The helmets looked a little too big, like those bobble-headed dolls people used to have in their cars.
On Saturday morning in a Southwest Baltimore park, a few of the boys charging around a field wielding lacrosse sticks looked like pros, expertly scooping balls and netting them with panache. Others needed, well, remedial training.
"It takes a long time to learn," said Drequan Stanley, who, at 11 years old, was one of the more accomplished players and was helping some of those less adept. "It looks like there's a lot of balls coming at you but there's only one."
Meanwhile, the coach was yelling, as coaches tend to do. "Faceoff!" he hollered. "Let's get this game started!"
The coach happened to be the attorney general of Maryland, Douglas F. Gansler, a self-described "lacrosse nut" who has been playing since he was the same size as the tykes on the field in Carroll Park, most of whom were between ages 5 and 9.
For the past six weeks, Gansler has been the driving force behind the Charm City Youth Lacrosse League, a nascent outfit created to address the lack of access to the game for inner-city kids in a state in which lacrosse is all but a religion. About 80 kids signed up, playing with donated uniforms and equipment, and 34 - only one of them a girl - were playing on Saturday, the last day of the program for this year.
The idea is to have what Gansler calls a "full-blown" league in four or five years that can provide players for public high school teams.
At the end of Saturday's session, played under a relentless sun, the kids took off their sweaty uniforms and helmets - some of them needed help with their chin straps - and lined up to collect a stick and ball all their own.
"I started when I was 8," said Brandon Allen, 9, whose baptism into the game began elsewhere. "I forgot a little bit but when I came here I remembered some of the stuff, like you have to stay real low when you're doing your ground balls."
Now that he's gotten his scooping technique down, what, he was asked, does he plan to do with his future as a lacrosse player? "I want to play All-American for Gilman," he said without hesitation, referring to the renowned private school in North Baltimore and this year's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference champions.
Another player, Mykol Thomas, 8, scored no fewer than three goals during the day's practice session, a feat he brushed off with the low-key air of a seasoned professional.
