Youth Lacrosse Comes to Alameda

by Peter Brand

Alameda has a new youth sport — lacrosse. Several Island residents have founded the Alameda Lacrosse Club. The “Alameda Attack” is looking for boys and girls who want to learn about “the fastest sport on two feet” and play this spring. 

Lacrosse is an exhilarating sport, fast paced and full of action, featuring sprints up and down the field, precision passes, dodges and lots of goal scoring. 

The sport combines many of the elements of basketball, soccer and hockey. It is also a sport anyone can play – the big or the small. Lacrosse uses the whole body and it does not require a certain body type. It is a game that rewards coordination and agility, not brawn.

Lacrosse is also the fastest growing sport in the country at the high school and college levels. Invented by the North American Indian, the first high school lacrosse game was in 1882 at Andover (Phillips Academy). And women started playing lacrosse not long thereafter in 1890. Now in northern California, where the sport has doubled in participation in the last eight years, there are 56 lacrosse clubs with 7,500 players.

Field lacrosse is sometimes perceived by those unfamiliar with the game to be a violent and dangerous game, however, injury statistics prove otherwise. While serious injuries can and do occur in lacrosse, the game has evolved with an emphasis on safety, and the rate of injury is comparatively low. Compared to other team sports there are few head or knee injuries.

The season runs from the end of February through the beginning of May. There are usually two practices per week and a game on the weekend.

The lacrosse club plans to field five teams this spring (boys U9, U11, and U13; girls U13 and U15). The Alameda Attack coaches played at the University of North Caroline, Michigan State, the Coast Guard Academy, Princeton and San Francisco’s Barbary Coast Lacrosse Club.

To introduce kids and parents to the sport of lacrosse and to welcome returning players, Alameda Lacrosse is offering two Demonstration Days. At these events, coaches will be on hand to show kids the basics of the sport, run drills and possibly play a mini scrimmage game. A limited amount of gear will be on hand for the kids to try out.

The first demo day is this weekend: DECEMBER 10, 2011 from 2:00 - 4:00 pm at HARRINGTON FIELD. Harrington Field is located at Fir & Holly Streets on Bay Farm Island in Alameda.

You can learn more about this fun game, as well as the equipment needed and fees, at the website (www.alamedalacrosse.com). For more information, email: alamedalacrosse@gmail.com.