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A Few Clouds Rockville Centre inventor dreams up innovative lacrosse target
Several years ago Rockville Centre resident Gene Vassel dreamed up a lacrosse product aimed at making target practice more fun, and he is now bringing it to the sports market.
Vassel, 43, was an avid lacrosse player for much of his life, as well as a longtime coach of middle school players in East Meadow. As a coach, Vassel noticed that there was something not quite clicking for his players, so he went to the drawing board.
“There were shooting targets out there with sections and corners cut out of the material,” Vassel said. “However, shooting into an empty corner or space is almost as lackluster as shooting on an open cage. Simply put, it wasn’t exciting or engaging.
“As a teacher I am always looking to motivate and inspire,” he added. “So I started tinkering in my garage to come up with something that would better my players.”
About four years ago, Vassel recalled, he took a can of seltzer to use as a target. When he shared the concept with his players at the time at Clark Middle School in Westbury they were enthused with the idea. “Seeing the can explode got them excited to hit the targets,” he said.
Realizing the potential of his idea, Vassel morphed his product from a seltzer can taped to a goal to a clear plastic contraption that encases water balloons, and partnered with Zuru Bunch O Balloons.
At a business competition at Hofstra University in 2014, he pitched LaxSniper. Around that time, Vassel teamed up with his former player, Tom Schreiber — a two-time Most Valuable Player in Major League Lacrosse who scored the game-winning goal for the U.S. National Team in the World Championship game earlier this year.
“He is such an incredible human being and super humble, and he has been an incredible asset to this venture,” Vassel said of Schreiber.
Since then, Vassel, Schreiber, and Kyle Sweeney — a 2006 and 2010 member of the U.S. National Team — have gone through seemingly endless iterations of a product they hoped to get to lacrosse players.
Last January, Vassel found a manufacturer in the U.S. for LaxSniper, and in May, the company partnered with the Headstrong Foundation — a non-profit organization founded by former Hofstra lacrosse player Nicholas Colleluori, who died of cancer in 2006 — to make LaxSniper a reality.
In June, LaxSniper launched its website, promoting and selling the product across the United States.
“It has been a blast to be part of the LaxSniper team,” Schreiber said. “I’ve learned a ton from Gene over the years, from lacrosse to business. It has been an incredible journey. I am beyond excited for LaxSniper’s future.”
To get the word out about their new product, Vassel hosted a clinic with the RVC Lacrosse Club last season, working with players from South Side Middle School. He has also promoted the product at New York Lizards lacrosse games.
“As a coach, I’m always looking for ways to bring more fun into our practices while teaching the boys the fundamentals of the game,” said Sean Gaffey, coach of the Rockville Centre Shamrocks, a fourth-grade team. “LaxSniper does just that for our program. They have so much fun trying to hit the targets and the excitement that they have when they do is second to none.”
“I’ve learned that it’s a marathon not a sprint,” Vassel said of the process of bringing a product to market. “It’s really all about mentorship and networking. That’s what we will continue to do, and so far it’s been an unbelievable journey.”
