Lacrosse at a "DI" UND?

[MplsBison]

Correct, the NDHSAA does not support softball.

Once again:

my opinion on this is that no NDUS school should have a sport that isn't sponsered by the NDHSAA.

[siouxfan123]

Correct, the NDHSAA does not support softball.

Once again:

my opinion on this is that no NDUS school should have a sport that isn't sponsered by the NDHSAA.

I don't think that would be very prudent, High School Activities Associations have never really been on the leading edge of promoting sports that are on the periphery (unless you consider calling competitive cheer and dance a sport like they have done in SD innovative). Club sports are becoming more and more popular and with school budgets not getting any larger, club sports will probably become the norm for any sport that is not currently in the core (football, basketball, volleyball) and possibly be the norm for all sports in the future. We also need to remember that UND (I don't know what it is for NDSU, but I am sure its large) draws 50% of its students from outside of ND (with large numbers coming from Minneapolis Metro) and offering athletic opportunities that are up and coming is good policy for promoting the school if it is done right. With your policy UND and NDSU would have its hands tied in the Athletic Department and I don't think any AD would like to have it that way. Also what if NDHSAA decides to get rid of swimming and diving, golf, or tennis because of declining student populations in ND high schools? Would UND and NDSU have to get rid of those sports? I see nothing but problems with this policy.

[MplsBison]

The mission of NDSU and UND is to serve the students of North Dakota.

If we also serve the students of other states, like Minnesota, then fine. But first and foremost are ND students.

If ND students aren't playing softball then I don't want NDSU being a softball haven for Minnesota and California kids who didn't get picked up by colleges in those states.

[siouxfan123]

The mission of NDSU and UND is to serve the students of North Dakota.

If we also serve the students of other states, like Minnesota, then fine. But first and foremost are ND students.

If ND students aren't playing softball then I don't want NDSU being a softball haven for Minnesota and California kids who didn't get picked up by colleges in those states.

That is fair and I understand where you are coming from, but more and more public universities are becoming "businesses" and need to look outside the box for growth and opportunity. State funding is not likely to increase anytime soon, ND high school population is decreasing, and any good business person has to see that growth to provide increased research dollars, pay for all the new shinny buildings, and increase educational opportunities will not come from ND. I know that this is well beyond the scope of sports, but everything in a university is intertwined and depend on each other and sports are just one piece of an interconnected pie.

I also have a question for you, let

[MplsBison]

I can safely say that I would still oppose it because I know as fact that the NDHSAA would add the sport if it ever became that popular.

Simply put, there won't ever be a sport in the country, let alone in this state, that is going to catch fire with the young people that the NDHSAA doesn't already sponsor.

Lacrosse will never be more popular than softball in the state of North Dakota. Club sport at best.

And that being the case, I don't want ND public schools putting money into it.

[Stromer]

I can safely say that I would still oppose it because I know as fact that the NDHSAA would add the sport if it ever became that popular.

Simply put, there won't ever be a sport in the country, let alone in this state, that is going to catch fire with the young people that the NDHSAA doesn't already sponsor.

Lacrosse will never be more popular than softball in the state of North Dakota. Club sport at best.

And that being the case, I don't want ND public schools putting money into it.

I will have to disagree with you about lacrosse. I think it will find a very nice market in ND. As for your other post, what happens when the FB or BB team becomes made up of 75% of out of state kids. Should they shut that down too? What is the magic number?

[GeauxSioux]

UND has had baseball for a very long time. How long has the NDHSAA sponsored baseball? When I was in HS (I know that was a long time ago), the high schools didn't have baseball. It was American Legion baseball. Should UND not have had a baseball team until the NDHSAA sponsored it?

I agree with Stomer lacrosse would be a nice market for UND and North Dakota as a whole.

[MplsBison]

I think it will find a very nice market in ND.

Softball has a nice market in ND too. A nice club market.

Lacrosse will never be popular outside the large schools in ND, if it even comes to that.

As I said, that's a cub sport.

It should not be sponsored by the NDHSAA unless small schools are playing it too.

what happens when the FB or BB team becomes made up of 75% of out of state kids.

As long as the NDHSAA still sponsers BB and FB, and they always will until the end of time, then NDSU and UND should have BB and FB teams.

The NDHSAA will drop ice hockey long before it ever dropped bb or fb. So I don't think you want to go down that road!

[star2city]

Lacrosse will never be popular outside the large schools in ND, if it even comes to that.

Hockey has never been popular outside the large schools (mainly because of numbers of athletes required and facilities (rinks) in small towns.)

It should not be sponsored by the NDHSAA unless small schools are playing it too.

So swimming & diving, gymnastics, hockey, and soccer should all be cancelled by the NDHSAA. No small schools offer those, except through co-ops.

NDSUs next sport: equestrian. Sponsored by the NDHSAA?

[MplsBison]

No small schools offer those, except through co-ops.

And I'm saying that there will be no lacrosse coops because there won't be any small schools with interest in it period.

NDSUs next sport: equestrian. Sponsored by the NDHSAA?

You're thinking of SDSU.

They are starting equestrian. Not NDSU.

[star2city]

And I'm saying that there will be no lacrosse coops because there won't be any small schools with interest in it period.

Wait just a few years.

You're thinking of SDSU. They are starting equestrian. Not NDSU.

Equestrian would be the next women's sport of choice for NDSU (except perhaps women's wrestling.)

If UND added lacrosse, lax would become huge in GF and Fargo. Lacrosse is growing practically everywhere and shows no sign of stopping. With few men's teams being added and only Denver and Air Fprce west of the Mississippi, UND needs to be ahead of the curve. Western, Midwestern, and Canadian kids would enroll like crazy to get a chance to play DI lax. Aith the Alerus Center and a new indoor practice field, it's one DI sport that UND can become a power in.

New Jersey

Once upon a time, there was one boys lacrosse league in the state of New Jersey, the New Jersey Interscholastic Lacrosse League.

Then the explosion of growth of boys lacrosse came. Suddenly instead of forty-some teams there were more than 100. Existing leagues began to notice how many of their schools were playing boys lacrosse and the NJILL started to fall apart.

In 2001, there was one South Jersey boys lacrosse team. The Moorestown Quakers won the state championship that spring. Next spring there will be 30.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Lax Here to Stay, Sanctioned by GHSA in 2005, sport has put down solid roots in Georgia

By 1999, there were seven boys and six girls teams. By 2002, the numbers of both had nearly tripled, and the growth continued. Suddenly the GHSA was looking at a sport that was showing promise in a state many wouldn't expect.

"There are no historical roots for this sport in the deep South, [so] that's what really makes it kind of an interesting phenomenon," said GHSA executive director Ralph Swearngin, whose organization sanctioned lacrosse as a championship sport in 2005. "One of the things that we do when we sanction a sport, there has to be some sign that it's going to be a stable sport. I don't know that any of us anticipated such rapid growth."

In its fourth year of GHSA-sanctioned play, lacrosse has 46 boys and 48 girls teams. And the signs of growth continue to show as the sport heads into this week's state semifinals and finals.

Colorado Lax moves beyond Denver into Intermountain region

Lacrosse is growing rapidly in Colorado

[MplsBison]

Equestrian would be the next women's sport of choice for NDSU

Very doubtful.

Equestrian has an even lower chance of being added than ice hockey at NDSU.

If UND added lacrosse, lax would become huge in GF and Fargo.

But not until then?

No, no, no. No lacrosse at UND until it becomes popular in NDHSAA high schools throughout the state.

Not the other way around.

[GeauxSioux]

Very doubtful.

Equestrian has an even lower chance of being added than ice hockey at NDSU.

But not until then?

No, no, no. No lacrosse at UND until it becomes popular in NDHSAA high schools throughout the state.

Not the other way around.

You make it sound like there would be no interest in lacrosse at UND unless HS kids in ND are playing the sport. There are kids in MSP metro playing the game. There are kids all over Canada playing the game. It seems to me adding lacrosse would be a positive in a few ways.

1. Participation in a growing sport where UND could be competitive on a national stage.
   
2. Increase enrollment with students who may have gone elsewhere.
   
3. Provide a sport with positive or at the very worst neutral revenue.
   
4. More activity at the Alerus/Canad complex.
   

Thankfully, you are not the AD or president at North Dakota.

[Stromer]

No, no, no. No lacrosse at UND until it becomes popular in NDHSAA high schools throughout the state.

Not the other way around.

The NDHSAA is the most worthless "organization" in the world. I would almost go as far to say do the opposite of what they want. Also college is a time for expanding your horizon. Keeping to the bread and butter offerings of the NDHSAA defeats this. Lacrosse is poised for an all out boom yet the states high schools might never add it because of the cost. I don't think that wouldn't be an issue at UND.

[GeauxSioux]

The NDHSAA is the most worthless "organization" in the world.

I think that both the NCAA and the UN would have NDHSAA beat.

[Stromer]

I think that both the NCAA and the UN would have NDHSAA beat.

I would say it is a dead heat between all 3. The winner just depends on what mood I am in. In a way, the NDHSAA has shown signs of improvement, only to fall flat on their face when they come out with some stupid proposal. The other 2 have just shown no desire to improve at all.

[The Sicatoka]

It seems to me adding lacrosse would be a positive in a few ways.

1. Participation in a growing sport where UND could be competitive on a national stage.
   
2. Increase enrollment with students who may have gone elsewhere.
   
3. Provide a sport with positive or at the very worst neutral revenue.
   
4. More activity at the Alerus/Canad complex.
   

Thankfully, you are not the AD or president at North Dakota.

You've just rattled off all of the reasons why a Bison fan wouldn't want to see lax at UND.

[star2city]

Lacrosse's western expansion lifts Cornell, Ithaca

ITHACA -- Ryan Hurley, a Minnesotan, was naturally raised on hockey. Neth Wiedemann, a Texan, was likewise reared on football.

But for both, as their junior high school days drew to a close, lacrosse unexpectedly got in the way. Each gravitated to the sport with friends -- and never left.

"I tried it out, I liked it, and after about the first year I started to figure out that I might be pretty good at it," said Hurley, who won a Minnesota state hockey title in 2005 at the Academy of Holy Angels.

Said Wiedemann: In Texas, "you're starting to see now where it's a lot of people playing football and lacrosse. The mentality is ... people are bringing a football mentality to lacrosse. It's kind of cool to see."

For years, college lacrosse has been dominated by players from "hotbed" high school regions. Upstate New York; Baltimore and the surrounding Virginia area; Long Island; and to a slightly lesser extent, Southeastern Pennsylvania and New England.

That trend, as the Ithaca's two college teams show, appears to be fading.

On Saturday, Cornell and Ithaca College will open up NCAA Division I and Division III tournament play, respectively, with lineups that reflect the ongoing expansion of the sport nationally.

Incidentally, two of the three Great West Lacrosse teams won this weekend to advance to the Elite 8: Notre Dame and Ohio St. Denver lost to Maryland.

[Mikey]

I personally would love to see lacrosse at UND. I would go to a lot lacrosse games if it was offered anywhere in the area. I grew up around lacrosse back east and think it would draw pretty well up here.

Besides the students that would be interested, and the rest of us here, there is also a lot of guys from the east and west coast from the base that would probably be interested in a men's lacrosse program. I can name at least 10 people with me in the room I'm in right now that would attend games.

Just my two cents.

[andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!!]

Has anyone whispered "Lacrosse" into anyone's ear (preferably a high up ear)?

[MplsBison]

I personally would love to see lacrosse at UND. I would go to a lot lacrosse games if it was offered anywhere in the area. I grew up around lacrosse back east and think it would draw pretty well up here.

Besides the students that would be interested, and the rest of us here, there is also a lot of guys from the east and west coast from the base that would probably be interested in a men's lacrosse program. I can name at least 10 people with me in the room I'm in right now that would attend games.

Just my two cents.

Then why aren't you at UND's club team games?

Right.

Exactly the reason it's a club sport in the first place.

[The Sicatoka]

Has anyone whispered "Lacrosse" into anyone's ear (preferably a high up ear)?

Continually, and recently.

But I'm just one. If you're serious step up and send a message also.

[Mikey]

Then why aren't you at UND's club team games?

I'm not even in the US right now, and haven't been since March.

Is that a good enough reason?

[GeauxSioux]

I watched a little bit of the Long Island vs. Philadelphia MLL game last night on ESPN2. I don't have a clue as to what all of the rules are, but it sure is fun to watch. If I lived in GF and the Sioux had a lacrosse team, I would be there.

[The Sicatoka]

I don't have a clue as to what all of the rules are, ...

A lot like hockey:

Whip the hard rubber thingy at the guy in the wrong color jersey who's wearing the big pads and hope it goes into the net.

OK, OK, real rules.