The "Old Bridge Lacrosse Association" was founded by Bob and Irene Ritz in 1996. Both of the Ritz's sons began playing lacrosse when the high school program began in 1994 under Coach Bob Pense. They recognized the need for a youth program in the township by seeing first hand the difficulties the High School players were having competing with the "more established" teams they were facing in their division. A youth lacrosse program would help the high school by teaching the game to the athletes at a much younger age and give them a better edge in the sport as well as build the players confidence. In watching the high school team struggle for two years and having Coach Pense constantly saying to Bob and Irene, "we really need a youth program, you can do it!", it was done.

[Coach Pense had introduced the sport into the township several years earlier through the Old Bridge Parks and Recreation Department. He created a thriving program with many young athletes. A problem surfaced in a few years, there was no place for these athletes to go once they became too old for the Rec. Program. The youth program then faded away. Pense's hope was that if the interest was in the community, maybe the Board of Education could introduce it into the physical education curriculum or create a team in the High School. When the high schools, Cedar Ridge and Madison, were combined, Coach Pense's dream was realized. He had an over abundance of players. The problem was : 2 Coaches, approx. 70 players, with only 10 of them having previous "summer camp" experience. Coach Pense literally walked out onto the field the first day, holding up a lacrosse ball and said, "This is a lacrosse ball." In the other hand he held the stick saying, "And this is a lacrosse stick. The idea of the game is to carry the ball in the crosse, passing it down field and throwing it into the goal".]

The first few years the Association also was sponsored by The Parks and Recreation Department. It was originally billed as "teaching the basic skills of lacrosse". There were 12 boys that first year. Not even enough to play a game with. Each years registration grew till the Parks & Rec. requested the Association fully go out on their own. In the second or third year of the program, there were two girls who joined the team playing with and of course, against boys. Soon the high school added Girls Lacrosse to their sports program. Over the years there have been a few girls who've played with the boys team and this has been unfortunate because we have been unable to secure a girls coach so that there could be a girls team. We've tried!

The Old Bridge Lacrosse Association's philosophy is to teach the game by "Promoting Teamwork, Respect, Sportsmanship, Dedication and Tradition". In doing this, players leave the program with the confidence to move up into the high school with an intense desire to play the game and a love of the sport.

The Association has had the full support over the years from Coach Pense and Assistant Coach Guy Lassen. Coach Pense retired in December of 2004 and his spot is now being filled by one of his former MVP's, Anthony Lanzafama. The high school team is still struggling. This year Coach Lazafama had made the difficult decision to pare down the team by making "cuts". However controversial this may seem, we support his decision because of the difficulties the Coaches have had in the past trying to coach, manage and teach the sport at the same time. Too many players for not enough coaches, three teams and two coaches. In 2005, there were 45 freshman who tried out for the team. The high school team needs a freshman coach! Old Bridge Lacrosse Association tried to go to bat for the high school players, but failed to make the Board of Education understand their need. One day.......