Lloyd Carter facts for kids
Lloyd Carter (born in 1959) is a special coach, a retired firefighter, and a former leader who worked to make sure fire departments included people from all backgrounds. He used to be the president of the Vulcan Blazers, a group of Black firefighters in Baltimore, Maryland. Today, he is the head coach for the Hampton University Lacrosse team. This team is now in Division I, which is the highest level for college sports. It's also the only team playing at this level from a HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). He retired as a chief from the Baltimore City Fire Department and also from the military reserve.
Lloyd Carter's Journey
Lloyd Carter served in the Army Reserve and the Maryland National Guard. He became a firefighter in 1983 and worked his way up the ranks. He retired as a Deputy Chief from the Baltimore City Fire Department. He also led the Vulcan Blazers, a group of Black firefighters. This group worked hard to help the fire department become more diverse, meaning it included people from all backgrounds.
Coach Carter also played lacrosse himself! He played in Division II at Morgan State University.
Playing and Coaching Lacrosse
When Lloyd Carter played lacrosse at Morgan State, it was a unique sport for a historically Black college. He was one of the main attackers for their Division II team. Their last game was on May 6, 1981, when they lost to Loyola of Baltimore.
After graduating, he became a chief in Emergency Medical Services in Baltimore. He also started coaching high school lacrosse. In 2001, Carter created an organization called Blax Lax. Its goal was to get more African-Americans involved in the sport of lacrosse. Then, in 2011, he helped start a lacrosse club at Hampton University.
In May 2015, Hampton University made a big announcement: they were making lacrosse an official varsity sport! They chose Lloyd Carter to be the head coach. Hampton is not the first HBCU to have a lacrosse team, but it is the first to have one at the top Division I level. Lacrosse is one of the fastest-growing team sports in the United States.
The idea for a lacrosse club at Hampton came from Michael Crawford. Sadly, he passed away before he could make his dream come true. His mother, Verina, was determined to see his vision happen. She found Coach Carter online and contacted him. For two years, he drove four hours from his home in Baltimore to Hampton. This strong commitment and his leadership were big reasons why Hampton officials hired him as coach. In Maryland, where lacrosse is the "Official State Sport," no Black college had a team competing at the NCAA level before Hampton.
After coaching at Hampton University for four years, Coach Carter announced in 2019 that he would retire at the end of the school year. In 2018, his team, the Pirates, won 5 games and set new records for goals scored.
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