For Paige Stratton, the next four years at the University of Cincinnati will be about more than playing lacrosse for the country?s newest Division I team: It will be about spreading the sport she loves to a school where it?s still in its infancy.
“I always knew I wanted to go to a school outside of Maryland,” said Stratton, a former standout at Annapolis High. “I wanted the chance to be a part of something from the ground floor. It also was a great way to teach others who might not know what lacrosse is all about.”
Stratton?s mission begins Sunday afternoon at 2 when the freshman attacker takes the field at Vanderbilt in the Bearcats? inaugural game in a sport that has broken free from its East Coast roots to blossom across the country. Cincinnati joins Navy and Louisville as first-year programs this spring, bringing the number of Division I teams nationwide to 84, up from 39 in 1981. And in 2010, that figure will rise yet again, when South Carolina and Florida launch their programs in the latest boom in which women?s lacrosse has become one of the nation?s fastest growing sports.
Consider: In 2007, there were 54,771 female high school players, according to the National Federation of State High SchoolAssociations, which cited just 18,017 a decade ago.
The sport?s growth since its humble beginning when Baltimore?s Bryn Mawr School established the first team in 1926 has given teenage girls more opportunities to play in college than their predecessors.
“Players are not only looking for new opportunities, but they also want to play right away,” said Cincinnati coach Lellie Swords, a former assistant coach at Johns Hopkins. “And that?s something that doesn?t usually happen at schools that already have a lacrosse tradition.”
Many colleges view lacrosse as the perfect sport to keep in compliance with Title IX, the 1972 law requiring all public institutions that receive federal funding to provide equal opportunities for males and females. But the boom of women?s lacrosse has created a problem for local college coaches: They now must compete with more schools when recruiting the area?s top players, as Maryland widely is considered a hotbed for the best high school talent.
Of Cincinnati?s 19 players, six are from the Baltimore area, and Vanderbilt features a roster in which 17 of 27 are from Maryland.
And since established programs such as Maryland, Towson, Johns Hopkins and Loyola already have a limited number of roster spots and scholarships, high school players are choosing to go to play for schools in warm climates where they won?t have to sit on the bench as freshmen.
“Teams like Florida and South Carolina are going to begood fast,” Johns Hopkins coach Janine Tucker said. “They have tremendous resources that we don?t have. When you look at them compared to us, their location is different, their approach to athletics is different and so we?re going to be hard-pressed to be able to continue to compete.”
Tucker said the one advantage Johns Hopkins has over some of the larger schools is the Blue Jays? commitment to lacrosse, as its men?s team has won nine NCAA titles.
“We are the only school that can promise that lacrosse is the premier sport and it won?t play second fiddle to basketball or football,” Tucker said. “That?s a big deal for us in the recruiting process. The players treat it as an honor to be a part of this team because of the rich tradition here on the men?s side. That?s the type of tradition we want to build on the women?s side.”
Still, even after 10 seasons as a Division I program, Johns Hopkins? women?s team, which advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2007, is still trying to reach the elite status obtained by newer programs.
Northwestern is going after its fourth straight national title after re-launching its program in 2002 after it was cut in 1992 because of financial reasons. But much like other teams outside the East Coast, Northwestern turned to the sport?s traditional base when it hired former Maryland All-American Kelly Amonte Hiller as head coach. This is a similar approach taken by Stanford, which hired former Maryland and Pikesville High standout Michele Uhlfelder. In 2006, Stanford became the first West Coast team to make the NCAA Tournament.
Navy women?s lacrosse coach Cindy Timchal acknowledges the sport?s landscape has shifted. She left Maryland in 2006 after 16 seasons in which she won eight national titles, including seven straight between 1995-01. She also helped Northwestern launch its original program in 1982.
“The recruiting battles for the top players in the country will get even fiercer in the next couple of years,” Timchal said. “Northwestern showed it could be done very quickly and very successfully.”
