2008 Woodie Awards
Lacrosse begins new season with gusto
By Amanda Reno
Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: Sports
|
The sport of lacrosse is considered to be America's oldest sport and is also one of the fastest-growing team sports in the United States today.
"We started out scrimmaging Baylor High School, which was great for their program in preparing for play in their division and Feb. 2, we travelled up to Vanderbilt, competed against Vandy and Kentucky, which we're grateful for," said team president Andrew Wilson, Chattanooga senior in an e-mail.
"Vanderbilt is a very powerful and veteran program, so we took these two games as both learning experiences; to see how the top teams play and to build our 'threshold' as well. We lost both games, but the goals of going up there were achieved."
In addition to Vanderbilt and Kentucky, the Mocs have faced opponents MTSU, Western Kentucky and Tennessee Wesleyan College.
The UTC lacrosse team is now looking to play teams from the Southern Conference and other major universities next semester.
The team used to recruit mostly within Tennessee, north Georgia and Memphis areas, but several Chattanooga area teams have recently been established so UTC will be recruiting within the area next season.
"The origins of the game go back for thousands of years and it's been a part of this region for that long as well," said Wilson. "It's so old the Native's called it the 'Creator's Game' and because of its violence and tenacity they also called it 'the little brother of war.' If you want to find a true, pure Chattanoogan sport - this is it."
However, Wilson said he is very proud of the players he does have and their intense love of the game.
The lacrosse team at UTC is composed mainly of juniors and seniors who have been with the program from scratch, but Wilson said anyone is welcome to play. The team is always looking to bring some good sports players onto the team.
"My favorite thing about lacrosse is that it's the perfect game," said Wilson. "I've played all sports, but the dynamic nature of lacrosse, the tenacity of it, the atmosphere of the game, the way it's played; it's just hard not to love. Especially to watch- there is never a dull minute because of the fast pace."
Practices are held Tuesdays and Thursdays on Chamberlain Field from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. For more information, contact team president Andrew Wilson at Andrew-Wilson@utc.edu.
