Greg Raschdorf, one of the founders of the Hopewell Valley Lacrosse League, will be inducted into the New Jersey Lacrosse Hall of Fame this week.
Raschdorf has been involved in lacrosse in the Hopewell Valley more than 35 years. He was head coach of the Pennington YMCA boys high school team from 1987-89. He helped found the Hopewell Valley Lacrosse League in 1990 and served as president of the board from 1994-95. He was a head coach for 10 years and started the Hopewell Valley Lacrosse Invitational, celebrating it’s 25th year this year. The league presents a “Raschdorf Award” each year to a boy and a girl at each grade level who represents the integrity and passion he brings to the game.
“Greg is so deserving of this honor. We couldn’t be more proud that his accomplishments are being recognized,” league president Deborah Howlett said. “His passion and dedication to lacrosse in Hopewell has been integral to the success of our league from the very beginning. He continues to serve on our board and we value his insight as well as his love for the game.”
Raschdorf said that the league’s mission from the start was to create opportunities to teach lacrosse to young people in Central Jersey. When he co-founded the program, only Princeton had a boys high school lacrosse team. Now, there are roughly 40 programs to the south and east.
“I appreciate the accolades,” Raschdorf said, “but this is about all the people in the Central Jersey region who have been involved in growing the great game of lacrosse to the point of where it is today. HVLL has been true to our mission and, with the help of a lot of other constituencies and devoted people, we will continue to spread and improve our great game.”
An all-Ivy League defenseman, Raschorf played at Cornell from 1976-79, when the Big Red won four Ivy League titles and two NCAA national championships.
Raschdorf attended Sewanhaka High School in New York. He began his New Jersey lacrosse career following college, as a player for the New Jersey Lacrosse Club, in 1980. He later became General Manager in 1985 for two years. From 1991-92, he was a volunteer assistant coach under Bill Tierney at Princeton University, winning two Ivy League titles and an NCAA Championship in 1992. He coached the Hun School boys’ team from 2000-02 and was named Bianchi Division Coach of the Year in 2002.
His volunteer work began as a founding member of the New Jersey Chapter of the Lacrosse Foundation in 1984. He was a founding member and president of the Central Jersey Youth Lacrosse League in 1999 and has been involved as a board member of the Bobby Campbell Foundation and a founder of the Trenton BRIDGE Program.
Raschdorf has been married 37 years to Marie, who he met in high school, and they live in Pennington. Their son, Tim, and daughters, Kimberly and Nicole, played in the program. Tim and Kimberly played at Hopewell Valley Central High School. Tim played collegiately at Syracuse, winning an NCAA national championship in 2006.
Raschdorf joins former Hopewell Valley Lacrosse board member, Chris Cahill, in the NJ Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Cahill, who was inducted in 2011, continues to serve Hopewell Valley Lacrosse, as the coordinator of the annual girls Lax in the Valley Tournament, and is president of the Bobby Campbell Foundation and Trenton BRIDGE Program.
Raschdorf will be honored at a luncheon Sunday, Jan. 29, at Mercer Oaks Country Club in Princeton.
