Lacrosse charges into mainstream

Glance at a park, field or back yard these days and there’s a good chance you’ll see youths playing catch with a lacrosse ball or bouncing one against a wall.

Lacrosse continues to gain popularity in high schools in Colorado and across the nation. This week, teams across the state open the playoffs in the quest for a championship, a showcase of how far the game has come.

“The sport is exploding for one reason: It is so fun,” said Mountain Vista boys coach Jake Herman. “My wife never played, but one of her favorite things to do is go play catch. Lacrosse to me is the perfect mix of soccer, basketball and hockey. It has a tough-guy side with it being physical, yet requires finesse to do well.”

This season there are 73 Colorado high school boys teams and 45 girls teams, compared to a combined 43 teams when the sport was first recognized by the state high school sports governing body in 1999.

Colorado is one of 23 states to sanction boys lacrosse and one of 25 states, and the District of Columbia, to approve girls lacrosse. Many of the teams in Colorado are co-op clubs with players coming from different schools.

For the 2013-14 season, lacrosse participation increased by 9,744 from the previous season to 188,689 nationwide, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.

“It’s a very magnetic game; kids love to play it,” said Cherry Creek boys coach Bryan Perry.

Despite the swelling participation, lacrosse is still a mystifying sport to many people.

“One of the ways I kind of describe it for people who might not have held a stick or played lacrosse, or even seen it, is it’s a lot like hockey, where you have to skate, puck-handle and use your stick and have your balance at all times,” said 2006 Arapahoe High graduate Drew Robertson, who is now the junior varsity boys coach at Denver South. “But in lacrosse, it’s obviously running. It’s constant running and constant eye-hand coordination.”

The increase of youth lacrosse teams, the influence of the University of Denver’s collegiate program and the addition of the Colorado Mammoth and Denver Outlaws professional teams have helped spur in-state lacrosse interest.

“Kids are starting to play at a younger age and it is affecting the level of high school play,” Robertson said. “Players are getting scholarship looks from major Division I programs. When I was in high school you had to do the recruiting yourself. The growth in youth programs has been crazy.”

Kirsten Greenlaw, who plays on the ThunderRidge girls team, will be playing next season at San Diego State.

“Girls now are starting the recruiting process as sophomores, and that is really awesome how fast we are growing,” she said.

Wheat Ridge boys coach Chris Knott credits increased visibility, thanks largely to the Mammoth and Outlaws, with helping the growth of the sport.

“One neighbor gets another neighbor going and brings home a stick,” he said. “It’s really hard not to fall in love with the game once you try it.”

Golden High boys coach and Arapahoe graduate Kurt Ohlen emphasized that almost all types of youths can play lacrosse once the basic skills are learned.

“It’s a sport that is kind of acceptable to everyone in terms of physicality,” said Ohlen. “In basketball, you kind of have to be a little taller and in football you kind of need to be bigger. In lacrosse, you don’t necessarily need any of those things. There’s a sport for everyone on the field.”

The physical nature of play in the boys sport –; the girls version has much less contact –; is also a draw. At the same time, the contact in boys lacrosse doesn’t lead to as many season-ending or career-ending injuries as in football.

Mountain Vista senior Christian Barker is one of many players who appreciate the blend of finesse and force.

“There’s still hitting enough that you like it and it’s fun,” he said. “The physicality aspect is there and it’s not football, where people are coming at you and trying to hurt you.”

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