Triad Sports Weekly
   A Premier Sports Publication

Lacrosse Is Here To Stay
 

By Sam Davis
Triad Sports Weekly

            Lacrosse, you can say, is here to stay. The sport, known mostly by suburban athletes in the Middle Atlantic States for many years, has a foothole in the south now and is one of the fastest growing sports in the nation.

            Forsyth Country Day, a private school in Lewisville, has fielded a boys lacrosse team for more than a decade. For years it dominated the local landscape in the sport. Of course Bishop McGuinness, another private school in the county, has also fielded a lacrosse team for nearly the same amount of time.

            In recent years, however, public school lacrosse programs have popped up across Forsyth County. Two of the most successful and oldest programs are at R.J. Reynolds and Mount Tabor. This year Reynolds is making a lot of noise. The Demons knocked off Forsyth Country Day in an early-season showdown.

            Without a question, the most ballyhood recruit to play in Forsyth County is Forsyth Country Day’s Jordan Smith. Smith is one the first lacrosse player from the state of North Carolina to earn a lacrosse scholarship with the Tar Heels. Smith’s older brother, Gray, is a sophomore on the team.

            Coaches in the area say they’ve seen the sport improve by leaps in bounds. Jim O’Neil, the coach at R.J. Reynolds said it is facinating to see how the sport has caught on in North Carolina.

            “I’ve played i all my life,” said O’Neil, who grew up in New York. “I've been living in Winston the last 15 years or so. To see how the game has spread and the quality of lacrosse has improved is amazing.”

            One of the factors in the equation is the quality of lacrosse programs for young players. Triad Youth Lacrosse Association, headquartered in Greensboro, but sponsors several teams in Winston-Salem, is one of the major reasons why the sport has caught on so quickly.

            Athletes can begin to learn the fundamentals of the game through the program’s Young Guns League, beginning in the first and second grad. Players in that league practice twice a week and there is no contact. However, equipment is required.

From there, players move up to Bantam (third and fourth grade) before matriculating to the program’s upper echelon programs.

            In addition, several individuals operate private camps that help facilitate players learning the sport in this area.

            In Forsyth County, five schools offer lacrosse as a team sport (Reynolds, Reagan, Mount Tabor, West Forsyth and Parkland. There are two private schools (FCD and Bishop McGuinness).