Our Core Purpose
OWLS exists to empower youth by opening pathways to growth and opportunity.
Mission Statement
OWLS combines the powers of lacrosse, mentorship, and academic support to promote personal growth, school success, and postsecondary readiness for youth in historically underserved communities.
Our History
Lacrosse & Learning—a match made in Chicago.
OWLS—Outreach With Lacrosse and Schools—was formed in 2011 with a simple goal: to combat an epidemic of physical inactivity and lack of quality enrichment programming in underserved Chicago schools and communities.
Over the years, we’ve added academic support, field trips, career development, informed coaching methods, and more to help maximize every minute of impact on our student-athletes. In just 11 years, we went from tutoring and training 10 student-athletes to becoming a full-service, fully-funded 501(c)3 nonprofit partnering with five schools and over 400 student-athletes per year across 20 of Chicago’s most challenged zip codes.
Lacrosse is an ideal sport to help address stress, accelerate learning, and build critical life skills. We serve each student-athlete by helping them create the academic self-efficacy, contribution, positive identity, self-management, and social skills necessary to thrive. We partner with schools in underserved communities to support student access and success, from 3rd grade through high school graduation and beyond.
