Fox News 21 coverage of Duluth's 9-3 opening round playoff win over Providence Academy.
Showing posts with label lacrosse news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lacrosse news. Show all posts
May 30, 2013
May 29, 2013
Duluth Chargers Lacrosse on Fox News
Yet another news piece about the Duluth Chargers lacrosse team. The Chargers may be the most popular sport in Duluth this spring!
May 20, 2013
Growth of Lacrosse in Duluth and Grand Rapids
More news coverage of Northern Minnesota lacrosse in the Duluth and Grand Rapids area. A nice piece about how the sport is growing in our area and what the future might hold.
July 6, 2011
Lacrosse Should stick Around in the North
Article from the Duluth Budgeteer about lacrosse in Duluth and northern Minnesota
Every evening this spring, it seemed, there was a collection of stick-wielding teenagers running rampant across the turf at Public Schools Stadium.
Baseball team? Nope. Dry-land hockey practice? Certainly not. Golfers? They don’t run. No, it was a burgeoning group of lacrosse enthusiasts, who apparently find strength in numbers.
Lacrosse is the fastest-growing sport in the country, and the Duluth Superior Chargers certainly exemplify that trend. A club team, the Chargers boasted 70 players (primarily from Eastern Duluth and Hermantown) spread across three teams — middle school, junior varsity and varsity — and won seven of nine games while finishing second in the North Division of the Minnesota Boys Scholastic Lacrosse Association.
Not too shabby for a team whose sport remains on the fringe of mainstream society — at least here in the Northland.
“A lot of people are afraid of it just because it’s an obscure sport to most of Northern Minnesota,” the team’s co-coach, Matt Reeves, who was in his fifth season of coaching the Chargers, said shortly after the Chargers’ season ended in early June. "They don’t understand it, so they kind of are leery to get involved, but the growth that we’ve had, once kids come out and try it, they love it."
As soccer’s dramatic growth of the 1990s appears to have reached a plateau — a very healthy and sustainable plateau — lacrosse looks destined to become the Next Big Thing. Or, perhaps, we already have reached that point, and lacrosse is the Current Big Thing. Either way, it’s a big thing.
Even in Minnesota, where folks are often skeptical of any sporting pursuit that doesn’t include a puck, the game’s popularity is stunning. The Minnesota State High School League sanctioned 113 teams (59 girls, 54 boys) this spring.
The state’s professional lacrosse team, the Minnesota Swarm, averages close to 10,000 fans a game. Locally, Minnesota Duluth’s club program is among the most successful in the nation.
“It’s been outstanding,” said Matt Koppang, Reeves’ coaching counterpart with the Chargers, of the uptick in interest. “The fact that Minnesota now has a professional lacrosse team that’s one of the greatest things in our world now is going down and watching the Swarm play. And finally just being able to watch it on TV now."
The Chargers hope to eventually join the MSHSL and become an official high school varsity sport. In the meantime, they will continue to compete against other infant club programs from around the state. Fortunately, the schedule has become less burdensome in recent years, as programs sprout up throughout Northeastern Minnesota, thereby limiting road trips to the Twin Cities.
Part of lacrosse’s appeal is that it develops a plethora of skills used in other sports. Hockey players enjoy it because of its utilization of a stick. Football players relish the physicality, and basketball players can enhance their footwork while running plays similar to those often used on the hardwood.
Plus, it’s just downright fun.
“It’s faster-paced and it’s good exercise for other sports,” said the Chargers’ Britton Harris, who will be a junior at Duluth East this fall.
While the Chargers will have to replace roughly 15 seniors who graduated last month, the Duluth Nighthawks were remarkably young in 2011. Only four of the Nighthawks’ 37 players were seniors, meaning the team should feature impressive experience when it reconvenes next spring.
The Nighthawks, like the Chargers a club team, went 3-4-1 to finish in the middle of the pack of the Northcentral Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association.
Read the full article HERE
Louie St. George: Lacrosse should stick around
Louie St. George, for the Budgeteer
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| Duluth Chargers Varsity player Henry Roningen (rught) |
Baseball team? Nope. Dry-land hockey practice? Certainly not. Golfers? They don’t run. No, it was a burgeoning group of lacrosse enthusiasts, who apparently find strength in numbers.
Lacrosse is the fastest-growing sport in the country, and the Duluth Superior Chargers certainly exemplify that trend. A club team, the Chargers boasted 70 players (primarily from Eastern Duluth and Hermantown) spread across three teams — middle school, junior varsity and varsity — and won seven of nine games while finishing second in the North Division of the Minnesota Boys Scholastic Lacrosse Association.
 |
| Duluth Chargers Middle Schooler Bryce Holak |
“A lot of people are afraid of it just because it’s an obscure sport to most of Northern Minnesota,” the team’s co-coach, Matt Reeves, who was in his fifth season of coaching the Chargers, said shortly after the Chargers’ season ended in early June. "They don’t understand it, so they kind of are leery to get involved, but the growth that we’ve had, once kids come out and try it, they love it."
As soccer’s dramatic growth of the 1990s appears to have reached a plateau — a very healthy and sustainable plateau — lacrosse looks destined to become the Next Big Thing. Or, perhaps, we already have reached that point, and lacrosse is the Current Big Thing. Either way, it’s a big thing.
Even in Minnesota, where folks are often skeptical of any sporting pursuit that doesn’t include a puck, the game’s popularity is stunning. The Minnesota State High School League sanctioned 113 teams (59 girls, 54 boys) this spring.
The state’s professional lacrosse team, the Minnesota Swarm, averages close to 10,000 fans a game. Locally, Minnesota Duluth’s club program is among the most successful in the nation.
“It’s been outstanding,” said Matt Koppang, Reeves’ coaching counterpart with the Chargers, of the uptick in interest. “The fact that Minnesota now has a professional lacrosse team that’s one of the greatest things in our world now is going down and watching the Swarm play. And finally just being able to watch it on TV now."
The Chargers hope to eventually join the MSHSL and become an official high school varsity sport. In the meantime, they will continue to compete against other infant club programs from around the state. Fortunately, the schedule has become less burdensome in recent years, as programs sprout up throughout Northeastern Minnesota, thereby limiting road trips to the Twin Cities.
 |
| Duluth Chargers JV player Britton Harris |
Plus, it’s just downright fun.
“It’s faster-paced and it’s good exercise for other sports,” said the Chargers’ Britton Harris, who will be a junior at Duluth East this fall.
 |
| Duluth Nighthawks in blue |
The Nighthawks, like the Chargers a club team, went 3-4-1 to finish in the middle of the pack of the Northcentral Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association.
Read the full article HERE
May 27, 2011
St. Michael-Albertville Pushing to Make Lacrosse School Sanctioned Sport
Good article about the St. Michael-Albertville lacrosse teams effort to make lacrosse a school sanctioned sport there.
The club didn’t get the answer they were hoping for when school board members and the superintendents unanimously agreed that this could not be done for the upcoming 2011-2012 school year, but the team walked away with more information on the process, a sense of optimism from the board and a timeline for bringing the option up again this fall...
...Churchill said that just having league status, even without the monetary benefits initially, would be a huge help for the teams. For instance, she said Don’s Bus Service currently will not contract with them for transportation to and from games since they are not an official sport. She also noted that this would give their sport the ability to use school facilities for practices and games as well as to make announcements in school if there are any changes or cancellations in the practice or game schedule...
...Cusick said that while they are already experiencing significant growth, one big factor to bringing about even faster growth is to sanction it as an official sport. He cited neighboring Buffalo, whose participation numbers doubled the year lacrosse became a Minnesota state high school league sport. Mark noted that the Elk River-Rogers-Zimmerman team has so many players that Rogers is now considering seceding into their own team.
“We know the numbers will double next year,” Cusick said, basing his assertions on what he has seen happen in other districts. “Kids absolutely love the sport. And you want to talk about opportunity? Eighty kids went out for freshman baseball this year and you only took 25. You turned away 60 kids, and that’s 60 potential players for us that we could be starting to develop. The numbers are there.”
Read the full article HERE
St. Michael-Albertville's Lacrosse Club Pleads Its Case to Become School Sanctioned Sport
Gaining in popularity all over the state, St. Michael-Albertville players are hoping the district can find the funds to support a growing sport.
Members of St. Michael-Albertville lacrosse teams put up their best effort recently to move boys and girls lacrosse from a club sport to an official, school-sanctioned activity.
The club didn’t get the answer they were hoping for when school board members and the superintendents unanimously agreed that this could not be done for the upcoming 2011-2012 school year, but the team walked away with more information on the process, a sense of optimism from the board and a timeline for bringing the option up again this fall...
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| STMA 7/8 grade team |
...Cusick said that while they are already experiencing significant growth, one big factor to bringing about even faster growth is to sanction it as an official sport. He cited neighboring Buffalo, whose participation numbers doubled the year lacrosse became a Minnesota state high school league sport. Mark noted that the Elk River-Rogers-Zimmerman team has so many players that Rogers is now considering seceding into their own team.
“We know the numbers will double next year,” Cusick said, basing his assertions on what he has seen happen in other districts. “Kids absolutely love the sport. And you want to talk about opportunity? Eighty kids went out for freshman baseball this year and you only took 25. You turned away 60 kids, and that’s 60 potential players for us that we could be starting to develop. The numbers are there.”
Read the full article HERE
April 21, 2011
Tom Powers Article About Lacrosse in Minnesota
This was a good article about the growth of lacrosse in Minnesota. Check it out on the Pioneer Press website. It's growing in Northern Minnesota too!
January 29, 2011
High School Club Lacrosse Teams Paying for Field Time
Why should high school club lacrosse teams have to pay to use their own schools' fields? Utah is doing something about it!
The Utah House of Representatives passed a bill that will allow High School Club teams to use high school fields for their practices and games for free. Some lacrosse club teams were paying as much as $1,000 per game to use their own schools' fields for games.
Check out the article here: House passes bill to allow club teams to use high school fields
The Utah House of Representatives passed a bill that will allow High School Club teams to use high school fields for their practices and games for free. Some lacrosse club teams were paying as much as $1,000 per game to use their own schools' fields for games.
Check out the article here: House passes bill to allow club teams to use high school fields
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