Building Confidence, Community, and Champions — On and Off the Field.
Through the game of lacrosse, Oakland Lacrosse Club (OLC) supports Oakland Public School students in becoming healthy, confident, and self-empowered youth who can effectively navigate systems, overcome challenges, and achieve their educational and life goals.
Everything they do is about breaking down the barriers that keep kids from Oakland Public Schools playing sports and reaching their potential.
Founded: 2012
Location: Oakland, CA
Partnered with UpMetrics: 2019
Mission
Through lacrosse, we support Oakland Public School students in becoming healthy, confident, and self-empowered youth who effectively navigate systems, overcome challenges, and achieve their education and life goals.
Vision
Expand our program to every Oakland Public school from elementary to high school creating healthy, confident, empowered youth.
Values
Unconditional Love
Positive Communication
Always Do Your Best
Be A Great Teammate
Programs & Impact Approach
Oakland Lacrosse Club's year-round programming invites students to join spring teams through the Oakland Athletic League and participate in academic, wellness, and leadership activities both in and out of school.
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Outreach & Access: OLC staff integrate into schools to offer PE instruction, after-school activities, and lunchtime programs that build community and introduce lacrosse to new players.
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Leadership in Action: The HS Jamboree Council and T.A.G. (Time Management, Advocacy, and Goal Setting) mentoring program teach youth how to lead on and off the field.
- Summer Drop-In: OLC offers drop-in games and clinics from June to August, open to all ages and skill levels.
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Summer Ambassador Program: High school players and recent grads serve as paid ambassadors, gaining workforce experience while teaching lacrosse to younger children at local camps.
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Wellness & Academics: Throughout the year, OLC hosts workshops and events designed to foster wellness, confidence, and academic achievement.
From Anecdotes to Evidence:
How Oakland Lacrosse Turned Data Into a Catalyst for Change
Before UpMetrics: Tracking the Game, but Missing the Big Picture
For over a decade, Oakland Lacrosse Club (OLC) has used the power of sport to build confidence, community, and opportunity for Oakland youth. The impact was visible every day — in the laughter on the field, the steady rise in returning players, and the stories of students who found belonging through the game.
But when it came to proving that impact, OLC faced a familiar challenge: plenty of anecdotal success, little data to scale or sustain it.
In its early years, OLC relied on registration records, attendance data, and a short end-of-season survey to assess programs. These tools helped manage logistics and surface small wins, but they couldn’t show long-term growth, track youth outcomes over time, or quantify the ripple effect OLC knew it was creating.
“We could feel our impact — we just couldn’t show it beyond stories and stats. We knew we needed a better way to connect what we were seeing on the ground to the bigger picture of change we were driving.”
— Allison Allouche, Director of Operations
After UpMetrics: From Stories to Strategy
As OLC’s Theory of Change evolved and its programs expanded through the Oakland Athletic League, the organization needed a more sophisticated way to capture data and communicate results.
Enter UpMetrics.
Now, OLC has a unified system for tracking, analyzing, and sharing data — one that makes information accessible across teams and integrates seamlessly into their daily work. The platform empowers OLC to:
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Define clear metrics aligned with its Theory of Change
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Collect and visualize data from registration, attendance, and surveys in real time
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Report outcomes across programs and years, not just seasons
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Identify gaps and opportunities to strengthen equity and access
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Share compelling, data-backed stories with funders and partners
“We’ve gone from manually managing spreadsheets to using dashboards that update automatically. Our staff can reflect and strategize without spending hours wrangling data. It’s been transformative — we’re finally able to see how every part of our program contributes to long-term youth development.”
— Allison Allouche, Director of Operations
The Wins: Insights that Drive Real-World Change
With UpMetrics as their data engine, OLC has uncovered new insights that have reshaped programs from the ground up:
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Breaking Barriers Through Integration: Data revealed that lack of transportation was a major barrier for participation. In response, OLC merged its teams into the official Oakland Athletic League structure, ensuring all practices took place on school campuses.
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Redesigning Programs Around Youth Voice: Participant feedback led to redesigns of both the TAG Mentoring and Summer Ambassador programs — shifting from curriculum-based to experience-based models that better reflect student interests and time availability.
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Advancing Gender Equity: After an environmental scan in 2021, OLC changed its approach to track equipment used rather than gender, removing unnecessary barriers to inclusion.
Each of these shifts was born from data-backed reflection, proving that insight-driven learning isn’t just for funders — it’s how OLC continually evolves to meet the needs of its youth.
How It’s Changed the Game
Before UpMetrics, OLC’s data lived in silos. Now, it lives at the center of every conversation.
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Programs: Staff use dashboards to track progress and inform strategy.
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Development: Fundraisers can access real-time visuals for proposals and reports.
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Leadership: The team has visibility into long-term outcomes — from retention rates to confidence-building metrics — helping them stay accountable to their mission.
What once required hours of manual reporting is now done in moments, freeing up time to focus on what matters most: the students.
Looking Forward
Today, OLC is using data not as a scoreboard, but as a compass. Every chart, survey, and outcome helps them learn faster, adapt smarter, and lead stronger.
As they look ahead, OLC plans to deepen this practice—using data to stay accountable to their mission, identify where they’re making the strongest impact, and uncover where additional support or refinement is needed. Their data will guide yearly program adjustments, strengthen internal reflection, and help their team stay aligned around what matters most: serving Oakland youth with honesty, intention, and continual growth.
With a clearer picture of their impact than ever before, OLC is positioned to evolve their programs year after year and elevate the success and well-being of the young people they serve.
Oakland Lacrosse Club's Advice for other Organizations:
"Be excellent at goal setting - whether it’s as robust as creating a Theory of Change, or setting program-specific objectives and key indicators - this is the key that unlocks your organizations’ potential to create impact. Without this, it doesn’t matter how much gas you have in the tank, you won’t know where you are heading."
- Allison Allouche, Director of Operations
