Inside Lacrosse Magazine
April 2005 Issue
Volume 9 Issue2

RUSTY BONES MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN N.H.
BY MOLLY BROUILLETTE

       The Rusty Bones are a far cry from your average lacrosse team, but they don't just stand out on the field.  Based in Nashua, N.H., the Bones are the founding team in the Olde New England Lacrosse League, where the average player's age is 42.  While this alone makes the team (and the league) unique, it is community involvement that really sets the Bones apart. Bones players have participated in numerous outreach programs and recently received a proclamation from Nashua's City Hall in recognition of their efforts.  "Our whole philosophy is to have fun and do something good for the community," says team leader Scott McKenzie, 48. "We genuinely want to help."

        The Bones have helped with the household chores for the wife of a player who was deployed to Iraq.  They've had their bone marrow tested in the hopes of landing as donors for a local man with a rare disease.  They've collected turkeys and canned goods for a homeless shelter around Thanksgiving.

       Recently, Bones players cleaned up a much avoided stretch of highway (nicknamed "The Rail Trail") outside Nashua that was complete with drug needles and all sorts of "unsavory things", as McKenzie puts it, that no one else would go near.

       Their most noble effort may have come in sponsoring two young players whose families did not have the financial resources to fund their lacrosse hobbies.

       "There were tears of joy in my eyes both times," McKenzie says.  "You have no idea how good it feels."  McKenzie, a former collegiate player at Boston College, founded the Bones in 2002 after 13 years away from the game.  Coaching at his son's camp reintroduced him to the game, and after playing in a few pickup games with players half his age, he started asking around about further interest.  The response was overwhelming.  "After I put up an ad in the local lacrosse store, I got flooded with phone calls," McKenzie says.  "These guys were so eager to tell me their credentials.  They didn't realize that I'd take anybody who could breathe and hold a lacrosse stick."  The players, whose ages range from 36-60, immediately hit it off and began playing against club teams with much younger lineups.  They finished 3-3 that season, and were overjoyed with the experience.

       "I don't think we did too badly, because at twice the age of our opponents we tended to know a lot more than them technique-wise," McKenzie says.  "We had a great time that first season.  When we showed up for our first game, everyone had the same story: 'I couldn't sleep because I was so excited. I haven't felt this way since college.'''

      Once the Rusty Bones were firmly established as a team, McKenzie felt as if there should be a league reserved solely for older players. After spreading the word around the rest of the region, the Olde New England Lacrosse League, known as ONELL, was formed.  The league now has six members, including such teams as the Stale Donuts and the Elder Tribesmen, and its identity is strongly based on family values. Alcohol, tobacco and profanity are strictly prohibited at the games.  "Most of us have kids, and we really want the league to be something that is respected and looked up to," McKenzie says. The league's rules also differ slightly from conventional lacrosse leagues.  Players can sub out at any time, and slashing is very controlled. If a player checks, or hits anything other than an opponent's arm or stick, he gets called for a penalty.

      "We're older, we're tired and we all have to be at work the next day," McKenzie says.  "We are competitive, though. I'd take any of these guys to war with me in a second."

       The players, who include police officers, teachers and salesmen, were strangers before joining the team but have become the best of friends.

      "I just can't get over how much we are all alike," McKenzie says. "I never would have imagined the team would come this far.  I started out just wanting to play a little lacrosse.  The whole thing caught on fire."

       The money they contribute is mostly out of pocket, but they have started selling apparel (www.RustyBonesLAX.conm) featuring the Rusty Bones logo as a way of fundraising.  The logo, a skull with two lacrosse sticks crossed underneath instead of bones, was inspired by a flag McKenzie saw while on a trip to Jamaica.

       The Bones, who have recently had so much interest that they've divided into two separate teams (one for those under 40 and one for those older), plan to keep volunteering as much as they can.

       "There aren't that many groups of men out there who genuinely want to help," McKenzie says. "We're hoping to inspire more men to get involved with the community, team or no team. In the end, that's what's really important."

       But there will, of course, still continue to be a team.  It doesn't sound like these guys are slowing down.

      "I don't plan on giving it up anytime soon," McKenzie says. "Just because there's snow on the roof, that doesn't mean there's no fire in the furnace."