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Lacrosse at a "DI" UND?


The Sicatoka

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  • 4 weeks later...

College lacrosse is much like college hockey in that all-sports conference alignments are not typical. For example, the Big East does not sponsor men's lacrosse, largely because Syracuse rejects the idea. But that appears to be changing: Syracuse now favors Big East lacrosse

Seven members of the Big East currently play men's lacrosse. SU is an independent; Georgetown, Rutgers and St. John's play in the ECAC; Notre Dame in the Great Western; Villanova in the Colonial; and Providence in the MAAC. A conference must have at least six members to gain an automatic qualifier into the 16-team NCAA Tournament.

Many of the coaches of the six other teams have spoken out in favor of a Big East men's league to complement the women's league but felt that Syracuse's insistence on remaining an independent was the major stumbling block. Today, that block no longer appears to be so big.

If Big East lax happens, then the Great Western lacrosse league would likely lose two members: Notre Dame to the Big East and Quinnipiac to the ECAC or MAAC.

Great Western Lacrosse would be down to five members: Ohio State, Bellarmine, Detroit, Denver, and Air Force, and would desperately need a sixth team. Who could be a candidate? :D

In women's lacrosse, Fresno State joins California, Oregon, UC-Davis, St. Mary's, Stanford, Boise St (also starting), and Denver as western teams. There are no DI men's teams west of Denver, in spite of lacrosse's growth.

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UND needs enrollment increases, and target cities are in the west and midwest. Take a look at these maps.

Didn't I hear Tim O'Keefe say UND is trying to target states who are in the western tuition reciprocity agreement? Didn't I hear him say Colorado, California, and Washington are key targets.

Then look at normal areas for UND interest like the Twin Cities and Milwaukee and Chicago.

Gee, interesting maps ....

Western Canada has always been a target. I'd love to see a map of Canadian high school programs.

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Western Canada has always been a target. I'd love to see a map of Canadian high school programs.

Couldn't find a Canadian map, but the main lacrosse centers are eastern Ontario and the Vancouver area. It seems to be popular in Alberta and Quebec, and growing recently in Saskatchewan. Manitoba and the Maritime provinces don't seem to have much lacrosse, either box or outdoor.

Lacrosse in Canada

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For whatever reason, spring season Lacrosse (I refuse to call it "Lax") has exploded in the cities, taking quality athletes away from track and baseball teams.

Haven't you been one saying it's a silly idea for UND? :D;)

WCCO: Twin Cities Lacrosse Explosion: From High School To Pros

Lacrosse is the hot, new high school sport in Minnesota and having a local professional team adds to all the excitement.

The sport of lacrosse is a perfect fit for Minnesota because it's a lot like hockey on grass. Basically, lacrosse is a game of running, scooping, throwing, and scoring.

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

The story is that a French Canadian missionary saw the stick the Indians were using to toss a ball and thought it looked like a Bishop's cross. That's how the sport got the name 'lacrosse'.

"I think the biggest thing is once they see it, and experience a game first hand, they're hooked," said Ryan Ward, a lacrosse player.

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How did my post confirm or deny that it's a silly idea for UND?

It wasn't that post, its this one: :silly:

Lacrosse as a varsity sport at UND is nothing more than a message board dream.

Literally, someone watched the DI lacrosse championship on TV and said "UND should have lacrosse".

It's not at all like it's on the UND AD's radar.

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  • 2 weeks later...

DI Women's lacrosse just keeps growing at the expense of other sports, while men's lacrosse stays constant at DI:

http://www.turnto10.com/northeast/jar/news...01-31-0015.htmlRhode Island To Eliminate Gymnastics, Add Lacrosse

The University of Rhode Island is eliminating its women's gymnastics team and will add a women's lacrosse team instead.

URI Athletics Director Thorr Bjorn made the announcement Thursday in a written statement.

The women's gymnastic team includes 21 athletes. Their last competition is scheduled for April.

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NLL Box Lacrosse in Winnipeg at True North Center?

With the Minnesota Swarm continuing to draw well at the Excel (more than 11,000 average), will Winnipeg be next?

Part of that long-term growth, Jennings hopes, will include the continued expansion of the league. When he took the job as commissioner in 2001, the NLL was a nine-team, eastern-U.S. regional outfit. Today it sits as a 13-team league that touches both coasts and spans two countries. Jennings said that tightening up ownership criteria has helped strengthen the league and turned problematic franchises around.

"I think we know what we're looking for in an owner in a city and what would make it successful," he said. "I think you'll see us expanding in Canada and the U.S. in the next three to four years.

"In Canada we'd like to put a team in Winnipeg, Halifax, Montreal and Vancouver," he said, with an emphasis on Winnipeg. "Winnipeg, we think would be a great city for us."

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The first men's team south of North Carolina becomes: Jacksonville.

Jacksonville University (Fla) to add men's and women's lacrosse for the 2009-10 season

Jacksonville probably considered DIAA scholarship football (they have non-scholly IAA), but with TItle IX and competing against the NFL Jaguars (and talk of a U of North Florida IAA team), went with lacrosse. That Jacksonville will sponsor the sport with no conference comittments lined up for men either or women speaks volumes for how much confidence they have with this decision. With lacrosse booming in parts of Florida and surburban Atlanta and with northeastern kids probably more than willing to take a look to a Florida school, lacrosse makes sense even with Jacksonville being mostly a baseball school. All the Florida DI public schools (UF, FSU, UCF, USF, FIU, FAU, FGCSU) have their hands tied either with Title IX or facilities issues, so Jacksonville may have secured itself a future in a fast-growing sport.

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