Loyola University Maryland Lacrosse Team Holds Clinic for Sandy Hook Students

Yesterday marked one month since 26 people were killed in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut, and Loyola University Maryland’s national champion lacrosse players are helping children to cope, reports the CBS Baltimore news.

The players traveled to Newtown and used lacrosse to lift kids’ spirits.

“I was just devastated by the news, and I could only imagine how they felt up in Newtown,” said Jason Crane, a member of the lacrosse team who asked his teammates if they’d be interested in putting on lacrosse clinics in Newtown.

More than a dozen of his teammates jumped on board.

The team spent a day teaching lacrosse to more than 100 kids, including some who were inside Sandy Hook Elementary when the shooting occurred.

“It was really tough seeing the second graders, how little and innocent they were and knowing that the kids were even younger than them,” said Crane.

And while sadness still hovers over the town, even if just for a short time, the players believe these kids forgot about their troubles.

The team was given a Newtown lacrosse jersey with the retired number 26 in honor of the victims.

“We’re going to frame it and keep it in our locker room for the rest of, well forever,” said team member T.J. Harris. [CBS Baltimore]