The sport of lacrosse may not yet be trendy and hip, but it seems to be catching on nationally and in West Virginia, says Steve Odekirk, a local optometrist.
The sport of lacrosse may not yet be trendy and hip, but it seems to be catching on nationally and in West Virginia, says Steve Odekirk, a local optometrist.
Odekirk grew up in Waterloo, Iowa, with little awareness of lacrosse, but he's a recent convert. His son, Connor, discovered the sport playing for the Charleston YMCA middle-school team and took a liking to it.
Coach Steve Odekirk (wearing hat) leads a squad of 20 lacrosse players at GW.
Connor and four of his YMCA teammates - Gardiner Smith, Taylor Pearson, Rob McGhee and Rusty Isaacs - now attend George Washington High School and wanted to continue playing, prompting the elder Odekirk to take action.
The optometrist enlisted the help of two former college lacrosse players, invited other GW students to give the sport a try and, in January, school officials and the Kanawha County Board of Education gave Odekirk's team club-sport status.
"It's the fastest growing high school sport in the United States,'' he said, adding that 1,700 high schools field lacrosse teams of some sort. "Every state bordering West Virginia has lacrosse leagues.''
St. Albans High introduced lacrosse last year, joining a modest but growing number of state high school programs that includes Morgantown, University, Fairmont Senior, Buckhannon-Upshur, Wheeling Central and Linsly. Bridgeport is expected to join the list soon.
At the moment, the GW team consists of 20 players and hopes to add more. It's been practicing informally at John Adams Middle School, will begin official practice Feb. 25 and play the first of six scheduled games March 15 against Morgantown High at St. Albans.
The players' passion for lacrosse, said Odekirk, is contagious.
The sport of lacrosse may not yet be trendy and hip, but it seems to be catching on nationally and in West Virginia, says Steve Odekirk, a local optometrist.
Odekirk grew up in Waterloo, Iowa, with little awareness of lacrosse, but he's a recent convert. His son, Connor, discovered the sport playing for the Charleston YMCA middle-school team and took a liking to it.
Connor and four of his YMCA teammates - Gardiner Smith, Taylor Pearson, Rob McGhee and Rusty Isaacs - now attend George Washington High School and wanted to continue playing, prompting the elder Odekirk to take action.
The optometrist enlisted the help of two former college lacrosse players, invited other GW students to give the sport a try and, in January, school officials and the Kanawha County Board of Education gave Odekirk's team club-sport status.
"It's the fastest growing high school sport in the United States,'' he said, adding that 1,700 high schools field lacrosse teams of some sort. "Every state bordering West Virginia has lacrosse leagues.''
St. Albans High introduced lacrosse last year, joining a modest but growing number of state high school programs that includes Morgantown, University, Fairmont Senior, Buckhannon-Upshur, Wheeling Central and Linsly. Bridgeport is expected to join the list soon.
At the moment, the GW team consists of 20 players and hopes to add more. It's been practicing informally at John Adams Middle School, will begin official practice Feb. 25 and play the first of six scheduled games March 15 against Morgantown High at St. Albans.
The players' passion for lacrosse, said Odekirk, is contagious.
"They've gone really crazy over it. They love the sport,'' he said. "And that's how I became involved. It's fast-paced. It's a physical sport but not as physical as football. I don't know if it's because it's new, but it's really taken off.''
He describes it as a combination of soccer, hockey and football in which 10 players on a side, wielding sticks with small pockets on the ends, try to manipulate a tennis ball-sized rubber ball into a 6-foot-by-6-foot goal. Like soccer and hockey, lacrosse has goalies, who are armed with oversized sticks. Experienced teams use of variety of offensive and defensive formations.
Each player wears a helmet, shoulder pads, arm pads, gloves, mouthpiece and cup at a cost of $200, which includes the stick. For now, the players and their parents are financing the team.
Lacross is often higher-scoring than hockey and soccer. In last year's NCAA final, Johns Hopkins defeated Duke 12-11.
Odekirk is learning the sport from Phil Wright, who played at the Naval Academy and now coaches the YMCA team, and David Coors, a former Cornell University player.
If the sport continues to grow in West Virginia, the Secondary School Activities Commission would consider sanctioning it as a varsity sport, thereby elevating its status and giving it a postseason championship tournament.
"That's our goal,'' said Odekirk.
To contact staff writer Mike Whiteford, use e-mail or call 348-7948.
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