Larry Cruikshank/ViewCentennial High School lacrosse player Sean Ferreiro, center, shoots and scores the last goal of the game as the Bulldogs defeated the Palo Verde Panthers to win the Las Vegas Lacrosse League?s Junior Varsity Championship on May 17 at Faith Lutheran High School, 2015 S. Hualapai Way.
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Lacrosse has been called "the fastest sport on two feet," but its rapid reputation doesn't end on the field. It might just be the fastest growing youth sport in the world.
"Throughout the U.S. and Europe, and in places where there is organization of youth sports, it is outgrowing everything else," said Don Krueger, past president and vice chairman of the Las Vegas Lacrosse League and coach of the Centennial High School junior varsity team. "It's the fastest growing in the U.S. by far. Even though the hotbed for lacrosse has traditionally been the northeast part of the country, in recent years, there has been an explosion in California, Arizona and Las Vegas. In Texas, there are some 290 programs."
In Southern Nevada, the LVLL just finished its spring season, which saw 32 teams and just under 1,000 youth participating at the middle and high school levels.
Lacrosse is considered a club sport because it's not officially sanctioned by the Clark County School District or the Nevada Interscholastic Athletics Association. But that hasn't held back the growth of the sport or the rise in the level of competition.
"I think (official sanctioning) is going to happen," said Tank Thomas, coach of the varsity program at Centennial High School, traditionally one of the strongest teams in the valley. "There are already more youth playing lacrosse here than playing youth baseball, which some people might find startling. But as it continues to grow and get more push from parents and schools, and when we develop an equal number of girls teams as boys, then we can take it to the district."
Thomas, a native of upstate New York, has been involved in the sport since he started playing at the age of 6. He took the reins of the Centennial program this year after Darren Gagnon, still a fixture in the local lacrosse community, stepped down as coach.
"Lacrosse is exciting. It moves fast. You can have a team down by four goals with a minute to go, and they can come back to win the game," Thomas said. "I think that excitement is attractive, and that's why it has grown so much, and also you have colleges and schools adding lacrosse to their athletic programs all the time. I read about a college adding it almost every day. There's so much opportunity for kids to get scholarships and advance to the next level."
The Bulldog team fought through a rebuilding year this season but should continue to find success due to a strong feeder program from Leavitt Middle School, where coach Pete Haines "is doing a great job," Thomas said. Other local powerhouses at the boys varsity level include teams from Bonanza, Faith Lutheran, Coronado and Palo Verde high schools.
Centennial's junior varsity team won the league championship on May 17.
Thomas said he has four or five players on his team who will be moving on to play collegiate lacrosse, which fulfills his main goal as coach.
It seems the only thing that is slowing the development of lacrosse in Las Vegas is a lack of fields for kids to play on.
"The area is drastically behind the demand when it comes to facilities," Krueger said. "The majority of places are committed to soccer and youth baseball, and you have some fields that are not multipurpose and are designated for one sport only. But the city (of Las Vegas) has been very pro-active about getting on the pulse of the growth and working to develop multi-use fields."
Indian Hills Park, located south of Scherkenback and Bilbray elementary schools on Fort Apache Road, has been designed to include two lacrosse fields that also can be used for soccer. The fields will have natural turf and lights. The planned opening of the park is late 2008 or early 2009.
This summer is scheduled to bring the opening of the second phase of Teton Trails Park, at Bradley Road and Whispering Sands Drive, which will have two more open turf fields available for lacrosse. And Las Vegas Ward 6 City Councilman Steve Ross recently said the city is working on the development of a 26-acre park on Durango Drive and Riley Street, which could have two fields designed exclusively for lacrosse use.
Until those fields become a reality, local lacrosse players will have a few summer camps to keep them busy.
Gamebreaker Lacrosse Camps will hold its annual day camp from June 9-12 at the Charlie Kellogg and Joe Zaher Sports Complex, 7901 W. Washington Ave. The cost is $275. For more information, visit www.laxcamps.com.
The PCX Vegas Under the Lights camp will be held on June 23 at Acacia Fields in Henderson, 50 Casa Del Fuego St.
The cost is $275, and more information can be obtained at www.playersclub experience.com.
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