The Grow Lacrosse Experiment in...Montana?!?

Big Sky, Big State

Lacrosse is growing tremendously all over the country and Montana is no different.  However, Montana is a HUGE state with towns spread far and wide and no large metropolitan areas (think Twin Cities).  This fact complicates things for the growth of the game there.  So, what does this have to do with Minnesota?  Actually, a lot!

In Montana, a tireless promoter of the sport is embarking on an experiment to Grow the Game there and bring it to as many towns as possible by 2015.  Please go read his plan at Montana.laxallstars.com and then come back to this article.   Kevin Flynn's idea is bold, grand, tireless and audacious, and that's why I like it so much!

The reality is, outside of the Twin Cities metro area, where 85% of our state's lacrosse teams are, Minnesota is much like Montana.  There are only 13 teams (which includes 3 from Rochester and two from St. Cloud) outside the Metro area of the Twin Cities, and very few of these teams are located in smaller towns.

Lacrosse in the tiny town of Pablo, Montana

Of states with the most growth in lacrosse West of the Mississippi River, Minnesota is the most "Metro-Centric" of them all.  Look at Colorado with their Mountain Conference and teams in small towns like Aspen, Frisco, Steamboat Springs, Durango, Glenwood Springs, and Eagle to name a few.  Or Oregon, with teams ALL over the state - and they're all club programs!  With teams in smaller towns outside metro areas and spread from one corner to the other in small towns like Sisters and Redmond and from Hood River to Salem to Bend to Eugene to Roseburg, Oregon really is a model for spreading the game throughout an entire state to small towns and large.  Washington and Utah are also good examples of states with lacrosse programs spread out across the state in small towns and large.  Even Idaho with only 19 teams in the state manages to spread their teams out to smaller communities from north to south like Cour d' Alene, Sandpoint, Moscow and Wood River.

Could Minnesota do better?  Yes, I think we could do a better job spreading the game to smaller towns and cities in out-state areas in the North and South.  How could we do that?  Let's take a closer look at Kevin Flynn's plan for Montana tomorrow and how that might be done in Minnesota.