Lacrosse Continues to Get Bigger in Minnesota

Carrying a bigger stick

05/26/2012, 1:29am (CDT)

By Jason Gonzalez, Star Tribune

Efforts to cultivate growth have succeeded, as lacrosse has quickly gained traction

Waiting for his chance to be a part of the game, Aaron Propson paid close attention to the whereabouts of the ball during the Eagan High School playoff opener Wednesday. With his stick in the air and his helmet fastened to his chin, he patrolled the endlines for anything heading his direction.

Opportunities for action were limited, but he didn't care. Propson was one of four seventh- and eighth-graders in the Eagan youth lacrosse program eagerly offering services to be a ball shagger.

"I want to be out there one day," the 12-year-old said, looking onto the field of varsity athletes.

Propson's passion for lacrosse mirrors a growing trend in communities throughout Minnesota. Fueled by elementary school and junior high youngsters choosing it over pastimes such as baseball and softball, the sport -- still somewhat unfamiliar to the masses -- is one of the fastest-growing in America.

Minnesota is among the states leading the way. A 2011 study conducted by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association said participation nationally increased 218 percent in the past decade. Minnesota membership growth in U.S. Lacrosse, the sport's national governing body, ranks ninth.

At the state's high school level over the past 10 years, boys' and girls' varsity participation jumped from 61 to 154 teams, according to the Lax Hub.

"We're way up there," said Jenni Lorsung, president of Youth Lacrosse of Minnesota. "Our lowest growth year was 13 percent. And there have been years we've had 25 percent growth in the boys' level."

Grass-roots growth
Preparing himself for a first-round playoff rout, Simley boys' coach Garnet Asmundson explained why his Inver Grove Heights program, which relies on players groomed while in high school, is still "light years" behind the likes of neighboring schools in Eagan, Apple Valley and Rosemount.

"The program is still in its infancy stages," Asmundson said. "You've got to build from the youth up, and we're doing it in the opposite way, and that's tough."

While the sport's popularity has boosted high school team numbers, newcomers are struggling to keep up with the more experienced and rooted programs, such as Blake. The void isn't that large, though, argues Blake interim boys' coach Chris Garland.

As more knowledgeable coaches and referees surround the game, players are learning at an accelerated pace. Garland said the foundations of the sport -- running, passing, catching -- aren't much different than other sports, and kids are enticed by the fast pace.

"It's an easy game to learn," said Garland, who played NCAA Division III lacrosse at Hampden-Sydney College (Va.). "The concepts are so easy, so once you apply them from other sports, it's just a great sport to play."
Growth in Minnesota has been nurtured over the past eight years by Homegrown Lacrosse, a local nonprofit organization that formed in 2004 to raise awareness and help develop programs with "grass-roots'' training. This sort of guidance has matured the metro area into a regular producer of college talent.

"With more and more associations getting stronger and developing, [participation] numbers are continuing to rise," said Colin Achenbach, co-founder of Homegrown Lacrosse. "And the high schools are a testament to that the skill level of lacrosse in the metro area is increasing. The competition and parity is stronger across the state."

The Minnesota State High School League has acknowledged this improvement by continually sanctioning more teams. Its website lists 57 boys' teams and 63 girls' teams. The MSHSL first sanctioned a lacrosse state tournament in 2007. Next year the league will add four new sections and expand the state tournament to eight teams.

Where are they coming from?
Which stick to pick was an overwhelming decision for Eagan senior Mack Nelson. He approached high school with backgrounds in baseball and lacrosse, both spring sports.

"For me, lacrosse is more exciting of a game," Nelson said about his choice. "It's more fun. ... It's more up-tempo."

Baseball has apparently suffered the most, as youth are beginning to pick lacrosse over baseball for spring and summer activities. The Eagan Athletic Association has seen a decline of its youth baseball numbers with the new rival sport in the mix.

High school baseball coaches are starting to address concerns about losing depth and quality players. For example, baseball has typically attracted hockey players who now might see lacrosse functioning as a better cross-training fit. There's also lacrosse's appeal as more fun or social, another issue baseball programs have begun to address.

"Our numbers have not been hampered enough by lacrosse so far, but I am seeing a trend and a correlation that I don't like, and it makes me nervous," Elk River baseball coach Ryan Holmgren said.

At Shattuck-St. Mary's, baseball coach Michael Carpentier said numbers have been down the past five years as a direct effect of lacrosse.

"Lacrosse is fun, physical, and takes athleticism to compete," he said. "But it certainly is taking many talented athletes off of the baseball diamond."

The universal athletic concepts of lacrosse have attracted kids from all sports. Blake sophomore standout Lydia Sutton has put varsity soccer on the back burner of her athletic focus. Eagan's Calvin Lamb did the same to football.

Propson and his three friends all picked lacrosse over baseball. It was an easy decision for them.
"There is a lot more action," 13-year-old Joey Hofmann said about his new favorite sport. "I was [a baseball player] until I played lacrosse. I didn't like standing around."

MBSLA Top 10 May 14

Not much has changed over the last two weeks since our last poll.  Teams that should have won did.  Cretin-Derham Hall lost two games to higher ranked teams, St. Louis Park and Shakopee, and beat North St. Paul.  They remain at #9 since there are no teams there to take their place.  This week we also decided to move Stattuck-St. Mary's to a place in the top 10 based on their ability as a team not dependent on whether they can participate in the playoffs.  #2 MontiQuois knocked of MSHSL team St. Cloud Tech and dropped another one to undefeated and #1 ranked Delano.  Delano remains the clear #1 team in the state.

Big game of the week will be Wednesday to see who will win the East Division in a match up of the top two teams Tartan and Hudson.  Both tied at #5 this week.  The match up should determine the #1 seed for the playoffs from the East.

MBSLA Top 10 May 14:

Lacrosse Has Staying Power in Duluth

 With burgeoning participation numbers, lacrosse showing staying power in Duluth area
Cooper Carlson has seen lacrosse’s image change the past couple of years. The Duluth East sophomore says there’s more talk about the sport at school and more students show up at Duluth-Superior Chargers games. 

By: Rick Weegman, Duluth News Tribune 

Cooper Carlson has seen lacrosse’s image change the past couple of years. The Duluth East sophomore says there’s more talk about the sport at school and more students show up at Duluth-Superior Chargers games.

“It’s a lot more popular this year,” he said. “More people are asking about what the rules are, how we play it and when we have games.”

#5 Cooper Carlson

Carlson, a midfielder in his second year of participating for the Chargers’ boys club team, hopes the sport eventually grows from the club level to become a high school varsity offering.
“I’d love to see it as a varsity sport before I graduate, but that’s kind of far-fetched,” he said. “It just started getting big in the last year.”

Carlson hopes his younger brother, seventh-grader Wyatt, will have that opportunity in the future.

Lacrosse’s popularity with the youth is such that Duluth Denfeld athletic director Tom Pearson says it’s an inevitable outcome.

“I don’t think it’s a question of ‘if’ but a question of ‘when,’ ” Pearson said last week. “The first question we’re going to ask is, ‘Do we have the numbers of Duluth public school students to run a varsity lacrosse program?’ ”

The local lacrosse association has yet to devise a long-term plan for taking that step. The Chargers, a member of the Minnesota Boys Scholastic Lacrosse Association, are comprised of 108 players in grades 5-12 from six area school systems. A spinoff club team in the East school district, where a preponderance of players reside, is the most likely first move.

“Probably the next step for us is to stay in the club division and form a third high school-level club team in the Twin Ports,” Chargers first-year president Brad Mackinaw said, referring to a Proctor club team that began this spring.

With Duluth schools facing budget crunches and potential layoffs, adding a sport would be a hard sell right now.

“The big question always is money,” Mackinaw said. “How are they going to come up with the money to afford that and how are they going to come up with the resources in an environment where they are getting their budgets cut?”

The Chargers operate on a $17,000-a-year budget, of which $7,500 is paid to the district to rent Public Schools Stadium for practices and games. That budget does not factor in transportation costs — players are required to find their own way to home and road games. Approximately 90 percent of the budget comes from players, who pay $300 up front. That budget would increase greatly as a varsity sport, considering road games usually would require a trip to the Twin Cities area.

Pearson equates the situation to when Duluth added soccer in the early 1990s. At that time, the district said the sport’s proponents needed to fund-raise a certain dollar amount and then re-examined it in later years to see if interest was still there. Start-up money needs to be there before the district agrees it’s a viable option, Pearson says.

“With the funding right now, we’re not going to be in a position to say, ‘We’re going to add a $25,000 program, or whatever that number turns out to be, to the school district,’” he said.
Other factors must be considered as well, including Title IX issues and competitive play.
Federal law stipulates equal opportunities exist for boys and girls programs if the interest is there.
But at the moment, the girls’ club program, the Nighthawks, doesn’t have nearly the same numbers as the Chargers so that probably wouldn’t be an impediment to adding a boys program.
Whether a Duluth team could compete against Twin Cities suburban schools that have a longer lacrosse history and much deeper youth programs is a legitimate question.

“The majority of our players started playing in the eighth or ninth grade,” Mackinaw said. “When you go to schools like Eden Prairie and Eagan and Benilde-St. Margaret’s — schools that dominate lacrosse — a lot of those kids first pick up a stick in the fourth or fifth grade. Do we want to jump to the next level of competition, knowing that we’re not going to be competitive in that situation? Those are questions we haven’t resolved yet.”

Chargers coach Scott Wishart, a former Minnesota Duluth player, doesn’t believe jumping up a level is the immediate answer.

“Right now we’re pretty new compared to a lot of programs from the Cities, especially if we were to split all our talents among the high schools,” Wishart said. “Those other teams have had club lacrosse for many years and playing varsity-level lacrosse for five or six years. They’re very developed in the Cities. It will take some time for this program to catch up.”

Even by drawing talented fall and winter sports athletes, local lacrosse teams would be hard-pressed to find similar depth as more advanced rivals.

“There are very good teams throughout the state that are in club-level lacrosse,” Wishart said. “As far as the sake of our sport, right now, we should continue to proceed at this pace and keep developing players.

“It’s something we’re going to have to wait out and keep working on. Until we can have a larger interest and more players out here, I would think we’re in (a club level) for a few years at least.”

Grand Rapids Tournament a Huge Success

The lacrosse tournament in Grand Rapids continues to grow and get better each year.  In 2012 42 teams competed in 5 divisions and there were over 800 kids participating.  Teams from Canada, northern Minnesota and the Twin Cities all traveled to Grand Rapids to compete.

7/8 Champions Duluth-Superior Chargers

All tie games were determined by braveheart which resulted in several exciting finishes and cheers that could be heard on the other side of the golf course where the games are played.  An all team photo and hole shoot were fun events and many teams got together for dinner after Saturdays games.

Northern teams fared well, with the Duluth-Superior 7/8 team finishing the tournament with a perfect 5-0 record and championship in that division.  The offense was clicking the entire tournament for the Duluth team who scored double digit goals in every game they played.

The Grand Rapids Shootout is turning into one of the premier lacrosse events in the state of Minnesota.  The Grand Rapids lacrosse program should be commended for a job very well done.  Teams are already looking forward to next year.

Minnesota-Duluth Claims Their 15th UMLC Championship

From LaxPower

(May 2, 2012 – Duluth, MN) Make another notch in the belt for the men's University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs lacrosse team as they claim the 2012 UMLC Championship title one more time. This marks the 15th UMLC championship the Bulldogs have claimed since 1995 and the 7th consecutive championship title since 2006.

On Sunday, April 29, the Bulldogs faced off with Mankato State University at the Concordia University's Sea Foam Dome in St. Paul, Minnesota for the UMLC Division 1 semifinal round of the play-off tournaments. The game started at 10:45 am after the deciding game of MSU versus Iowa State University the evening before.

The Bulldogs started off incredibly strong in the first quarter against MSU, leading 4-0 by the time the clock read 5:37 with a goal made by UMD's Alex McNamara (#10, Apple Valley, MN). Kevin Gaydos (#6, Lino Lakes, MN) added to UMD's score around 2:38 on the clock. McNamara couldn't hold himself to only one goal, so he attacked the net again at the end of the first quarter, leaving the score 6-0 in favor of the Bulldogs.

Head Coach Frank Clark commented "We had been focusing on dictating the tempo and the guys came out today and did just that"

Drake Peterson (#15, Terrence, OH) came out swinging at the beginning of the second quarter, for his first goal of the game. The Bulldogs continued to be on an unstoppable hot streak and really working as a team. Through this team work, UMD's midfielder Matt Murphy (#21, Eden Prairie, MN), midfielder Stan Drutowski (#28, Rosemount, MN) and McNamara (#10) all put their efforts into the net, putting the score at 10-0 before the second half was even half over.

UMD hit a snag in their sweeping game, receiving a penalty and playing one man down. The defense held strong. Directly following the penalty attackman Tyler Lorinser (#16, Chaska, MN) made his shot count, putting the Bulldogs up 11-0. McNamara (#10) and Lorinser (#16) continued to have a hot shooting streak with both making another goal, along with Drutowski (#28). By the end of the first half, the Bulldogs led unchallenged with a score of 15-0.

The third quarter continued to smile upon the Bulldogs. Gaydos (#6) got the ball rolling at the start of the third quarter, quickly followed by attack Neal Pester (#33, Savage, MN). Mankato suffered a penalty a little later in the third; giving the Bulldogs a man-up opportunity for 30 seconds and Pester (#33) decided to take advantage with another goal for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs would end up having thirteen different players in the point's column. MSU would break through in the fourth quarter and score a couple of goals against the Dogs, but in the end, it was the Bulldogs who reigned supreme. The final score for MSU versus UMD was 26 – 2.

With the first win under their belts, UMD now headed into the championship game against none other than their infamous rivals of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Golden Gophers. The Gophers had advanced as the three seed defeating Saint Cloud State and Marquette University along the way. The championship game took place on Sunday, April 29 at the Sea Foam Dome at noon.

The Bulldogs really started to click together in the second quarter. Alex McNamara (#10) got the ball rolling as he made his first goal against the Gophers' goalie. Midfielder Justin Vossen (#18, Apple Valley, MN) and Drake Peterson (#15) would soon follow suit with goals of their own. The Gophers started to make their mark with their first goal at the end of the second quarter by their attack man Jack Buckley (#44). The Bulldogs held the lead at the half 4-1.

Go to LaxPower for the second half of the article.