Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/16/12
The inaugural “Drew Bauer City Championship Memorial Game” will be held Tuesday night (7:00) when West Chester East hosts Henderson in a Ches-Mont League boys’ lacrosse game.
Drew Bauer died last summer in a boating accident in the Sassafras River on the Chesapeake in Maryland. Drew played at East and was a popular and beloved coach for many years in the West Chester Youth and Keystone Games as well as a player on men’s teams in the county.
East coach Jim Schorn, a close friend to Drew and his family, created the memorial event to recognize Drew’s many contributions to the sport and to youth lacrosse with West Chester’s strongest rivalry (Drew played at East and his brother, Nate, was an East graduate while his brother, Sam, graduated from Henderson). Schorn’s club team, “Man Up,” also donated a Cascade Pro7 helmet that shows East’s colors on one side and Henderson’s on the other to honor the game and the rivalry. Henderson grads and supporters Ryan Cranston and Sean Evans – both of whom were coached by Bauer in post-collegiate leagues – donated time to develop the helmet.
There will be a trophy passed back and forth to the winner of the game every year to display in their trophy case. Also, a player who best exemplifies Drew’s commitment to the sport will be recognized after the game as the Bauer Blue Collar recipient and given a piece of gear donated by Lacrosse International.
Drew began coaching youth lacrosse when he was a sophomore at West Chester East High School and continued coaching after attending college at St. Joseph’s University. He coached several years for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Penn Stars youth team and had been coaching in the West Chester Lacrosse Association since 1998.
Drew, the son of WCLA President Mike Bauer, also coached for many years with the Chester County U-15 team at the Keystone Games as the defensive coordinator. He was to serve as an assistant for the team that competes last summer in the annual event at State College. Drew, along with Schorn, coached Chester County to the gold medal at the Keystone Games in 2010.
“Drew was a great young man who gave for no purpose but to give and help the young men of our community,” Schorn said. “His dad is the head of West Chester youth and a huge reason why West Chester has youth lacrosse.
“Drew and his family have sacrificed a lot over the last 20 years for lacrosse in Chester County This family has been doing this for years and supporting them tomorrow night would be a great thing.”
