Lacrosse Seeing Major Growth On College, High School Levels

More Than 100,000 Fans Expected At Men's Lacrosse Championships

Lacrosse until recently was "rarely on TV and only its championship games generated much in the way of media coverage," but these days the sports is "showing serious growth," according to Trachtenberg & Evans of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The sport was "mostly played on the East Coast, and it was often viewed as a game for private-school kids." The NCAA Division I men's lacrosse championships will be held this weekend at Gillette Stadium, and "more than 100,000 spectators are expected" to attend the games featuring Cornell, Duke, Syracuse and Virginia. If the "numbers are correct, you'll be hearing a lot more about" the sport. The National Federation of State High School Associations, which tracks participation by sport, indicated that participation in high school lacrosse has "about doubled this decade, to a total of 143,946 boys and girls playing" during the '07-08 school year. In '00-01, that figure was 74,225. A '07 survey by the National Sporting Goods Association "found an estimated 1.2 million Americans over age 7 had played lacrosse within the previous year -- an increase of 40%" since '99. US Lacrosse CEO Steve Stenersen said that the Internet has "played a crucial role." Stenersen: "There's tons of stuff on YouTube, as well as coverage on a variety of news and alternative sites." Trachtenberg & Evans reported the media, "specifically cable TV networks such as ESPN, have also popularized the sport." But lacrosse "still trails far behind more traditional sports and it remains to be seen whether the sport will ever catch up in popularity" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 5/20).