04/27/2008
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Staff photo by Joe Phelan
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Staff photo by Joe Phelanfrom the Kennebec Journal
FAIRPOINT PLAN TARGETS DEBT
Wind project off Mass. meets strong resistance
Three bills seek tougher rules for petitioners
New rules for special education debated
Happy apples
AUGUSTA: Cuts to French curriculum run into opposition
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL: Hall-Dale drops MVC title game to Mountain Valley
HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY NOTEBOOK: Different stakes in Gardiner-Winslow rivalry
All of today's:
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from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
'At the time ... he was psychotic'
Man answers door, is attacked with Mace and then robbed
FairPoint reorganization plan aims to slash company's debt
Concerns over special-education changes aired
FAIRFIELD: Clinton man, 21, arrested on rape, assault charges
Stun gun, arrest of suspect end high-speed, 2-town chase
HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY NOTEBOOK: Gardiner, Winslow take to ice again
GIRLS BASKETBALL: Skowhegan wins KVAC A title game
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
"There was a lot of standing around," said Peckham, who grew up in West Gardiner.
Along came lacrosse and Peckham found a sport that fit his needs and personality.
"It's a fast-paced game," said Peckham, now a sophomore at Thomas College and a 37-goal scorer this season. "It's got everything. It's physical and there's a lot of skill and strategy involved."
Thousands agree with Peckham's assessment of the sport which has grown exponentially in the past few years. Nationally, the sport grew by 12.8 percent last year, according to US Lacrosse, the sport's governing body. Since 2001, the number of lacrosse players has increased from 253,931 to 480,627 last year, with the biggest jumps coming at the youth and high school levels.
Those statistics are mirrored here in Maine where the number of teams has more than doubled since the Maine Principals' Association first sanctioned high school championships 10 years ago. There are currently 39 boys teams in two classes and 37 girls teams, also in two classes.
Dick Durost, MPA executive director, points out lacrosse is the one spring sport that is fast-paced.
"There seems to be some ice hockey carryover on the boys side and also field hockey players on the girls side," Durost said.
Schools in southern Maine still dominate the sport at state championship levels based on the number of participants and coaching experience. But central Maine schools are gaining.
"I think we're already there," Thomas College men's coach and Messalonskee High boys coach Tom Sheridan said. "The skill level of the kids in the area has improved tremendously."
The popularity of the sport is not only reflected in the number of teams but also in the number of participants on those teams.
"Here in Lewiston our numbers have exploded," said Lewiston High School athletic director Jason Fuller, who is also a member of the MPA lacrosse committee. "I'd say it's probably our No. 3 sport behind football and hockey."
This year, the Blue Devils had 68 boys try out for lacrosse and 58 girls.
America's oldest sport
The origin of the sport is credited to Native American tribes who played the game hundreds of years ago to resolve conflicts and develop virile men. Their game had religious overtones and sometimes served as a prelude to war with "games" lasting several days and including hundreds of competitors.
If was refined by the French, who began playing it in the early part of the 19th century. The basic rules, field dimensions and number of players were put into place by Canadian W. George Beers in 1867. New York University fielded the first collegiate team in 1877 while Phillips Academy of Andover, Mass., and Phillips Exeter Academy of Exeter, N.H., were among the first high school teams. The first women's lacrosse team was at Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore in 1926.
The sport remained largely in East Coast prep schools for a number of years save for a few hot pockets in New York and New Jersey. When the Duke University lacrosse scandal broke last year, many saw a sport played by an elite group of athletes, but that is the exception rather than the rule.
"All the stereotypes came out in the Duke case," said Sheridan, who grew up playing the sport in Long Island, N.Y. "A lot of lacrosse people saw how their sport was being perceived."
Although lacrosse remains a popular prep school sport, Sheridan said 75 percent of those age group participants are public high school kids.
Men and women played under similar rules until the 1930s when the men's game evolved into a much more physical sport while the women's game stayed true to the original rules. Today, men wear helmets, shoulder pads, arm pads, gloves and protective cups.
"The equipment is pretty expensive," said St. Joseph's College coach Mike Edgar, a past chapter president of Maine US Lacrosse. "It's very similar to hockey in its expense."
Helmets run around $150 and sticks $100, Edgar said. The protective equipment is necessary because the men's game allows checking and deeper cradled sticks made for much harder shots. The women's game allows just checks on the stick and even those are limited. Gloves are optional. Besides sticks, the only other equipment required for women are protective goggles.
The object of the game remains the same for both men and women -- put the ball in the goal -- but men do it with 10 players, including the goalie, while the women use 12.
Easy to learn
Lacrosse is a relatively easy sport to pick up. Edgar said a third of his first-year St. Joseph's College team had never played lacrosse before.
"The trick is to master the catching and throwing," he said. "You have to do that pretty smoothly."
Lacrosse sticks, or crosses, vary in length, from defensemen whose sticks are as long as 72 inches, to attackmen and midfielders whose sticks are just over half that length. The head of the stick is 6 1/2 to 10 inches wide and forms a cradle from which the ball is carried, passed, scooped off the ground or shot. Competitors advance the ball down field through passes and dodges in an attempt to score.
"It's very basketball oriented in plays and picks," Cony girls coach Gretchen Livingston said. "Keeping (the ball) in the pocket is the biggest challenge for my girls. Stick skills are huge."
After two years as a club sport, the Cony girls fielded a varsity team this year.
"It just sounded like a cool thing to start," said Cony sophomore Cassie Diplock who played for the first time last year. "I kind of wanted to learn a new sport."
Thirty-four girls tried out for lacrosse at Cony and serve on two teams. Livingston said she plays about 18 girls in a typical game.
"It's a high-scoring game," Livingston said. "It's attracting soccer, field hockey and basketball players. It fills the void of a field sport in the spring."
While Diplock didn't pick up the sport until she reached high school, her eighth grade sister has learned the game through the Augusta Rec program. Together, they often perfect their throwing and catching skills.
"A lot of kids spend time away from the field getting better," Sheridan said.,
When Sheridan began coaching at Messalonskee 14 years ago, there were no youth programs. Now they start in the fifth grade -- many communities began even earlier -- and there about 25 players on the middle school team.
"I think it's going to keep growing," said Sheridan. "It's eventually going to go north past us."
Mt. Blue of Farmington is currently the northernmost team in the state, but it's gaining a following all over, especially at the youth level.
"The hockey guys eat it up because it's exactly the same flow as hockey," Sheridan said. "The soccer guys eat it up, basketball, too. There's something that appeals to every athlete."
Gary Hawkins -- 621-5638
ghawkins@centralmaine.com
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