WHY IS LACROSSE THE FASTEST-GROWING COLLEGE SPORT IN THE COUNTRY?

For a sport that has been played in America since before the pilgrims landed, it has been a long time coming for lacrosse to make its way up the list of most popular college sports. It is surprising that it has taken this long for lacrosse to really start catching on in the United States, but it’s better late than never.

Certain areas of the country are considered hotbeds for lacrosse. Long Island, New York has a rich history of lacrosse and their high-tier lacrosse teams reflect that.

“It was always the sport to play around here,” said Massapequa high school boy’s lacrosse coach, Tim Radomski. “The island (Long Island) continues this great lacrosse culture by having great youth programs which get kids interested early.”

Liberty men’s lacrosse coach, Kyle McQuillan, also sees the importance of youth programs.

“The rapid growth of lacrosse has a lot to do with kids picking it up at an early age. It’s fairly cost-effective and is an exciting sport that more and more kids are playing at an early age.”

Some areas are just being introduced to lacrosse.

“There wasn’t a lacrosse team of any kind in Franklin County,” said local lacrosse player, Jake Barber. “My family actually introduced the school’s athletic director to lacrosse and he was able to organize a team for us.”

With more high schools adding lacrosse programs, the number of college players will continue to increase exponentially.

Lacrosse is growing at such a fast rate that there aren’t enough NCAA schools to accept all of them. The Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) makes up for the lack of roster space in the NCAA.

The MCLA is a club lacrosse league that has over 200 teams, each of which provides a specific type of lacrosse experience. These club teams vary from being extremely competitive and skillful to being all about fun with practically no experience necessary.

“The MCLA is definitely a league that helps foster the growth of lacrosse by allowing more kids to play longer,” said McQuillan.

The addition of the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) also plays a part in the growth of the sport. The PLL is a new professional lacrosse league that was founded in 2018 by the most well-known lacrosse player, Paul Rabil, and his brother Mike.

The two brothers took a unique approach to grow this league. Instead of associating a team with cities as every other sport does, all of the teams travel all over the country similar to a musician on tour.

The constant traveling of the teams across the nation helps introduce the sport to communities who have never really experienced lacrosse.