a college scholarship,” explained Jake Klein, “and we love it when students get to talk with college kids and experience a true collegiate ‘day in the life’. To sit in a student cafeteria next to undergrads discussing the political atmosphere in Iran, all while the Arab Student Association passes out free Baklava at a club fair… There’s no substitute for that.”

At Brown, the boys caught a campus tour from a few med school students: HLL Founding Board Member Sam Klein and classmates Sarah Rapoport, John Williams and Erica Alexander. After watching Brown take on UMass, the kids were able to enjoy meatball subs with Brown Lacrosse players and their families, like All-Ivy goalie Will Round and defenseman Sam Ford. Head Coach Lars Tiffany and his staff organized an incredibly memorable day for the boys.  "I am so happy for these boys and proud of [HLL] for enabling these boys to receive such opportunities," Tiffany said, "...normalizing the academic and university process is vital and [HLL] is doing it."

The next month, Princeton Coach Christopher Bates arranged for the boys to take a walking tour of his university and hang out with him on the team’s home turf, 1952 Stadium. Attackman Luke Armour and goalie Tyler Fiorito helped lead the tours, along with members from the Princeton-Blairstown Center. The latter aims to help inner city kids experience outdoor wilderness settings, and they provided nearly a dozen tour guides for the day.  Two days later, HLL returned to Princeton to watch the team battle Dartmouth. Following the game, HLL boys were able to eat and relax with members from the Princeton and Dartmouth squads. “The alumni and parent associations from these schools have been so welcoming,” said Klein.   Sally Campbell, whose son Fergus plays for Dartmouth, introduced our players to her son’s teammates post-game.

In April, Yale Head Coach Andy Shay arranged a practice on Yale’s fields, as well as tours, meals in the residential dining halls, and team tickets to see Yale play Harvard. Afterwards, HLL kids procured  signatures from some of the game’s star players.