Lacrosse at a "DI" UND?

[star2city]

Lacrosse in western Montana growing fast

"Montana lacrosse is growing rapidly," said Bechtold. "We have had college teams at the University of Montana in Missoula and Montana State University in Bozeman for many years, but school-level lacrosse has expanded dramatically in the last two years. We are growing from one high school team in 2010 to six high school teams in 2011, and several communities have started adult recreational leagues. This is an exciting time for lacrosse in Montana, and our new chapter status will help us keep pace with all US Lacrosse standards."

...

Previously, Montana school-level teams in the Missoula, Flathead and Gallatin counties relied on their neighbors in northern Idaho and eastern Washington to provide competition while the programs in-state developed. This year for the first time, Montana will crown its inaugural school-level state champions and select All-State teams.

[dakotadan]

Don't look now, but lacrosse is making Minnesota inroads

"Lacrosse has become very cool," St. Paul columnist Tom Powers writes. "There are 10,000 registered lacrosse players in our district, which includes Minnesota and the Dakotas. There are roughly 65 high school varsity programs in the state. Those numbers were much lower before the Swarm began operations at Xcel Energy Center in 2005. The local entry in the National Lacrosse League has succeeded in growing the sport."

[Air Force One]

The first high school varsity lacrosse game in North Dakota will be played Friday, April 22, at 5:30 PM at Ed Clapp Park in Fargo. The Fargo Warriors will host Brainerd, MN. The Fargo Warriors are in their first year as a varsity club team playing in the Minnesota Boys Scholastic Lacrosse Association North along with Brainerd, Grand Rapids, Duluth, and St Cloud North. The Fargo Warriors are made up of boys from all the Fargo high schools, West Fargo, Moorhead, Dilworth, and East Grand Forks.

Organizers have asked the NDSU Lacrosse team to be there to cheer on the Warriors, and I would bet there will be players from the Minnesota State University - Moorhead Lacrosse team their as well as both coaches play or have played for MSU - Moorhead. I heard there may even be at least one member of the UND Lacrosse team there as well. They are also working on media coverage to capture this event. Scheels has been a big sponsor of this effort too with the donation of 25 helmets to help the team meet the league uniform standards. These boys have worked hard getting to this point and are very excited to usher this sport into the high school level in North Dakota. If you are in the Fargo area on Friday afternoon, swing over to the field to cheer the boys on!

If you cannot be there Friday, come by on Saturday at 3:00 PM when the Warriors host St Cloud North. For either game, bring your lawn chairs as there is no seating at the field.

For more on the Fargo Warriors Lacrosse Team, check out:

Fargo Lacrosse Club Homepage

Fargo Warriors on MN Lax Hub

[star2city]

April 19th and still no home baseball games have been played. We really need some kind of dome or bubble for college baseball at UND.

We would need that for lacrosse, too. Oh wait, we already have that.

[star2city]

Michigan add men's lax for 2012, women's for 2013

[bincitysioux]

I'm growing tired of this Lacrosse thread.................

Apparently, UND is dumb enough to continue funding baseball at the DI level, even when the conference we are to be members of don't sponsor the sport. That leads me to have little hope that North Dakota is smart enough to explore the idea of Lacrosse, a sport that we could actually be competetive at, relatively speaking compared to baseball.....................

[Ole in MSP]

I'm growing tired of this Lacrosse thread.................

Apparently, UND is dumb enough to continue funding baseball at the DI level, even when the conference we are to be members of don't sponsor the sport. That leads me to have little hope that North Dakota is smart enough to explore the idea of Lacrosse, a sport that we could actually be competetive at, relatively speaking compared to baseball.....................

I think the more appropriate approach is to realize that playing college baseball in GF without an indoor stadium prior to May 15th is pretty futile. Years ago when GF was a farm club for the Pirates and Indians they did not start the season until late May or early June realizing the weather was always going to be a factor at this latitude. UND would be better served, nothing against the dedicated current players, to look hard at how the funding for BB could be redistributed. The SB and BB teams have shown to be great student athletes, but the burden of the weather and the travel they endure makes these programs unsustainable at a competitive level in D1.

[Matt]

I think the more appropriate approach is to realize that playing college baseball in GF without an indoor stadium prior to May 15th is pretty futile. Years ago when GF was a farm club for the Pirates and Indians they did not start the season until late May or early June realizing the weather was always going to be a factor at this latitude. UND would be better served, nothing against the dedicated current players, to look hard at how the funding for BB could be redistributed. The SB and BB teams have shown to be great student athletes, but the burden of the weather and the travel they endure makes these programs unsustainable at a competitive level in D1.

Don't lump SB in that. NDSU has shown you can field a nationally competitive team here. Baseball is a different animal, even if you play in the Big Ten.

[star2city]

I'm growing tired of this Lacrosse thread.................

Apparently, UND is dumb enough to continue funding baseball at the DI level, even when the conference we are to be members of don't sponsor the sport. That leads me to have little hope that North Dakota is smart enough to explore the idea of Lacrosse, a sport that we could actually be competetive at, relatively speaking compared to baseball.....................

In all honesty, until UND had a conference affiliation, the administration wasn't going to be adding or eliminating any sports. With the Big Sky move, seems like they will have to add men's tennis and potentially drop men's golf. When the Summit League looked to our UND administrators as the likely conference route, UND sports (including baseball) matched up well and baseball would almost certainly would remain as a sports offering if we were becoming part of the Summit. Now, with the Big Sky not offering baseball (but soon to be offering softball), the question is what happens to baseball? There's still a chance that with all the shuffling in the WAC, that UND could somehow (but very unlikely) gain a baseball affiliation in that league. (Highly doubt the Summit would ever offer UND baseball a slot with the bad blood with Douple.) More likely, UND baseball will be stuck in independent limbo. Maybe a Great West - like league will still continue, but traveling for "conference" games to all four corners of the U.S. isn't a way to build a program. Moreover, dropping a sport like baseball that has a large number of alumni would be very unpopular - which isn't a group that Faison or Kelley would want to displease (although those two didn't seem to care about vast majority opinion on the Sioux nickname.)

For lax to ever happen at UND, four things need to happen:

1. Administration has to throw in the towel on baseball, and take the heat on that decision.

2. An indoor training facility gets built (otherwise lax becomes impossible without renting out the Alerus for practice in January and February).

3. Someone in the admin has to be a major proponent of lacrosse, and be willing to take the heat for adding it.

4. The ECAC league with Denver / Air Force / Ohio State (and soon Michigan) has to offer a UND a position.

UND athletic would be in a truly unique and highly reputable position if it was in the following leagues:

Football and most sports in the Big Sky.

Hockey in a Super Six or Eight with Notre Dame and Denver.

Lacrosse in a league with Denver, Air Force, Ohio St, and Michigan

Swimming in CUSA, with Denver also in it (WAC will have trouble keeping Swimming)

[The Sicatoka]

Good reading:

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/yb/159006501

[star2city]

With the PAC12 getting a huge $ increase from television contracts, it will be interesting if some schools start additional sports like hockey or lacrosse.

Utah, for example, will be seeing TV revenues go from less than $1 mill to more than $20 mill by 2014 (they only receive partial allotments from the PAC12 until then). Most of the money probably will go into coaches salaries.

Only club lacrosse at UCLA until more western schools sponsor sport

Denver lacrosse makes history by gaining first home NCAA playoff game

[star2city]

Denver makes historic run to lacrosse Final Four

Although the Pioneers have players from 17 states and the District of Columbia, plus two Canadian provinces, on their 45-man roster, 10 are Colorado products.

"The really cool thing watching the end of that game, is that three of the four goals that kind of put Hopkins away were from a Fort Collins kid, an Arapahoe kid and a Denver East kid," Smith said. "It's really cool to see the Colorado kids on the big stage playing well."

MIchigan officially announces addition of Men's and Women's lacrosse as sports

Potential UND lacrosse conference mates:

Denver

Air Force

Michigan

Ohio State

[The Sicatoka]

Seems like time to resurrect this thread ...

Michigan is starting lax now. A new league could be:

Great West Lacrosse

Ohio State

Michigan

Bellarmine

Detroit Mercy

Denver

Air Force

North Dakota

Rumors remain that Southern Cal and Stanford will also start men's teams. Denver and Air Force are currently the only men's lax schools west of the Mississippi (in DI).

[The Sicatoka]

Alerus is a perfect facility for it. Tailgating in April. Big name schools. All types of H.S. lax players in the Twin Cities and West Coast and in Canada that don't have many options.

With the Summit almost certain to poach Great West baseball teams - and with HBU likely going to the Southland - UND could very well be stuck as a baseball independent.

[star2city]

http://www.mshsl.org....asp?actnum=434

Huh, 54 high schools in Minnesota are Lacrosse participants.

There's also 20 MN High schools that play at the club level, mostly out-state, as their school districts have not yet approved varsity lax:

http://www.mnlaxhub....a-varsity-2011-

[darell1976]

Maybe an email to Brain Faison or President Kelley may be in order to find out if LAX at UND is in the future. Baseball has to be on the way out, we have no conference for it (BSC doesn't sponsor it although they are going to start sponsoring softball in 2012), weather sucks up here for baseball unless you are indoors, so why not LAX.

[JohnboyND7]

It is the fastest growing sport. And seems to fit right in with the hockey crowd.

This. It kinda comes across, whether it is true or not, as a wealthy white kid sport. I don't think that any schools in the area have it. Might be something to look into for UND (or NDSU, USD, SDSU)...I know driving by campus here in Fargo I see a lot of people playing around with it. At the very least, look into it.

[darell1976]

This. It kinda comes across, whether it is true or not, as a wealthy white kid sport. I don't think that any schools in the area have it. Might be something to look into for UND (or NDSU, USD, SDSU)...I know driving by campus here in Fargo I see a lot of people playing around with it. At the very least, look into it.

http://www.ndsulax.com/teams/?u=ndsulacrosse&s=lacrosse&t=c

http://web.mnstate.edu/lacrosse/

[dakotadan]

Michigan's first-year varsity men's lacrosse team will take on their traditional rival Ohio State for the first time in lacrosse at 1:30 today in the Big House. For anyone who wants to catch the game, it is being broadcast on the B1G Network.

[SIOUXFAN97]

really, how many alumni would be mad if faison axed baseball for lacrosse? i haven't met one. with und not being in the summit/ncc 2.1 there really isn't much of a bright future for sioux or for that matter northern based baseball schools so its time to get into lacrosse while league/rivals are being started...count me in.

[bincitysioux]

4-5 years ago, a group of baseball alums made a decent contribution to the program because it was being neglected. The University just invested some substantial coin into Kraft Field. I don't think baseball is going away any time soon.

I love the sport of baseball, but if I were "A.D. for a day", my first order of business would be to drop the program. It just doesn't pencil out at the DI level when you are possibly the northern-most team in DI, have poor facilities, and no conference.

I used to like the idea of Lacrosse to replace it, but now I think we'd be better served to just divert those resources to football and/or basketball............

[Air Force One]

The Grand Cities Predators is a high school team here in Grand Forks that is made up of players from Grand Forks Red River, Grand Forks Central, East Grand Forks Senior High, Warren-Alvarado-Oslo High School in Warren, MN, South Middle School in Grand Forks and Central Middle School in EGF. This is a club team playing in the 7 team North Conference of the 26 team Minnesota Boys Scholastic Lacrosse Association.

They opened this past weekend in Duluth going 1-2 with a win over Proctor, MN and losses to Duluth and St Cloud North. Other teams in the conference are Fargo, Grand Rapids, MN, and Brainerd, MN.

Grand Cities will be hosting Duluth and Proctor this Sunday, 22 April, at Elks Park in Grand Forks. Games are at 10:00 AM and 12:30 PM. Bring a lawn chair and check it out!

[Smoggy]

Apparently the B1G added lacrosse today. They already had the most sponsored sports and now up to 28. Seemed inevitable with the addition on Maryland. Even more surprising they grabbed Johns Hopkins as an affiliate is what I hear. Which this conference doesn't do. I haven't read any articles on this, so is Hopkins going to get in on the sharing of research? And did I hear correctly on the radio that umtc is close to adding as sport?

[82SiouxGuy]

Apparently the B1G added lacrosse today. They already had the most sponsored sports and now up to 28. Seemed inevitable with the addition on Maryland. Even more surprising they grabbed Johns Hopkins as an affiliate is what I hear. Which this conference doesn't do. I haven't read any articles on this, so is Hopkins going to get in on the sharing of research? And did I hear correctly on the radio that umtc is close to adding as sport?

When the UMTC AD was on the radio he said that there were no plans to add any more sports. He said that they had plenty of sports that they needed to support already.

[Shawn-O]

Apparently the B1G added lacrosse today. They already had the most sponsored sports and now up to 28. Seemed inevitable with the addition on Maryland. Even more surprising they grabbed Johns Hopkins as an affiliate is what I hear. Which this conference doesn't do. I haven't read any articles on this, so is Hopkins going to get in on the sharing of research? And did I hear correctly on the radio that umtc is close to adding as sport?

Hopkins would make six...so I don't think they need any more members to add the sport...is that right?