C’Lesa Kay
Staff Writer
Many of Pepperdine students may have never watched a lacrosse game or held one of the strange looking wooden sticks used to play. Many people on the West Coast don’t even know this sport is huge in other parts of the country and is rapidly gaining popularity across the nation, especially in California.
Now Pepperdine is taking part in this revolution and the men’s lacrosse team is having a blast learning the ropes of this intense blend of soccer and hockey.
The long plastic stick with a pocket at the end is actually more accurately called a crosse and a small white, yellow or orange rubber ball is used in the game. Men’s lacrosse players wear helmets, mouthpieces and protective gloves. Lacrosse is a contact game played with 10 players on the field including the goalie.
It is a fast-paced, intense sport and is often considered to be associated with severe injuries. Statistically, though, lacrosse players are not necessarily more prone to injury than other athletes. “Research has found both men’s and women’s lacrosse to be relatively safe. Most injuries are minor sprains and contusions, but as in any sport significant injuries can and do occur,” said Dr. Richard Hinton of the Lacrosse Sports Science and Safety Committee.
Lacrosse, one of the fastest-growing team sports in the country, is also said to be the oldest sport in North America. Modern day lacrosse evolved from a Native American activity used to resolve conflicts, heal the sick, and develop fast, strong, healthy men. Tribes around present-day southern Canada and the northern United States played the game and in the 1800s the French began enthusiastically playing, creating standardized rules and field dimensions in 1867.
The location of these lacrosse-playing tribes resulted in greater popularity of the sport on the East Coast and California is just finally beginning to catch on to the lacrosse craze. Across the nation there are close to 400 men’s lacrosse college teams and 1,200 high school teams. Pepperdine’s intramural team is at a slight disadvantage because so many students at this school are local and in California lacrosse is just beginning to grow.
Slowly but surely lacrosse’s popularity is working its way up from San Diego and also has a decent following in San Francisco. Anaheim has a professional outdoor league and this summer Los Angeles is starting an expansion outdoor league. Kids can begin at a younger age in California now by joining the South Bay STARZ club and a kids’ program recently began in Malibu as well.
In other parts of the country children often begin playing at pre-school age creating larger numbers of more highly-skilled players. Fortunately Pepperdine plays other inexperienced California schools that are near the same level skill-wise, but unfortunately another disadvantage hinders our team.
“We usually have less people than most teams we play,”said head coach Scott Bross, who began playing in 6th grade and was on Duke University’s lacrosse team.
What the team lacks in numbers, they make up for in heart. Bross recalled a game his first year coaching where the team took a road trip all the way to St. Mary’s. The other team had 40 players and we only had 13. “It was 90 degrees outside too,” Bross said. Pepperdine fought a long hard battle and ended up winning the game. Bross considers this to be one of his best memories in his three years of coaching the team.
“These boys are so hardworking and dedicated, I’m really impressed,” said assistant coach Jared Frood, who has played lacrosse since age 5 and was on the Duke team with Bross. “The difference between our team in January and our current team is like day and night.”
The 21 players have been practicing since September working on the basic fundamentals of lacrosse like throwing and catching the ball and strengthening their defensive strategy.
“With any sport, in the beginning of the season the defense generally has a better foundation than the offense. Offense takes time to gel,” Frood said. This was the case with the men’s lacrosse team this season and with Frood’s help and offensive lacrosse background he helped by taking over offense so Bross was able to focus on strengthening the defense. This doubled the efficiency of practices and cut Bross’ workload in half.
No doubt Bross and Frood’s years of experience and time spent on one of the nation’s best lacrosse teams at Duke University has helped the team immensely, but both coaches credit every win and the team’s improvement to the players’ hard work, great attitudes and dedication.
A majority of the team members are beginners and have quickly picked up the basics of the sport. Practices vary every week depending on what skills the coaches decide were weak in the previous game or practice. This season some points of practice have been clearing the ball, picking up ground balls and communication.
Recently they’ve been working on avoiding their tendency to force balls, meaning throwing to people who aren’t open. One aspect of the game that seemed to come naturally to the players is energy and endurance. “They’re riding game has been good from day one,” Frood said. “The boys have amazing hustle, heart, and commitment to the team.”
Not only have the players’ dedication and willingness to learn made both the coaches’ jobs easier, certain players have been particularly helpful in organizing and leading the team. Trevor Watkins is one of the team captains and he handles much of the team organization. He schedules games, collects dues and sets up the field. He has been doing this since Bross began coaching three years ago and without his help the team quite possibly wouldn’t function.
As a Pepperdine graduate law school student with an internship, Bross made it clear when he accepted the coaching position that he would have no time for tedious matters of organization. Fortunately, Watkins stepped up to the plate and has been taking care of business since his sophomore year.
“Seniors Joe Katz, Kevin Longo, and Andrew Longman have also stepped up the senior leadership this year,” Bross said. Goalie Max Kleeman, has been a great addition to the team along with sophomores Brad Blakely, Mike Hoyt and Clint Harp.
The most dynamic player on the team is Drew Kaspers. “He is typically the best player on the field during every game – this includes both teams,” Bross said. He had a tough season overcoming injuries including a broken collar bone, but he stayed positive and is back on the field trying to bring the team more victories.
“It’s taken a couple of the guys a little while to get used to my sense of humor,” Bross said. “But I think they’ve adapted to my sarcasm and we have a fun time in practice.” The men joke around and Bross tries to ensure that everyone gets playing time during games.
“On the East Coast the lacrosse teams were always a very tight knit group and the players constantly hung out together. I’ve tried to establish that rapport with the team but it’s not as easy since each player is involved in so many different activities.”
Given a top-heavy schedule the team got off to a rocky start by playing some of the best teams first, but the coaches are optimistic that the team will only improve as the second half of the season continues. So far they are 2 – 4 and hope to win more of their remaining 12 games including a home game at 3p.m. on April 1 against Pacific and another on April 2 at 1p.m. against Occidental. The coaches and players would love to see more support from Pepperdine students at the games.
Once California kids are exposed to the sport there is a good chance many will enjoy this mix of soccer, hockey, and a little basketball. It’s a fun sport to watch and a relatively easy one to pick up for many athletes because speed and coordination are more important that brawn.
Usually the players’ friends and girlfriends attend games to cheer the men on, but the team would love a larger fan base so Pepperdine students should come support lacrosse. Maybe after seeing the sport more students will be inspired to join next season.
“What we’ve really been missing this year is a team mom,” chuckled Bross. “She was definitely a morale booster the past two years. We need someone to fill those shoes with the same intensity and give us orange slices and Hi-C.”
For more information about lacrosse visit Pepperdinelacrosse.com, insidelacrosse.com, laxpower.com or uslacrosse.org.
Many of Pepperdine students may have never watched a lacrosse game or held one of the strange looking wooden sticks used to play. Many people on the West Coast don’t even know this sport is huge in other parts of the country and is rapidly gaining popularity across the nation, especially in California.
Now Pepperdine is taking part in this revolution and the men’s lacrosse team is having a blast learning the ropes of this intense blend of soccer and hockey.
The long wooden stick with a pocket at the end is actually more accurately called a crosse and a small white, yellow or orange rubber ball is used in the game. Men’s lacrosse players wear helmets, mouthpieces and protective gloves. Lacrosse is a contact game played with 10 players on the field including the goalie.
It is a fast-paced, intense sport and is often considered to be associated with severe injuries. Statistically, though, lacrosse players are not necessarily more prone to injury than other athletes. “Research has found both men’s and women’s lacrosse to be relatively safe… Most injuries are minor sprains and contusions, but as in any sport significant injuries can and do occur,” said Dr. Richard Hinton of the Lacrosse Sports Science and Safety Committee.
Lacrosse, one of the fastest-growing team sports in the country, is also said to be the oldest sport in North America. Modern day lacrosse evolved from a Native American activity used to resolve conflicts, heal the sick, and develop fast, strong, healthy men. Tribes around present-day southern Canada and the northern United States played the game and in the 1800s the French began enthusiastically playing, creating standardized rules and field dimensions in 1867.
The location of these lacrosse-playing tribes resulted in greater popularity of the sport on the East Coast and California is just finally beginning to catch on to the lacrosse craze. Across the nation there are close to 400 men’s lacrosse college teams and 1,200 high school teams. Pepperdine’s intramural team is at a slight disadvantage because so many students at this school are local and in California lacrosse is just beginning to grow.
Slowly but surely lacrosse’s popularity is working its way up from San Diego and also has a decent following in San Francisco. Anaheim has a professional outdoor league and this summer Los Angeles is starting an expansion outdoor league. Kids can begin at a younger age in California now by joining the South Bay STARZ club and a kids’ program recently began in Malibu as well.
In other parts of the country children often begin playing at pre-school age creating larger numbers of more highly-skilled players. Fortunately Pepperdine plays other inexperienced California schools that are near the same level skill-wise, but unfortunately another disadvantage hinders our team.
“We usually have less people than most teams we play,”said head coach Scott Bross, who began playing in 6th grade and was on Duke University’s lacrosse team.
What the team lacks in numbers, they make up for in heart. Bross recalled a game his first year coaching where the team took a road trip all the way to St. Mary’s. The other team had 40 players and we only had 13. “It was 90 degrees outside too,” Bross said. Pepperdine fought a long hard battle and ended up winning the game. Bross considers this to be one of his best memories in his three years of coaching the team.
“These boys are so hardworking and dedicated, I’m really impressed,” said assistant coach Jared Frood, who has played lacrosse since age 5 and was on the Duke team with Bross. “The difference between our team in January and our current team is like day and night.”
The 21 players have been practicing since September working on the basic fundamentals of lacrosse like throwing and catching the ball and strengthening their defensive strategy.
“With any sport, in the beginning of the season the defense generally has a better foundation than the offense. Offense takes time to gel,” Frood said. This was the case with the men’s lacrosse team this season and with Frood’s help and offensive lacrosse background he helped by taking over offense so Bross was able to focus on strengthening the defense. This doubled the efficiency of practices and cut Bross’ workload in half.
No doubt Bross and Frood’s years of experience and time spent on one of the nation’s best lacrosse teams at Duke University has helped the team immensely, but both coaches credit every win and the team’s improvement to the players’ hard work, great attitudes and dedication.
A majority of the team members are beginners and have quickly picked up the basics of the sport. Practices vary every week depending on what skills the coaches decide were weak in the previous game or practice. This season some points of practice have been clearing the ball, picking up ground balls and communication.
Recently they’ve been working on avoiding their tendency to force balls, meaning throwing to people who aren’t open. One aspect of the game that seemed to come naturally to the players is energy and endurance. “They’re riding game has been good from day one,” Frood said. “The boys have amazing hustle, heart, and commitment to the team.”
Not only have the players’ dedication and willingness to learn made both the coaches’ jobs easier, certain players have been particularly helpful in organizing and leading the team. Trevor Watkins is one of the team captains and he handles much of the team organization. He schedules games, collects dues and sets up the field. He has been doing this since Bross began coaching three years ago and without his help the team quite possibly wouldn’t function.
As a Pepperdine graduate law school student with an internship, Bross made it clear when he accepted the coaching position that he would have no time for tedious matters of organization. Fortunately, Watkins stepped up to the plate and has been taking care of business since his sophomore year.
“Seniors Joe Katz, Kevin Longo, and Andrew Longman have also stepped up the senior leadership this year,” Bross said. Goalie Max Kleeman, has been a great addition to the team along with sophomores Brad Blakely, Mike Hoyt and Clint Harp.
The most dynamic player on the team is Drew Kaspers. “He is typically the best player on the field during every game – this includes both teams,” Bross said. He had a tough season overcoming injuries including a broken collar bone, but he stayed positive and is back on the field trying to bring the team more victories.
“It’s taken a couple of the guys a little while to get used to my sense of humor,” Bross said. “But I think they’ve adapted to my sarcasm and we have a fun time in practice.” The men joke around and Bross tries to ensure that everyone gets playing time during games.
“On the East Coast the lacrosse teams were always a very tight knit group and the players constantly hung out together. I’ve tried to establish that rapport with the team but it’s not as easy since each player is involved in so many different activities.”
Given a top-heavy schedule the team got off to a rocky start by playing some of the best teams first, but the coaches are optimistic that the team will only improve as the second half of the season continues. So far they are 2 – 4 and hope to win more of their remaining 12 games including a home game at 3p.m. on April 1 against Pacific and another on April 2 at 1p.m. against Occidental. The coaches and players would love to see more support from Pepperdine students at the games.
Once California kids are exposed to the sport there is a good chance many will enjoy this mix of soccer, hockey, and a little basketball. It’s a fun sport to watch and a relatively easy one to pick up for many athletes because speed and coordination are more important that brawn.
Usually the players’ friends and girlfriends attend games to cheer the men on, but the team would love a larger fan base so Pepperdine students should come support lacrosse. Maybe after seeing the sport more students will be inspired to join next season.
“What we’ve really been missing this year is a team mom,” chuckled Bross. “She was definitely a morale booster the past two years. We need someone to fill those shoes with the same intensity and give us orange slices and Hi-C.”
For more information about lacrosse visit Pepperdinelacrosse.com, insidelacrosse.com, laxpower.com or uslacrosse.org.
06-10-2006
