Michigan's Proposed Lacrosse Facility

The Growth Blog came upon the below clip of a proposed lacrosse specific facility for the University of  Michigan Men's Lacrosse team (MCLA-1).



From the Michigan Website:

"Plans are under way for Elbel Field to be converted to FieldTurf within the next few years.  Stadium lighting and a permanent scoreboard will be added, along with seating for 3,000.  This will finally give Michigan an outdoor lacrosse facility. Most exciting, the team is finalizing plans to construct a new lacrosse-only service building next to Elbel Field that will include locker rooms, offices, meeting rooms, equipment, training and a 5,000 square-foot weight room.  Once the new building is completed Michigan lacrosse will have the best facilities in the nation, at any level."

Posted in: College,Facilities,MCLA,Michigan

Parity and Growth

For the sport of lacrosse to become mainstream it needs teams besides the usual suspects to succeed.  We have seen examples of parity creeping into the sport, but this year talk has heated up more than ever.  Trevor Tierney defines parity in the sport of lacrosse as "when different teams are in the final four each year".  While we are probably some time removed from seeing that definition become reality, we are slowly getting there.

The Orange Blog has a revealing article about Dave Urick and his discussions with (ex Hobart Lacrosse player) Florida A.D. Jerry Foley about the growth of the sport of and UF's lacrosse future (or lack there of).

Gillette Stadium will host the 2011 NCAA Championship Men's Lacrosse Quarterfinals.  Gillette will be the first professional football stadium to host a quarterfinal game.

Quick Hits

-1st year program Jacksonville wins again and is undefeated at the Ashley Sports Complex

-MLL's Bayhawks have new owners and a name change

-Gay lacrosse player comes out

-Iowa Men's Lacrosse (MCLA-1) featured in school newspaper

-7th Grader starts his own lacrosse apparel company

-NCAA Lacrosse teams attracting more Canadians

-EA Sports cancels NCAA College Basketball video game series

Posted in: Canada,College,Division I,Facilities,Florida,Industry,International,Iowa,Lifestyle,MCLA,Media,MLL,Professional

Attendance, LeMoyne is staying in DII, and Lindenwood has a varsity Clay Target Shooting Team

An impressive weekend for game attendance, nearly 8,000 people saw No.2 Virginia defeat No.1 Syracuse 11-10 in Charlottesville and the Konica Minolta Face Off Classic saw a crowd of just under 20,000. 

Drexel shocked Notre Dame with a 7-6 OT victory.  With teams like Drexel, Lafayette and Stony Brook making waves has parity finally made it's way  to NCAA DI Lacrosse?

DII power LeMoyne College has completed their Division I feasibility study and has concluded that they will remain in Division II.  On the other hand Lindenwood University in Missouri has applied for NCAA status at the Division II level.  No word yet as to if they plan to have their successful MCLA teams compete at the NCAA level.  The article states that not all teams will be promoted to NCAA/varsity status, sorry Lindenwood Roller Hockey, Table Tennis, and Clay Target Shooting team.

MCLA game webcasts seem to becoming more common. The Growth Blog remembers when the only MCLA games one could watch not in person used to be BYU on BYUTV on Direct TV 1,275.

New youth leagues popping up in Chicago and Florida, but a Maine district is dropping their middle school lacrosse team due to budget issues.

St. Louis Today asked it's sport staff to make predictions for the next decade and journalist David Kvidahl predicts lacrosse will grow for among other reasons it is a safer alternative to football.

Quick Hits

- New stick regulations, are they making any difference? A players perspective

-IMG wants to create a High School Lacrosse National Championship Tournament

-A great article by Inside Lacrosse's Sean Burns about the affects of Title IX on college lacrosse

-Arizona High School girl becomes 2nd ever from state to play Division I (video)

-2nd edition of Lacrosse For Dummies due out in April

Posted in: Arizona,Attendance,College,Division I,Division II,Florida,Gender Equity,High School,Illinois,Maine,MCLA,Missouri,Youth

Checking in on the NCAA's Newest Programs

The Atlanta Journal Constitution discusses growth of the sport in the state of Georgia and specifically highlights some of the new college programs in the state. Also, two of the states newest Division III Women's Programs debuted against each other this past week.

Athletic Management Magazine takes a look inside lacrosse at Lenoir-Rhyne University and how they are preparing for their 2011 debut . They are one of North Carolina's newest lacrosse programs.

Recently, Adams State College Announced ex BYU Coach Jason Lamb as the Director of Lacrosse. Other MCLA Coaches to get hired by a new NCAA program include Matt Holtz/Detroit and AJ Stevens/Mesa State. Speaking of Mesa and Adams State, both schools are set to debut in 2011 and have seen positive coverage of their decision to add the sport.

New Division I program Jacksonville University is good, real good. New Division III Program Milwaukee School of Engineering, on the other hand, has some work to do.

DII Dominican University (CA) gets some love from their local news outlet.

Posted in: California,College,Colorado,Division I,Division II,Division III,Florida,Georgia,North Carolina,Wisconsin

IMG to Add Lacrosse to Sports Academies

The International Management Group has added lacrosse to it's IMG Academy sport offerings. The IMG Academys offer boarding, non-boarding, and weekly programs for current and intending professional athletes. According to the Sport Business Journal, IMG began showing interest in the sport of lacrosse last year. Kevin Finneran has been tabbed to oversee the program at IMG. Below see him and Paul Rabil put on an instructional at the academy.

Posted in: Industry