Main Line players, coaches, fans enjoy 19th annual KSF Lacrosse Festival

Radnor >> The windy conditions at the 19th annual KSF (Katie Samson Foundation) Lacrosse Festival April 27 didn’t sweep away the enthusiasm of the players or the thousands of fans who turned out at Radnor High School.
The KSF Festival, the largest one-day high school lacrosse festival in the United States with 54 varsity teams, is becoming a Main Line tradition as it enters its third decade of existence.
For Harriton senior midfielder Brian Stewart, who has played in the KSF Festival for four years, the spirit of the event was handed down from his older siblings.
“I always used to watch my two older brothers play in it, and I’m excited to be a part of such an amazing atmosphere,” said Stewart. “It is such a great lacrosse event that I always look forward to. Our team has always focused on raising money for the foundation.”
Shipley boys lacrosse head coach Mark Duncan, who has coached in this game for 17 years, said, “Katie went to Shipley when she was younger and her brother Dave played lacrosse for Shipley. We always support the cause and work each year with Peter Samson to do what we can for the cause of spinal cord injury. There’s a year’s worth of planning that goes into the Festival and I look forward to that date every year on my calendar.”
According to KSF Lacrosse Festival chairman Krissy Brown, the 50-plus participating teams raised more than $66,000 through both online donations and team fundraising activities. The leading fundraising team among the participants (as of Monday) was the Conestoga High School boys team ($5,975) followed by the Radnor High School girls team ($3,835) and the Radnor boys squad ($3,203).
Conestoga boys’ lacrosse head coach Brody Bush said, “Our boys take pride in [the fund-raising] and it is always great to play for a cause bigger than the game itself.”
Radnor boys’ lacrosse coach John Begier said, “I think it’s all about community today, we talked about that yesterday as a team. Peter Samson, who started the youth lacrosse program at Radnor, is on our coaching staff. The Samson family is a big part of the the fabric of the Radnor School District. Not only the Radnor players, but the Radnor parents are involved in this too.”
Harriton senior attack Michael Stewart (twin brother of Brian) said, “Our coach, Joe Proud, has emphasized to us how important this event is for so many people. It is a game we always look forward to.”
Since 2001 approximately $2 million has been distributed to charities benefiting medical research and providing care for people with spinal cord injuries– patient care (46 percent), research (43 percent), and quality of life (11 percent).
In addition to the numerous lacrosse games scattered across six Radnor fields, there were two FanZones which included “Katie’s Kiddie Korner” for younger fans, plus a visit from the Philadelphia Wings mascot, Wingston. And, for the first time, wheelchair lacrosse was one of the activities featured at the Festival, in addition to the regularly scheduled wheelchair rugby, tennis and basketball games.
Katie Samson, watching the wheelchair lacrosse played on the Radnor High School tennis courts, said, “A really good friend of mine, Mike Looney, who I did my outpatient rehab with 19 years ago, brought his Maryland wheelechair lacrosse team here today – he started playing wheelchair lacrosse when he moved to Maryland about 4-5 years ago. Mike and I talked about bringing wheelchair lacrosse here for the last couple of years, and we finally decided to see if we could make it go this year. We’ve got a team that came down from Long Island for this too, this is special.”
Bill German, who served as a KSF Lacrosse Festival volunteer for many years, said, “To have wheelchar lacrosse this year at the Festival is a gift. They [the players] are playing tough out there with their sticks – this is a variation on [wheelchair] rugby; it’s just like another lacrosse game, on wheels.”
The Katie Samson Foundation is a 501©3 corporation. All donations are tax deductible – for more information about the Festival, visit www.katiesamsonlaxfest.com or visit the KSF Lacrosse Festival’s Facebook page..