The Manchester NH Police Athletic League, a non profit and member of the National Association of Police Athletic Leagues was approached by some boys and their parents seeking to play lacrosse during the winter of 1997. PAL entered two teams into the New Hampshire Youth Lacrosse Association for the 1998 season, with a total of 39 boys. Prior to their first game, the players voted to call themselves the Thunderstix, a name that remains with the program today. New Hampshire's largest city, Manchester, with a population of 105,000 was finally playing lacrosse.

Two years later PAL formed girls' teams and the program grew to four boy's teams and three girl's teams with 171 kids participating. The next step was two PAL high school club teams for boys and girls, an east side and west side squads, followed by school run club teams during 2002 and 2003. MPAL created a junior varsity schedule which included Kennebunk High, Berwick Academy, Philips Academy, Derryfield School and Tilton. MPAL continued to fund lacrosse and provide insurance for club teams until 2004 at which time the city's three public high schools picked it up as a varsity sport without funding. The city entered the public high schools, Manchester Central, Manchester Memorial and Manchester West into Varsity status without funding in 2004 and 2005. Manchester high schoolers saw a "Baptism by fire ", playing powers Pinkerton, Concord and Bishop Guertin, without city funding or a JV program.

The city's school board voted in 2006 to finally fund girls and boys lacrosse at Central, Memorial and West High Schools for the 2007 season. It has taken a decade for lacrosse to become an equal in the city athletic department. It is a tribute to the parents of players, student athletes and the Manchester PAL. The team of parents and Manchester PAL have networked to garner political support for the sport and attended fund raisers for candidates who support lacrosse. Supporters of the lacrosse effort point to the college opportunities that city lacrosse players now enjoy. PAL will have over 200 lacrosse players playing America's oldest sport and fastest growing sport during 2007. The youth PAL players play for the MPAL Thunderstix, a member of the New Hampshire Youth Lacrosse Association. All kids, regardless of their family's income can play, as PAL purchases and issues equipment and waives all fees assuring that no one is left out.

PAL worked with the Manchester High School Lacrosse Boosters, a body formed by PAL parents. Saint Anselm College and the University of Southern New Hampshire helped out with old equipment donations and clinics. The Manchester Parks' and Recreation department has been working to improve the field situation, and the City High School Athletic Director's Office has come through with state of the art turf fields for PAL games. The Derryfield School has always been a huge ally of MPAL and without the support of the Derryfield School, lacrosse in Manchester would have likely died by 2000.

 

Growth of the MPAL Lacrosse program has been stron. PAL kids are now going off to colleges like the University of New England, Southern New Hampshire University, Norwich University, Plymouth State University, Robert Morris University, and Moravian College. More will be going on in the future thanks to MPAL, MPAL parents past and present, and the majority of elected city officials