Lacrosse at a "DI" UND?

[Stromer]

I wonder what this comment was supposed to mean?

UND Lacrosse Results

University of North Dakota

I knew there was a reason they made colored lacrosse balls. The field was full of slush the entire game. Eau Claire played well and had a couple good shooters. UND's offense didn't perform well in the seconds half and they took many penalties throughout the game. Thanks to Eau Claire for making the long road trip and to the refs who had to put up with our fans.

[SiouxMD]

North Dakota has had 12 games cancelled this season due to inclement weather.

SOURCE

Apparently...lacrosse is played in the slush.

[BigGreyAnt41]

Yet another victory for the Univeristy of North Dakota in a heated Sioux-Bison matchup.

UND 10, NDSU 8

The interesting part is that NDSU says it was 7-6 UND at half, and UND said it was 7-7 at the half.

[andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!!]

Here is an article from WCCO.

[GeauxSioux]

Here is an article from WCCO.

Lacrosse started across the Upper Midwest in North America when centuries ago Native Americans played for fun and to settle disputes

Does this mean that the sport is hostile and abusive?

[MplsBison]

Indoor lacrosse basically is grass hockey.

I mean, the Swarm use the exact hockey set up, just turf on top of the ice.

Outdoor lacrosse, OTOH, seems a bit more like soccer.

[The Sicatoka]

Apparently...lacrosse is played in the slush.

It's up to 14 as of right now and we're supposed to play four this weekend on Kraft (v. MSU-Mankato). I don't see Kraft being ready on Saturday and Sunday.

But I'd guess the turf at Memorial or The Al would have supported lacrosse matches ....

[The Sicatoka]

Indoor lacrosse basically is grass hockey.

I mean, the Swarm use the exact hockey set up, just turf on top of the ice.

Outdoor lacrosse, OTOH, seems a bit more like soccer.

Please try to keep up.

http://siouxsports.com/forums/index.php?sh...mp;#entry163144

Field (NCAA) lacrosse's tempo is much like hockey or basketball (and not much like soccer or football at all).

[star2city]

It's up to 14 as of right now and we're supposed to play four this weekend on Kraft (v. MSU-Mankato). I don't see Kraft being ready on Saturday and Sunday.

But I'd guess the turf at Memorial or The Al would have supported lacrosse matches ....

When we get a retractable dome for baseball, we can be seriously competitive.

Last week I was at a conference in the Destin, Fla area, which was also swamped with high school kids and their famiiles on spring break from mostly Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. Saw no kids with baseball gloves, a few with footballs, but a lot with lacrosse sticks.

Denver Post: Crossing over to lacrosse

Male and female prep participation has nearly doubled since the Colorado High School Activities Association sanctioned lacrosse in 1999, from 2,141 athletes to 3,945 in 2006,

Even out-state Colorado is getting in on the change: Grand Junction Sentinel: Lacrosse tournament draws quite a crowd

We started last year with one (middle school age) team with 23 kids,

[MplsBison]

Sure, post a bunch of stories about the explosion of high school lacrosse.

Growth is logrithmic. It starts out very fast and then slows down.

How many high school students in the country participate in lacrosse vs track and baseball/softball? Still not even close.

[The Sicatoka]

It's up to 14 as of right now and we're supposed to play four this weekend on Kraft (v. MSU-Mankato). I don't see Kraft being ready on Saturday and Sunday.

But I'd guess the turf at Memorial or The Al would have supported lacrosse matches ....

Hey, they didn't cancel them! They just had to move them to Mankato.

At least there's something (albeit a car show) at The Al this weekend.

[farce poobah]

I think we should add lacrosse, if only as another sport we can beat NDSU at.

http://www.umll.org/game-uslmdia.cfm?gamei...3&uslmdia=1

[star2city]

Detroit News: Athletes are pumping up Adrian College enrollment

"This is a much bolder move than most schools would do." But for President Jeffrey Docking, bold was the only way to go.

...

Docking soon introduced a daring turnaround strategy, called the Renaissance Plan, to invest in programs that have a direct return on the number of students Adrian can recruit. The campus is now home to a new $6 million stadium that houses the football team, a new lacrosse team and the marching band. An ice arena will open this fall, allowing the addition of three new hockey teams and women's synchronized skating.

Although Adrian College is a Division III school, their enrollment and student profile increased substantially by adding men's & women's hockey, men's & women's lacrosse, and women's synchronized skating. Applications went up by a factor of four. Certainly, recruiting for Division III sports are not the same as for DI sports. But in DI sports where only partial scholarships are given and with few colleges sponsoring them, like lacrosse and synchronized skating, UND having world class facilites in those sports would be very appealing option for students searching for those opportunities.

BTW, why doesn't UND field club hockey teams at the ACHA level?

[Smoggy]

BTW, why doesn't UND field club hockey teams at the ACHA level?

I've wondered that myself as it seems every other school has one including Bemidji St. who played UMTC when UND was playing UMTC.

[star2city]

NCAA Selections

After having their season cancelled last year, Duke gets the #1 seed. Perenniel power Syracuse doesn't make the tournament. Notre Dame represents the Great Western Conference.

Quarterfinals at Navy

#1 Duke vs. Providence

#8 North Carolina vs. Navy

Quarterfinals at Princeton

#5 Albany vs. Loyola

#4 Cornell vs. Towson

Quarterfinals at Princeton

#6 Georgetown vs. Princeton

#3 Johns Hopkins vs. Notre Dame

Quarterfinals at Navy

#7 Maryland vs. UMBC

#2 Virginia vs. Delaware

[star2city]

An example of lower-tier DI schools making waves and gaining national recognition in an NCAA sport:

USA Today: IPFW drops National Volleyball Championship to UC-Irvine

The second-seeded Anteaters (29-5) won by scores of 30-20, 24-30, 30-23 and 30-28, extending their school record for wins in a season. IPFW

[dmksioux]

An example of lower-tier DI schools making waves and gaining national recognition in an NCAA sport:

USA Today: IPFW drops National Volleyball Championship to UC-Irvine

[MplsBison]

Bison and Jack fans should mock the success of the Mastodons, because men's volleyball is even more of a niche sport than men's hockey.

We would only mock it if they tried to compare their success in men's volleyball to success in men's bball or football.

It doesn't matter if they build a 100 million dollar arena for men's volleyball, or if UAF built one for rifle, the success of those sports will never be relevent to success in MBB and FB.

[star2city]

We would only mock it if they tried to compare their success in men's volleyball to success in men's bball or football.

It doesn't matter if they build a 100 million dollar arena for men's volleyball, or if UAF built one for rifle, the success of those sports will never be relevent to success in MBB and FB.

Strange how no differentiation is ever made between FCS and FBS football. Nationally, men's hockey from an attendance standpoint, nearly approaches FCS football attendance.

[star2city]

Lacrosse is really beginning to show some parity. Duke made it to the Final Four after last season was cancelled. Delaware is a surprise. Johns Hopkins struggled with a "western" team before winning in overtime. Some of the major traditional powers (Princeton, Maryland, Virginia) have lost and Syracuse didn't even make the field.

[star2city]

In Minnesota, lacrosse is becoming more than a city in Wisconsin

Lacrosse players like to call their sport the fastest game on two feet. In Minnesota, interest and participation are increasing at a similar speed.

The Minnesota State High School League will sanction its first lacrosse tournament this week at Wayzata High School, the latest sign of progress this stick-and-ball sport is making in the Upper Midwest. There were 35 girls' teams and 32 boys' teams at the varsity level in Minnesota this season, with clubs at dozens more schools eager to find the money and support to move up.

[star2city]

While recognizing that the probablity of varsity lacrosse happening at UND is rather remote, there continues to be a groundswell of lacrosse interest at the youth level that more universities would benefit from if tapped into:

Washington Post: From Touchdowns to Shutdown

A sign of the sport's growth is that an increasing number of college players were recruited by Division I football programs. Historically, most lacrosse players who were standouts in high school football were recruited by Division I-AA football programs.

Chicago Crosse-ing Over: Athletes discovering lacrosse at younger ages

Today, lacrosse is growing in programs and park districts across the country, and is the fastest growing sport at the NCAA level. There are 400 college and 1,200 high school men's lacrosse teams in the United States.

And it's bringing out the youngsters in droves. All across the western (Chicago) suburbs, classes, camps and leagues are sprouting up for youngsters in middle school and high school.

Private coaching companies schedule programs, often in tandem with local park districts, or the recreation departments offer them on their own.

The physicality, fast pace, and high scoring make the sport very appealing, Waldron said. Kids pick it up for the first time and fall in love immediately. I've seen a very positive response to lacrosse in Illinois, and the sport isn't going away.

Lacrosse is a fast-paced game, he said, but it also has physical contact and the skill of being able to catch and throw with a lacrosse stick. These elements combine to form an exciting game.

We know that if they have played both lacrosse and soccer that a majority would end up preferring lacrosse, she said. That is not a knock on soccer. ...

Having played both, lacrosse is by far the more enjoyable, Sebastian said. Your upper body is what is doing all of the ball finesse, so you are free to be as blazing fast and have all the footwork while you are carrying the ball.

Plus, a typical lacrosse game can have five to 20 goals per side, so a bunch of different kids get that wonderful feeling of putting a point up on the board, Sebastian said. Parents appreciate the pace and seeing their kids so happy to score.

[star2city]

Washington Post: Lacrosse - As Good as It Gets?

Once a niche sport confined largely to the Baltimore area and pockets on Long Island and Upstate New York, lacrosse is in the midst of an unprecedented boom in popularity.

There's been no growth at the Division I level. We have been talking about this bottleneck for years, and it's just about here," said Virginia Coach Dom Starsia, whose team won the national title last year but was upset in the first round earlier this month. "There are so many good players out there now.

"You can see the Maryland and Syracuse coaches at a tournament in Florida and the Virginia and Maryland coaches at a tournament in Detroit. You never would have seen that before. . . . But we have the same number of programs as we did 20 years ago. And I'm not optimistic for growth."

For the first time this year, ESPN broadcast every game in the 16-team men's tournament live on one of its networks. ESPNU, which is available in 9 million homes nationwide, broadcast every first-round game. Saturday's semifinals will be on ESPN2; the championship on Monday will be shown on ESPN. It is giving the sport unprecedented exposure.

Washington Times: New Areas Feeding on Lacrosse

The sport has established pockets of popularity across the country in places like Colorado, Ohio and California. And the biggest growth appears to be near already established areas, as the boom has hit the Virginia counties of Loudoun, Prince William, Stafford and Spotsylvania.

Nationwide, there were 220,000 youth lacrosse players 15 and under in 2006, according to US Lacrosse, the sport's governing body. Two years ago, 1,334 high schools played -- more than four times as many as took the field in the mid-1980s. The Virginia High School League, which previously had recognized the sport, began sponsoring a state tournament for boys and girls for the first time last season.

It is the fastest growing sport in the country, according to both the NCAA and the National Federation of State High School Associations. Seventeen states -- up from 10 in 2000 -- recognize or sanction lacrosse as a high school sport.

Lacrosse is similar to basketball with constant motion, sudden transitions between offense and defense. It is a nonstop running sport like soccer -- but with a lot more scoring and momentum switches -- and it mixes in elements of football with physical play and hitting.

"We do get a lot of kids from baseball," says Ruffing, who also coaches youth football and wrestling. "Lacrosse is a fast game. It's a contact sport. Kids are looking for something a little more exciting. That is what I'm hearing. They don't want to wait in the outfield for a ball."

[star2city]

To test if lacrosse is really now recruiting beyond the East Coast, the rosters of the Final Four teams were checked for any players from Canada or anywhere from the Central/Mountain/Pacific time zones. Cornell had a substantial number of western and Canadian recruits, including a player from Holy Angels in Richfield and one from Moose Jaw, Sask. With DI lacrosse scholarships limited to about 1/4 ride, the tuition and financial aid package is a major consideration for students from what is increasingly a middle class sport.

Cornell

Corbolotti, Mike San Francisco, Calif./St. Ignatius Prep

Corbolotti, Tom San Francisco, Calif./St. Ignatius Prep

Paulson, Leif Prince George, B.C./D.P. Todd Secondary

Robbins, Matt Evanston, Ill./Loyola Academy

Romero, Rocco Denver, Colo./Boys' Latin

Webb, Drew Houston, Texas/Episcopal HS

Gradinger, Nick Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Deerfield Academy

Howe, Michael St. Catharines, Ont./Holy Cross Secondary School

Hurley, Ryan Eagan, Minn./Academy of Holy Angels

Mitchell, David Moose Jaw, Sask./Central Collegiate

McCready, Joel St. Catharines, Ont./Holy Cross Secondary School

Myers, Jake Del Mar, Calif./Torrey Pines/Syracuse

Nathan, Danny Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park HS

Olson, Todd Centennial, Colo./Eaglecrest HS/Herkimer County CC

Delaware

Curtis Dickson Port Coquitlan, British Columbia/Riverside

Jordan Hall *** Surrey, British Columbia/Fleetwood Park

Johns Hopkins

Andrew Jaffe Wilmette, IL/New Trier

Matt Drenan San Diego, CA/Rancho Bernardo

Zach Tedeschi Denver, CO/Denver East

Duke

Zack Greer Whitby, Ontario (All Saints Catholic)

Adam Langley Glenview, Il. (Glenbrook South)

Max Wygod San Diego, Calif. (Francis Parker)

Rob Wellington Dallas, Texas (Highland Park)

[jimdahl]

Year After Scandal, A Sport Thrives - NY Times

The numbers chronicling the sport