Monday, May 02, 2005

Move Over Soccer....Here Comes Lacrosse (9News)

Move Over Soccer....Here Comes Lacrosse
written by :  Susie Wargin  sports reporter/anchor
Created: 4/29/2005 10:27 AM MDT - Updated: 5/2/2005 2:13 PM MDT

No disrespect to soccer, but the sport may have to make room for a sport with sticks, especially in Colorado. More and more school aged kids are taking up lacrosse starting as young as kindergarten and in this state alone, the numbers are growing by a third every year.

The root of the success of lacrosse in Colorado stems from a few things including the Colorado Mammoth who sell out games consistently and also the DU Pioneers. Both the Pi's men's and women's teams began playing in a state of the art facility just this year and the men's team has a promising look at Division I postseason play for the first time in DU's history.
The Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium is one of kind: its the only facility in the country dedicated solely to lacrosse. The $5.9 million stadium was made possible in part by a lead gift from Peter Barton's widow Laura. The stadium compliments the architecture of the Ritchie Center with it's brick and stone veneer, limestone accents and cooper roof. It seats about 2,000 spectators and has been at capacity on many occasions this spring.
DU will officially dedicate the stadium on April 30th when the Pioneer men play the Air Force Falcons.

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