New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse League

Files kept by Charles E. Marsters, co-founder of the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse League (NEILL), and other NEILL officers show the growth of lacrosse from informal club team play to a more regulated, interscholastic and intercollegiate varsity sport.

From the description of New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse League records, 1893-1977 (bulk 1903-1963). (University of Massachusetts Amherst). WorldCat record id: 52938652

One of the major figures in the growth of scholastic and collegiate lacrosse in New England, Charles E. Marsters first grew attached to the sport while an undergraduate at Harvard (BS, 1907), but his commitment never waned thereafter. Spurred by his energy and initiative, participation in the sport rose steadily at both the high school and collegiate level, establishing New England as one of the centers of the American game. An officer of the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA), serving as vice president (1907-1908) and president (1909-1910 and 1917-1918), Marsters worked tirelessly as player, coach, and manager to promote the sport. With Paul Gustafson, he founded the Boston Lacrosse Club in 1913, playing point for sixteen years and managing the team, which became the first in New England to play teams from outside the region. He also laid the foundation for teams at Yale in 1915, and at Brown, MIT, the University of New Hampshire, and Tufts in the later 1920s.

In 1935, Marsters and his colleague Tom Dent founded the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse League (NEILL), which became a major vehicle for promoting the sport. He was recognized for his labors on behalf of the sport with an award from USILA in 1951 and with induction into the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame as a player in 1957.

From the guide to the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse League Records MS 331., 1893-1977, 1903-1963, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries)