Three lacrosse players from Westchester are getting the opportunity of a lifetime – to compete at the Lacross World Championships in South Korea.
The players, Joesph Rafferty, Dominic Bucello and Nick Bucello, are all of Puerto Rican descent and are a part of the under-20 Puerto Rican men’s lacrosse team. They will be competing from Aug. 15 through Aug. 24.
Both Rafferty and Bucello say they are excited not only to compete but to represent Puerto Rico in the tournament.
"We get to play the game we love with the people that we know, and the people that we can relate to," said Bucello.
However, the competition is not the league's only focus.
"Two weeks after Memorial Day, we will be going to San Juan to have a training camp and do a youth clinic down there for all the local kids on the island, which is truly special,” said head coach Shawn Mowry. “The ultimate goal is to bring lacrosse back to the island of Puerto Rico.”
The league is a part of the organization Puerto Rico Lacrosse.
Each person who attends one of the clinics is provided with a free lacrosse stick of their own.
"We're trying to make it a strong sport, like soccer, and I think it will be," Bucello said.