In 1987, Jeff Pettit and Bob Bush, former college and club players, initiated a boys’ youth lacrosse program jointly sponsored by the Rose Tree-Media and Havertown Optimist Clubs. The organization was one of the six youth lacrosse programs that founded the Southeastern Youth Lacrosse Association (“SEPYLA”) that year to provide competition and grow youth lacrosse in the area. Due to the tremendous interest in both communities, Rose Tree-Media and Havertown went their separate ways in 1994. In 1999, Gene Ferraro and Victor Menghetti organized a successful and rapidly growing girls’ program which is a member of the Philadelphia Area Girls Lacrosse Association (“PAGLA”). Today, there are over 400 boys and girls competing in SEPYLA and PAGLA and learning lacrosse through our intramural programs. 

Optimist players have experienced much success at the high school, college, club and professional levels, including high school and collegiate All-America selection, PIAA and NCAA Championships, USA World Team selection, captaincies, participation in the 100th game between Oxford and Cambridge Universities and numerous league and conference all-star selections. Most importantly, Optimist players give back to their communities by coaching youth, high school and college teams.