Lacrosse: East Coast sport is gaining favor in Utah

But when there are 20 kids who sign up to play lacrosse and they don't have a coach, often a parent — with no background in the sport — will volunteer to try to learn the rules through books and videos and take the job.

Getting qualified officials has proven even more difficult. Since the lacrosse season is in the spring, the Utah Lacrosse Association has recruited some football officials to learn a new sport because football games are in the fall and the seasons don't conflict. They've also had success getting young, recently graduated former high school players and finding transplants from other parts of the country who grew up playing the sport to step in as officials. The ULA offers training courses — and competitive pay.

"It really can be a pretty good part-time job," Taylor says.

The future

Kids start playing most teams sports in their elementary school years with fewer and fewer participating as they get older so that by high school, relatively few are still playing competitively. It's the opposite right now in Utah when it comes to lacrosse — with more participation by high school students than by younger players.

That won't always be the case, however. The ULA is making a push to get kids playing the game at a younger age. In the past two years, they have started youth leagues for boys from kindergarten through eighth grade. Girls leagues have begun from sixth through eighth grades. About 800 boys and 150 girls are currently playing the sport prior to their high school years. Those numbers are expected to increase by approximately 20 percent or more per year.

The state high school championship and all-star games will be held on Weber State's football field at Stewart Stadium on May 22. With lacrosse becoming more and more popular with the high school crowd, it stands to reason that it may one day become sponsored by the UHSAA. Then again, it may never happen. At present, in fact, the ULA isn't pushing lacrosse toward becoming a state sanctioned high school sport. The ULA likes being in control and knowing that officials and coaches are getting training through them.

Some may feel lacrosse is just a strange game that won't take root — a fad, really. But its growth the past 10 years in Utah indicates it's here to stay.

"It's a great game," said Taylor. "It's not that we want people to stop playing other sports, but we do want more people to play lacrosse. It gives kids another option."

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E-mail: lojo@desnews.com