According to the colloquialism, it’s “the fastest game on two feet,” possibly the first American sport and arguably the fastest growing sport in the U.S. Lacrosse is expanding, and the addition of men’s and women’s lacrosse as a Big Ten sport, announced on June 3, is evidence of the sport’s increasing popularity.
Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State will be joined by Big Ten men’s and women’s lacrosse newcomers Maryland and Rutgers in 2014. Johns Hopkins also has been accepted as only a men’s lacrosse member, starting in 2014.
Despite lacrosse becoming an increasingly hot commodity for Big Ten athletic departments, there are currently no plans for MSU to follow suit, according to MSU associate athletics director John Lewandowski.
“At this time the focus is on maintaining our 25 sports, and funding them at a championship level,” Lewandowski said. “We continually evaluate our sports lineup.”
Lewandowski did leave the door open for adding another varsity sport in the future.
“If someone wanted to step forth and endow a program, we would definitely take a look at that,” Lewandowski said.
MSU has a proud lacrosse history, beginning in 1963, the program recently celebrated its 50th anniversary this past year. The program attained varsity status in 1970, and was cut as a varsity sport in 1996 to comply with Title IX. The program now continues competitive play as a Division I club.
“We run it like an NCAA program,” said head coach Brandon Schwind. “We have a rigorous practice schedule and discipline standards, but we remember that all our players are students first.”
MSU competes in the Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association, or CCLA, along with six other Division I club programs from Western Michigan , Central Michigan, Davenport, Ohio, Pittsburgh and Toledo. The CCLA is one of the 10 conferences of the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association, or MCLA. The MCLA is an organization of non-NCAA lacrosse programs with more than 200 teams across two divisions.
“One of the coolest things is that we travel all over the country,” said MSU lacrosse club president and first team All-American defenseman Seth Clickner, adding that the Spartans played in Maryland and South Carolina this past season.
MSU has performed well in the MCLA, winning the conference championship each of the last two seasons. The Spartans have fallen short in the national tournament, making it as far as the quarterfinals.
Schwind said while the ultimate goal is to win a national championship, there is more to the program than just winning games.
“We want to see all of our players graduate,” Schwind said. “Family comes first, then school and then lacrosse third. We want to create positive members of society once our players leave college.”
Michigan’s lacrosse program became varsity last year, after winning five-straight CCLA conference championships from 2007-2011 and three-straight MCLA national championships from 2008-2010.
“With the University of Michigan going (varsity), it gives them a step up,” Schwind said.
Junior defenseman Mike Klaus expressed excitement at the possibility of lacrosse becoming a varsity sport in the future, but recognized that it would be a complicated process.
“We would love to represent our school that way, but we recognize there are constraints,” Klaus said. “We can only control how we play.”
Still, the team is optimistic about the future of MSU lacrosse.
“The program is headed in the right direction,” Schwind said. “We are earning respect on and off the field, and giving kids a taste of being a college athlete.”
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