Walt Eccles, Valley Lacrosse. The two are synonymous in the City of Syracuse. Without one, you could not have the other. To say Walt is the driving force behind the city youth league is an understatement and truly does not give weight to the amount of time and energy he devotes daily, year-round to spreading the love of lacrosse through the youth of this city. 

Walt first began his tenure as the head of this program in the early 2000s. His amazing wife Kim and their five sons have been monumental pillars of support for him in his role. Each of their sons went through the program and played supporting roles themselves as volunteers, 3 of them going on to play at the University of Albany, and two going on to coach at their own college programs. 

The bedrock of lacrosse growth in Central New York comes from the greatest lacrosse league in the country: the Upstate Lacrosse Association (ULA formerly the BULL). Walt has been an active member of this league since the early 2000s as a coach and board member. Walt along with many other dedicated, longtime members including Joe Mueller, Noel Ebner, Kevin King, Meghan Thomas, Meggie New, and Eric Lorraine have provided quality, accessible, affordable lacrosse experiences to thousands of Central New York youth players for so many years.   

Walt’s latest effort to grow the game, SYRCITYLAX, is a partnership between Valley Lacrosse, the Syracuse City School District, and the SU, Lemoyne, and OCC lacrosse programs. This plan intends to drive lacrosse deep into the SCSD community by having lacrosse ambassadors at each school connecting their students with lacrosse opportunities that are easily accessible and free. With a student enrollment of almost 20,000 students, the program hopes to transform the lacrosse landscape in the City of Syracuse. 

Walt’s dedication to the sport and the local community does not go unnoticed and has garnered his induction into the Urban Sports Hall of Fame in 2017, being named Man of the Year by Section 3 Lacrosse Coaches in 2019, and being inducted with his wife Kim into the Corcoran Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. 

Walt has not only been instrumental in bringing the love of the game to the youth, but also in bringing the needs of the youth to local college coaches and national sports organizations such as USA Lacrosse, Syracuse University, Lemoyne College, and Onondaga Community College. During the pandemic, numerous free clinics were held, often hosting 50-100 kids during the events. He along with a group of very dedicated volunteers hosted one of the largest ever USA Lacrosse Sankofa Clinics. He tirelessly advocates for the city youths by bringing high school and college coaches into the program introducing lacrosse to kids in this city. His love of the sport is changing the lives of kids in this city and offering them opportunities they may have never had, simply by asking them, why aren’t you playing lacrosse?

Walt would like to thank his wife Kim, and their five boys Casey, Derrick, Sean, Matt, and Ryan for fully supporting this amazing lacrosse journey. Also, daughter-in-laws Tristen (Casey) and Leah Gallagher (Derrick) joined the Eccles family of their own free will and have created three new lacrosse players between them. 

Also, the many Valley volunteers through the years including Jim Stelter, Bob Dougherty, the late Bob Krupka, Ted Limpert, Sarah Schneider, Skip Phohl, the Doyle family, Jay Kianka, the Demott family, the late Jeff Carr, Mike Stanistreet, Steve Eccles, Pat Rodgers, Jim &Julie Cecile, Karen Boyle, Kerry Boyle, the Riouxs, Noel Ebner, Jake Zook, the Valley Mens Club and most recently, the Latin Super Moms (they know who they are). From SCSD Shaun Smith, Kevin Brady, Brad Carr, April Wertheimer, Jim Palumbo, Matt Dowd and Jesse Long.  

A huge thank you to Kayla Treanor, Chelsea Leveille, Gary Gait, Carly Randall, Dan Sheehan, Liz Beville, Steve Beville, Logan Tousaw, Erik Mattox, and Steve Chambers for embracing the SYRCITYLAX program and working to make it successful. 

Special thanks to Joe Mueller for providing free corn, backyard backhoe services, concrete work and so much lacrosse support to the Eccles family for decades. 

Most importantly, Walt would like to thank all the players who have grown the game by picking up a stick, trying something new, and becoming part of the Upstate New York Lacrosse Community.  

Final thanks to the Upstate Lacrosse Foundation for all the work involved in staging this very special event and all the effort that goes into maintaining and growing the legacy of Upstate Lacrosse.