August 30, 2008
New manager aims to save Pacas program
Help is on the way for the Pacas. DaRonda McDuffie, a former athlete at Southwestern who directed a church youth program for more than 15 years, has agreed to manage the middle school girls lacrosse team at William Paca Elementary.
"I saw this as an opportunity to volunteer my help and get enjoyment I previously had with children in the youth program," she said yesterday.
After reading about the uncertain fate of the Pacas program in a Sun story last month, McDuffie e-mailed Mary Minter, a former Paca principal, with her interest. McDuffie, who has no experience in lacrosse, met with assistant principal David Lewis last Friday and laid out her plan for the program.
"She's going to find a way to get the program up and running ... and keep the young ladies going forward," Lewis said.
Related links
Among McDuffie's initial objectives is to find a new coach. The Pacas were created in 2002 by Leigh McDonald Hall, who stepped down as coach this year after seven seasons.
The Pacas are the only middle school lacrosse team of its kind in the inner city, playing an independent schedule against private and public middle school teams. The team has girls from five city middle schools and Paca.
"The girls love lacrosse," said Stacy Place, who takes over as Paca principal in July. "It's a very valuable tool for us. They look forward to it, it's community building, and it's definitely something we want to have. We're glad to be able to continue it."
McDuffie is married with two children. She is a 19-year federal government employee in Washington and has owned her own graphic design, event-planning company for eight years. She is also taking online classes in leadership from the University of Delaware.
"I see the skills gained as a result of that playing a vital role in keeping a program like this going and getting stronger," she said.
ken.murray@baltsun.com
Get home delivery of The Sun and save over 50% off the newsstand price
Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun
QUICK LINKS | High School
| |||
| |||
 Spring All-Metro/All-County High school sports message board | |||
Popular stories
- Mike Preston: Not-so-golden oldies
- Stills: Livelihood on line
- For Reed, safety first
- It all falls apart for Guthrie, O's
- C. Johnson legally now Ocho Cinco
Sun series: Sports and the military
Sun series on former area athletes who served their country and died in the war in Iraq or Afghanistan
Sun series: Edmondson football
A five-part series chronicling the lives of Edmondson's football players leading up to a crucial showdown against rival City College during the 2006 season.
Going deepSun high school sports special reports and in-depth coverage |
|
 |
> Fall '07 preview > Spring All-Metro > Winter '06 All-Metro > Fall '06 All-Metro > Athletes of the Year > Going deep: Other sports |