The Avalon Lacrosse Sisterhood: The Program for Girls 9-14 is a Prime Feeder for Local High Schools
The captains of the 2023 Middle Township High School lacrosse team (from left): Maddyn McAnaney, Holly Mader, Eliza Billingham and Abbie Teefy.
Avalon Lacrosse has been a powerhouse program for decades, churning out top talent in women’s lacrosse.
While neither Avalon or Stone Harbor fields teams for Little League, Babe Ruth or midget football, girls’ lacrosse has been a mainstay and has helped develop formidable college-level talent and relationships among the girls who have played together for years.
The no-cut program “places special emphasis on the concepts of team ball and proper lacrosse techniques at both ends of the lacrosse field,” according to its website, and is open to all girls ages 9 to 14 who reside in Cape May County and most parts of Atlantic County. The program competes in the South Jersey Youth Lacrosse League.
Holly Reeves started the Avalon Lacrosse program. Reeves played defense for Temple University and at the club level for several years. She has coached boys’ and girls’ lacrosse and continues as the director of the Avalon Lacrosse youth program, which is a prime feeder for the Middle Township High School girls’ lacrosse team as well as for other area teams.
An example of the impact of the program: Holly Mader, Eliza Billingham, Abbie Teefy, and Maddyn McAnaney were co-captains of the Middle Township High lacrosse team this year. The four, who have all committed to playing Division II or Division III lacrosse in college, started with Avalon Lacrosse and have played together since they were in fifth grade or so, and have quite a bond. That bond carried over into their high school years.
When Middle Township fell to Shore 17-7 in the first round of the South Jersey Group 1 tournament, McAnaney had three goals, Teefy added three goals and an assist and Billingham pushed in a goal.
“We have all been playing with each other since fifth grade and I don’t know what I’m going to do without them these next few years,” Mader says. “We have been inseparable ever since Avalon Lacrosse and it was the best eight years playing with them by my side. All of my coaches from Avalon have taught me so much and I just can’t thank them enough.”
Mader is a graduating senior and plans to attend Stockton University to play lacrosse.
“It meant so much to be able to create new friendships and have Avalon Lacrosse be my second family,” she says. “The program has taught me so much to become the lacrosse player I am today. I am so grateful to have such amazing coaches help me along the way. I would love to give a shout-out to Brian Teefy and Mike Sutley because no matter what, they were always there for me.”
Billingham, also a 2023 high school senior, said she played with Avalon Lacrosse from fifth grade to eighth grade and learned everything she knows of the sport through Avalon Lacrosse.
“I didn’t even know it was a sport until the coach from Avalon, Mike Sutley – who also happened to be my basketball coach – told me to come out and try playing it,” says Billingham, who will play lacrosse at Limestone University in Gaffney, S.C. “At that point, I had never heard of lacrosse. My family had no idea. We had no idea what we were in for. I went down and tried it out and I learned everything I know from Avalon Lacrosse.”
Billingham is from Dorothy, N.J., outside of Mays Landing, and said that if it hadn’t been for the girls she met in Avalon Lacrosse, she never would have played lacrosse at Middle Township or in college.
“When I first started, I had no idea that it would come as far as it did,” she shares. “It’s amazing. We’ve dispersed a little bit. There’s a handful of us that go to Middle Township, a handful that go to Ocean City, Holy Spirit, Mainland, so every time we play against each other, it’s like a different bond with those girls. You’ve basically grown up with them since fifth grade. It really is like a different bond when you get to see them. I remember our game against Ocean City, we took a huge group picture at the end of all the Avalon girls. There was literally a whole team worth of girls in itself. There were about 12 of us.”
Brian Teefy coached Avalon Lacrosse for a decade and got to coach his oldest daughter Catie as well as his younger daughter Abbie. He said Catie was in the third grade when she started and Abbie was in kindergarten.
Teefy recalls coaching with Sutley, Chris Cooke, Tracy Super. All were lacrosse fathers.
“They would call us the boys’ club, because we would all coach together,” he says with a laugh. “It was something incredible; It was a great ride.”
He says the relationship and bond between Holly, Eliza, Abbie, and Maddyn is strong and that the four are “powerhouses” together. His daughter is a junior, while the other three are seniors.
“All four of them have committed to schools already,” he added. “Abbie’s whole class of 2024 girls, every single one of them who went through the Avalon program have committed to college to play lacrosse. Those 22 girls who went through the program have all committed to play in college.”
“Our [Middle Township High] season’s over but there was a lot of accomplishments with the girls …The girls did really, really well this year.
“I can truthfully say that Holly did a great job with who she brought in coaching. She really promoted the schools … That’s where she basically pulled from. We started getting a couple of kids from Ocean City. It just kept building and building and building. It ended up being we played every Sunday. We traveled to Cherry Hill, Mount Laurel, Clearview, we were in the league up that way, which was a little more competitive, but we did really well against them and the program’s still thriving.”
McAnaney, a Middle Township native and 2023 grad, will play lacrosse at Salisbury University in Maryland next year and feels she owes everything to Avalon Lacrosse.
“Avalon Lacrosse was my foundation to all my successes this year,” she says. “They really strive to show the importance of both your dominant and non-dominant hand, which I feel, to me, is a game-changer at this level. We’ve grown a lot as a family, the four of us. We’ve been playing together since fifth grade. We’ve been through a lot together. It’s always fun. We’ve all been playing for such a long time. We can read each other’s minds almost. It’s really a cool environment that Avalon Lacrosse has provided for us.
“None of us are actually from Avalon. A lot of us are multiple-sport athletes. I know I played soccer and our soccer games were always on Saturdays, but Avalon Lacrosse plays in a league where their games are always Sundays. It provided a balance for us to be able to play multiple sports.
“A lot of the girls on the team grew up through the Avalon program. They really set a great foundation for you to grow on your skills and level up to that next level.”