NT Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 102, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 20, 2014 Page: 10 of 12
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10 SPORTS
NORTH TEXAS DAILY
Lacrosse teams see bright iiture or sport at
EhsasAzad
StafT Writer
Past the popularity of sports
like football and basketball, la-
crosse has created a small yet
growing movement as one of the
current lesser-known sports at UNT.
The lacrosse program has been
officially listed as a club sport since
1996. But despite its club status,
the team is a semi-varsity pro-
gram that takes player fees, fea-
tures the school logo and is al-
lowed to play games on campus
unlike other schools in the con-
ference. Both the men and wom-
en's teams hold practices and
play home games at Traditions
Field, across from Fouts Field.
"We've come a long way since
the program started," men's vol-
unteer head coach Rick Harper
said. "It keeps getting bigger and
bigger."
Harper has been playing la-
crosse since he was 5 years old and
coached at both the high school and
college levels. When he heard that
UNT was in search of a head coach
this year, he jumped at the oppor-
tunity to get back into coaching.
When he arrived, Harper said he
noticed that the previous coach did
not know how to coach lacrosse.
"The previous coach wasn't
good, so we have to redo a lot of
stuff," Haiper said. "It is going to
take a while, but it's going to pay
off."
The team plays in an indepen-
dent conference called the Lone
Star Alliance. The LSA has 20 other
college teams from Oklahoma to
San Antonio, such as the University
of Texas, the University of Oklaho-
ma and Texas Tech University.
The conference holds playoffs to
determine who moves on to play
in a national tournament, similar to
what college basketball has for the
NCAA tournament.
Anyone who wants to play for the
team must be a full-time student
and sign up through UNT Rec Sports.
For the funds required beyond what
the team is provided by Rec Sports,
players pay a fee to help fund for the
league, travel and hotels.
I1COTAILJ
tLEfD-Off
Get ready to roar like the 1920s on February 20 at this
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feeling lavish when vaiets greet you. Join hosts Alpha Delta
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for a night you won't forget.
Learn how to mix delicious non-alcoholic drinks
Proceeds benefit the Ronald McDonald House
Febnjary ZD. £OH
b-d PV1
Oalewcft Center ballroom
Complement Valel Service
Purchase Tickets for $5 from any Alpha Delta Pi Member
UNT health r jT>a a
School of public Health
AATT
The women's lacrosse team has
more difficulty recruiting new play-
ers, however. The team is a mem-
ber of the Texas Women's Lacrosse
League, which consists of schools
such as Texas A&M University, Rice
University, and Louisiana State Uni-
versity.
"Whenever we try to recruit
people for lacrosse, they say it's too
hard," biology senior Victoria Meng-
den.
The team doesn't get as much
recognition as the men's team, but
that only helps fuel their competi-
tive nature. The attendance for their
home games ranges from 15 to 20
people, which is about 20 less than
what the men average at their home
games - but team hopes to expand
that number with better exposure.
They advertise through the recre-
ation center, flyers, and social me-
dia as well as recruiting at freshman
orientations. Player-coach and mar-
keting senior Sarah Bodish said it's
the fastest growing sport right now.
"I could see it becoming a full-
fledged varsity sport with the back-
ing of the university," Bodish said.
Biology sophomore Brandon
Onstott agreed with Bodish. He has
played lacrosse for nine years and
loves how different it is to other
sports, comparing it to hockey with-
out the ice.
"It's moving down here ever so
slowly, but in two years it will be
pretty big," Onstott said.
Onstott said that he wishes the
UNT Recreation Center could be
more organized, but that he has
seen UNT lacrosse grow in his past
year with the team.
"It's a great group of guys and we
love what we do," biology sopho-
more Brandon Onstott said. "It's like
being in a fraternity."
Psychology junior and goalie Paul
Wahlstrom said that it is rare for la-
crosse players to find teams in Tex-
as and is thankful to be on a team.
"It is just a privilege for me to play
this sport in Texas," Wahlstrom said.
Wahlstrom said he sees lacrosse
growing, especially with the con-
cussion concerns with football.
"With the drama that is going
on with football, I wouldn't be sur-
prised if there was a huge change
in the sports environment," Wahl-
strom said. "I could see lacrosse on
the same level as hockey in the next
10 years."
The men and women's lacrosse
team contact information can be
found at the UNT Recreation Center
website, https ://recsports .unt. edu/.
£
Men's Lacrosse team hold up their lacrosse shafts after practice on Thursday at
Fouts Field. Photo by James Coreas, Staff Photographer.
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Darnell, William A. NT Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 102, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 20, 2014, newspaper, February 20, 2014; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth531890/m1/10/?rotate=270: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.