The two MSU undergraduates are teaming up with Tim Leonard, a supervisor for University Lacrosse, or ULAX, a Colorado-based company that specializes in forming adult lacrosse leagues. The three are in the early stages of marketing and advertising for a male league that begins Sept. 30.

“Lacrosse is not the most well-established sport in Michigan, but it is continuing to grow, especially at this level because there are few opportunities for people our age to play,” Baines said.

The team is different from an MSU intramural league because of the management and media aspects.

Photographers, reporters and statisticians will be hired to update the Web site with postgame analysis, Leonard said.

Burland, who has played since high school, and most recently in ULAX’s first season in Michigan in the spring, has decided to engage in the business side of the sport. He is currently posting fliers and visiting fraternities to spread the word of the organization.

Leonard recruited Burland and Baines to fill management positions after they competed and officiated, respectively, last season. He said they were qualified because of their different backgrounds – Burland with an interest in business and Baines with a passion for spreading the game which he has played since sixth grade.

ULAX originated at the University of Colorado at Boulder in August 2005. After four seasons out west, Leonard, a Michigan native, felt the organization could prosper in Lansing. His expectations were not completely fulfilled in the spring when about 50 people played in a four-team league.

“Lansing has been a stubborn place, and I haven’t had a lot of luck marketing that group,” Leonard said.

Burland and Baines make money based on the amount of people they get to play. Without a set wage, the two plan on getting the ULAX name out in the open from the get-go to fill spots quickly.

Leonard said he knows there are a lot of students interested, they just have to be found. They hope to fill the league with six teams and at least 100 people. The league charges a $100 fee for about six regular season games, playoffs and jerseys. Burland and Baines will do all of the league’s interviewing and hiring.

“Even when I’m putting up posters, I have to ask myself, ‘Should it go here, or here?’” Burland said. “It’s real-life marketing. And once the league starts, it will be real-life management, as we work to get people where they need to be with everything running smoothly.”