In the wake of Covid-19 and academic institutions across the country sending students home, many spring sports seasons came to an abrupt end. For the first time in many years, spring student-athletes found themselves displaced from their sport and their teammates for the foreseeable future.

For Muhlenberg sophomore women's lacrosse player Emily Gaffney, a spring season without lacrosse was not an option.

She discovered ReLax Collections, a non-profit founded by William Dadouris, a men's lacrosse player and 2020 graduate of Moravian College. Dadouris founded ReLax Collections as a high school student in 2014, and has since collected over $1,500,000 worth of new and used lacrosse equipment to support over 35 teams across the United States and in 16 other countries as they "grow the game."

Both ReLax and Gaffney believe in the power of sports to keep kids in school. This summer, Gaffney jumped at the chance "to get involved and make a change" by starting a drive and collecting gear.

"I'm so privileged to play at Muhlenberg, and I felt like having a chance to play lacrosse while growing up impacted my life. Now I'm a student-athlete, and I cannot live without the sport. I wanted to give someone else a chance," she says.

While no student-athlete wanted their spring seasons to end the way they did, Gaffney felt the timing of her drive (June-August) worked in her favor. She found that people were more accessible because they were home during the pandemic. Additionally, graduating high school and college seniors were very willing to donate their old gear since they would most likely not be needing it again. Younger and current players often donated their cleats since it was around the time that they would be purchasing new ones for the next season.

In addition to reaching out to local lacrosse clubs in the Livingston, New Jersey, area, Gaffney worked with Mule coach Kristen Stuckel to contact a few club teams in Pennsylvania.

Gaffney now plans to hold a drive every summer and hopes that her new connections will equate to more equipment donations and greater participation. "I feel like now everyone knows. There were a lot of people that I reached out to, and I feel like they can get more people involved," she says.

If you're interested in starting a drive, visit https://www.relaxcollections.org/get-involved for an Official ReLax Equipment Drive Handbook and contact information. Further information about what teams have benefited from the drives can also be found on the website.