Friday, May 20, 2005

Mass appeal

Eastern sport gains Western following


By JODY ZARKOS
Express Staff Writer

The Wood River Warriors squared off against Vallivue last Saturday. Wood River won the match 7-3.

Name the sporting craze sweeping the West that has been around for hundreds of years.

If you guessed lacrosse, as Ed McMahon would put it, you are correct, sir.

A mainstay in the East, lacrosse is gaining ground on the left side of the map, thanks to a grass roots movement which is pushing the sport's popularity to new levels.

"It's just a great sport," remarked Dave Hennessy, a Hailey resident who was an All-America lacrosse player at Middlebury College in the mid-eighties.

"The thing about lacrosse is it combines pieces of so many sports. The field play is like soccer. A lot of the plays are like basketball and it is similar to hockey in terms of the hitting and playing behind the net."

Sports Illustrated, a magazine normally dedicated to the Big Four in sports--football, baseball, basketball and auto racing--recently devoted nine pages to a story on lacrosse and how interest in the sport is spreading faster than a small town rumor.

According to figures published in the April 25 edition of SI, youth participation in the sport (15-under who are members of U.S. Lacrosse) has grown 297 percent in the Northwest, 150 percent in the central states and 108 percent in the southwest from 2001 to 2004.

In all an estimated 186,000 kids 15-under currently play lax in the U.S., more than twice the number just four years ago, and among high-school boys the number has jumped from about 20,000 in 1994 to close to 60,000 in 2004.

And now lacrosse has gained a foothold in the competitive sports scene in the Wood River Valley.

Formed in the spring of 2004, Wood River Warriors lacrosse team is just about to wrap up its second season of club play.

Three men, organizer Al Stevenson, and coaches Doug Cooper and Billy Baybutt got the team rolling and remain an integral part of its operation.

Cooper recalled, "In the winter of 2003, Al and his family were moving up here. He had heard my name and asked if I would be interested in coaching. His son, Joey, played in Boise and wanted to keep going.

"Al has been fantastic. He dove in 100 percent."

Cooper said word of mouth gave the newly minted Warriors 22 players right off the bat and a team was born.

Despite going 1-7 in 2004, the Warriors currently sport 35 players on their roster ranging in age from 12 to 18-year olds.

"Next year we'll have enough kids for two teams," Cooper remarked. "We hope to have a high school team and a middle school team."

The Warriors (5-2) practice four days a week, and games take place on weekends, usually in Boise, since there are nine boys' varsity teams located there, including Timberline (12-1), Centennial (11-2), Eagle (10-3), Boise (7-6), Borah (7-6), Bishop Kelly (5-8), Capital (3-10), Mountain View (3-10) and Vallivue. There are also seven girls' teams in the Boise area.

"We are playing some of the younger teams. Right now it doesn't make sense for us to play some of the teams that have eight or nine years of experience," Cooper said.

"Our guys primarily play jayvee teams with some varsity players thrown in, but next year we would like to play varsity."

The Warriors are not affiliated with Wood River High School, but are a club team, like rodeo, that do not fall under the umbrella of the Idaho High School Activities Association.

Nonetheless, Cooper said officials at WRHS, including athletic director Ron Martinez have been very supportive of lacrosse.

"Ron has been very generous in letting us play in the stadium and practice at the school," Cooper said.

The origins of lacrosse

Centuries old, lacrosse is considered to be America's first sport, developed and played by Native Americans and referred to as "The Creator's Game."

"It was part of their culture," Cooper said. "For them it was a religion and a rite of passage. They would avoid battle by playing lacrosse and they would prepare for war by playing lacrosse. It was a way to honor their chiefs and bless their hunting and fishing grounds."

Sometimes as many as 1,000 contestants would play on fields that had no boundaries and the games would stretch for days. Balls were made out of wood, deerskin, baked clay or stone and goals could be rocks, trees or a pole.

In 1636, a Jesuit missionary, Jean de Brebeuf, witnessed a lacrosse game in what is now Ontario, Canada, and at that time an estimated 48 Native American tribes scattered throughout southern Canada and the United States played the game. French pioneers picked up the sport in the 1800s and in 1867 Canadian W. George Beers adopted standardized rules with field dimensions and the number of players per team.

The first collegiate team was fielded by New York University in 1877 and five years later the first high school teams were formed at Phillips Academy, Andover, Phillips Exeter Academy and the Lawrenceville School.

Bryn Mawr in Baltimore, Maryland established the first women's collegiate lacrosse team in 1926.

The modern game

Lacrosse is called the fastest game on two feet and it has major appeal for anyone who enjoys the combination of speed, finesse and physical play that is right up there with Australian Rules Football.

Because of the physical nature of the men's game, coupled with the lack of pads—players traditionally sport shoulder pads, elbow pads, gloves, mouthguards and helmets—Cooper said it is up to the individual to prevent injuries.

"You have to play under control or you can get badly hurt. I try and relate that to the kids. They have to think on their feet and act responsibly," he remarked.

"That said, you see some pretty interesting bruises."

The lacrosse field is 110 yards long and 60 yards wide and is divided in half. There is 10 yards behind each goal allowing for creative set up and passing in trying to score.

Cooper said the ball (which is made out of hard rubber) can travel the entire length of the field in three or four seconds.

"And in that time connect to three or four guys in that time frame," he said. "It is a very graceful sport when played correctly and the ball is rarely on the ground. It is different from hockey where the puck stays for the most part on a level surface. Lacrosse is totally three-dimensional."

In high school, players can pass the ball about 45 mph and shot reach about 65 mph. Sticks are made out of aluminum, synthetic materials or wood and defensive players use longer sticks that midfielders or forwards.

Each team consists of 10 players, including a goalie. Midfielders or "middies" can run the entire length of the field. Attackmen (forwards in soccer parlance) must stay in their offensive zone and defensemen cannot cross the centerline out of their own defensive zone.

Like hockey substitutions can be made on the fly (without a stoppage in play). If a player shoots on goal, misses and the ball goes out of bound the player closest to the ball regains possession. A ball tossed out of bounds results in a change of possession for the other team.

"Possession of the ball is everything. Once you have possession you can run it or pass it as long as you possibly can," Cooper said.

If the ball is on the ground anyone within five yards is fair game to check or hit. Once a player has the ball in his the net of his stick or "crosse" he can be poked, checked or hit, but an opposing player cannot use their free arm or attack from behind.

All body contact must occur from the front or side, above the waist and below the neck. The women's game differs in that there are 12 players on the field and it is (supposedly) non-contact, but stick checking is permitted.

"We are trying to teach these kids the tradition of the game, and to have respect and pride for themselves, their teammates and their opponents," Cooper said.

Jeff Conover of the Warriors remarked, "It's really a cool game."

The future

In two years the Warriors have firmly established themselves and seem to be on track for setting up a longstanding tradition in the Valley.

"The progress we have made is unbelievable," Cooper said. "In our second year the opposing coaches are still complimenting our team and are amazed at the progress and escalation of our talent."

But now, thanks to the efforts of several volunteers, the older boys in the Valley are not the only ones with the opportunity to play lacrosse.

Hennessy is joining forces with former collegiate player Kerry George and former prep star Bege Reynolds to form a girls' lacrosse team and hopes to have weekly practices throughout the summer. Interested players can contact Hennessy at 788-7747.

Atkinson Park, which conducted a spring program for youth players, is also offering a summer lacrosse program for boys and girls in the fourth to eighth grades, which begins June 6 and runs through July 6.

An introductory lacrosse clinic will be held on May 23-24 at the park. The sessions for fourth and fifth graders run from 2:30 to 4 p.m. and 4-5:30 p.m. for sixth through eighth grade students.

Cooper said he will also run a camp in late June.

"It's hard to stop playing,' he said. "I truly enjoy working with the kids."




 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.