.
.

Growth Articles From Across the Nation

-Palm Beach County, FL Joins Lacrosse Craze

-Lacrosse Becoming Popular in Stark County, OH

-Lacrosse Increasing in Granite Bay, CA

-Lacrosse Blooming in Israel

-Growing the Game in Guatemala

-Lacrosse Fever Spreading Through South Bend, IN

-Blue Devils Enjoying NFL Stadium Games

-Lacrosse Fever in Mountain Top, PA

-Sport Grows Along Alabama's Gulf Coast

-Lacrosse Continues to Grow in Savannah, GA

Methodist University (DIII NC) To Add Men's Lacrosse

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - Methodist University is pleased to announce the addition of men's lacrosse as an intercollegiate sport for the 2013-14 year.

"I am pleased to announce that the university administration has recently approved the addition of men's lacrosse as our 20th intercollegiate NCAA Division III sport," Director of Athletics Bob McEvoy said.

A national search will begin immediately for a head coach to join the Methodist staff this fall. The new head coach will have a year to recruit student-athletes and organize t
he program in preparation for the first scheduled competitions in the 2013-14 year.

The last sport Methodist added was women's lacrosse in 2000 with the first season of NCAA competition taking place in the 2001-02 year. The addition of men's lacrosse will give Methodist 20 total sport offerings with 10 men's and 10 women's intercollegiate programs.

Full Article

Richmond Considers Adding D1 Lacrosse, Will Remain Club At This Time

The University of Richmond will not elevate its men’s lacrosse program from varsity club status to Division I at this time, UR Athletic Director Jim Miller said on Friday.

The school’s board of trustees, which met Thursday and Friday, considered that possibility. UR will continue to examine the issue, according to Miller.

“At this time, the university is satisfied with the sport mix we have. We’re satisfied with the current status of men’s lacrosse,” said Miller. “We’re very positive about the success of the current sports we have at Richmond, and we’re looking for ways to enhance those sports.”

Full Article

Quick Hits:

-Lacrosse Club Forms in North Dakota

-Lacrosse on the Rise in Michigan

-Lacrosse Growing in Ontario

-Cash Strapped Districts Operating Teams as Clubs in Ohio

Lacrosse A New Recruiting Tool For Private Colleges

PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- The only reason Julia Kudla visited Lake Erie College was because it offered lacrosse. At the time, the then-senior at Souderton High School in Harleysville, Pa. wasn't even sure where Painesville was.

"I didn't really know much about the Cleveland area," said Kudla, who was contacted after Lake Erie's lacrosse coach saw her play in an East Coast tournament. "I was pleasantly surprised when I visited the campus."

Lacrosse has become the latest recruitment tool for private universities in Ohio and other Midwestern states. Relatively inexpensive to start, the sport is growing in popularity at high schools. By offering the chance to play at the next level, colleges hope to attract students who otherwise wouldn't have considered those campuses.

Full Article

Quick Hits:

-Virginia HS Successful in its First Year

-Lacrosse Now Part of the Greatest Rivalry (video)

-Will Lacrosse Ever Go Mainstream?

-Ohio Machine Bringing Lacrosse to Ohio (video)

-NLL's Stealth Help Lacrosse Grow in Washington (video)

-Seattle U Club Lacrosse Struggles to Gain Legitamacy

-Lacrosse in Omaha, NE

As the Game Grows, Chronic Injuries Become a Concern

The rules of lacrosse allow for both player-to-player and stick-to-player contact, leaving players susceptible to acute traumatic injuries like those commonly seen in football and ice hockey.

However, as lacrosse continues to become a year-round game, chronic repetitive injuries like those typical in baseball, tennis and swimming may begin to surface.

Lacrosse has grown rapidly in the past 10 years. According to a recent survey by US Lacrosse, the sport's national governing body, participation has risen by an average of 10 percent a year since 2002, with more than 600,000 people now playing at various levels. Despite the physical nature of the sport, lacrosse maintains an injury rate substantially lower than those in football, wrestling, ice hockey, men's and women's soccer and gymnastics. However, as the game continues to expand, more players and more games mean more injuries.

Full Article

Quick Hits:

-Lacrosse Growth in Western, PA

-Lacrosse Growing Leaps and Bounds in Montana

-Michigan hosts Ohio State in the Big House for the first time ever

-Lacrosse Fastest Growing Sport in Wisconsin

-Lacrosse Expansion a Delicate Game in Lehigh Valley, PA

-Huntingdon College (AL) Contributing to Local Growth


Midwestern Liberal Arts Schools Use Lacrosse to Recapture Suburban Students

Ten years ago, if you were a Chicago-area high school student who wanted to play lacrosse in college, a couple of things were true about you. You were likely white, from a well-educated and wealthy household, fairly uncommon (only 7,085 high school boys and 3,420 high school girls played the sport in the 12-state Midwest region in 2001), and going East for college, since the East is where college lacrosse programs were.

Nowadays, the first two are still largely true. The latter two are not. The sport’s popularity has boomed in the region, particularly in the suburbs of Chicago and the Twin Cities, and Midwestern colleges have rapidly added programs to try to keep pace. Since 2010, 17 private colleges in the Midwest have added Division III men’s lacrosse programs and 16 have added women’s programs. The growth is particularly notable because many colleges have been eliminating some sports programs during the same time period.

Full Article

Quick Hits:

-Lax All-stars Analyses The Growth of Lacrosse and its Future Potential

-Wallingford, CT to Add Lacrosse Despite Budget Cuts

-Lacrosse Reaching its Goals in Erie, PA

-Lacrosse Stakes its Ground in Erie, PA

-Lacrosse Catching on in Rocklin, CA

-Lacrosse Takes off in Bergen County, NJ

-Schools Learning Lacrosse in Garner, NC

-Providence College Helps Grow the Game at Illinois School

US Lacrosse Releases 2011 Participation Survey

More than 680,000 players participated in lacrosse on organized teams in 2011, according to the 2011 US Lacrosse Participation Survey, released today. The figure resulted from an increase of roughly 60,000 players from 2010, the largest one-year increase in the total number of players since US Lacrosse began tracking national data in 2001.

More than half of the total players compete at the youth level (age 15 and below), but every segment of the game is showing continued growth patterns. Lacrosse has been one of the nation’s fastest-growing team sports for more than a decade, and that trend continued in 2011.

Full Report

Quick Hits:

-
Pittsfield, MA Looks to Add Lacrosse

-Lacrosse Gaining Popularity at Local Michigan School

-Tampa Area Schools May Add Lacrosse

-Hillsborough, FL Schools Considers Lacrosse (video)

Albright Rewriting the Start-Up Blueprint

Jake Plunket can laugh about it now, but last year was scary.

Hired to start the fledgling Albright College program, Plunket was no longer surrounded by the Syracuse teammates who helped him win a pair of national titles as a player. None of the staff of the Cortland championship team, of which Plunket was a member, cared about his new venture. Heck, he didn't even have an assistant coach.

It was just him.

"I'm sitting in my office right now thinking, "Holy [cow], last year I was just getting started with my calls and I'd be in here until 10 p.m. just to get some bodies," Plunket said. "I couldn't sleep at night because I wasn't sure if I was going to have enough players."

Full Article

Quick Hits:

-IMG Adding Competitive Lacrosse Teams

-Lacrosse Programs Growing in Mentor, OH

-Girls Lacrosse Growing in N. Stonington, CT

-Lacrosse Gaining Steam in South Jersey

-Hopkins vs. UVA Highest Rated Lacrosse Game in ESPNU History

-Delray Beach Seeks to Increase Profile Through Lacrosse

-Girls Lax Growing in Prince George, MD

-Plainfield Park in Illinois to Offer Lacrosse

-Girls Lax Makes Debut in Monson, MA