As the famous saying reads, "Go west, young man," so has lacrosse. The sport pioneered by American Indians but perfected by elitist New England prep schools has taken Greeley's advice and, over the past few decades, has spread outward from its Eastern roots to form a network that now includes every state in the nation.
Like anything else, growth must start from the bottom up, beginning with a solid base to build upon. For lacrosse, that solid base is the youth leagues that have been summer staples in eastern states but are just now exploding in warmer western states, where the sport can be played year round.
In Central Virginia, the Seminole Lacrosse League is the biggest youth league, catering to boys and girls from ages four through 17. The league was founded in 1987 by Al Sadtler, and it is this system of introducing kids to the sport at an early age that has produced a significant increase in the talent level of older players.
"The players that are coming to us [in high schools] are better players, they're better prepared, they know the game better and they have better skills," said Doug Tarring, St. Anne's-Belfield boys' lacrosse coach. When they were younger, "somebody put a stick in their hands and took them out to a youth league and enrolled them in a program. That's why the game has grown so much."
Sadtler agrees concentrating on youth lacrosse is the best way for the sport as a whole to gain acceptance.
"It's definitely an important part of the growth of the sport," Sadtler said.
Tarring is a '72 graduate of the University and was an attackman for the Cavaliers when they won their first lacrosse National Championship his senior season. He points to former lacrosse players and coaches as being the torchbearers for the sport and being committed to improving its future.
Lacrosse "is a labor of love by the people that started it," Tarring said. "There's a lot more volunteerism than there is people getting paid to do it."
Speaking of people dedicated to the game, U.S. Lacrosse was founded in 1998 as the national governing body for both men's and women's lacrosse in an effort to unify all national lacrosse organizations. Seven years after merging all eight associations into one, U.S. Lacrosse has a membership of over 160,000 players, coaches and officials. In a participation survey conducted in 2003, U.S. Lacrosse found approximately 108,000 youth players -- age 15 and under -- within their 50 chapters.
Also in 2003, the National Federation of State High School Associations reported that there were roughly 88,000 students playing varsity high school lacrosse in the United States. To illustrate the magnitude of the lacrosse expansion, the 2003 figure is a 40 percent increase from the 2000 count and an implausible 100 percent increase in participation from the survey compiled in 1995.
A further breakdown of the regional chapters, which include youth and high school members alike, reveals that percentage-wise, the highest member increase from 2001 to 2003 was the Arizona chapter, with a 67 percent increase, totaling 1,833 members. Texas had the second highest increase with a 61 percent jump while the North and South Carolina region had a 60 percent increase in participation from 2001 to 2003. In contrast, the Mid-Atlantic Region, which includes Maryland, Virginia and D.C., had the smallest increase
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