Friday, August 27.1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 3
Lacrosse club growing, improving
By Jason Walker sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas women's lacrosse club is gearing up for what poses to be one of the most successful years in its history. Only one player from last year's squad isn't on this year's version, and the players' hopes are high for a successful season.
"We should do really well," said Laura Lavid, Lorton, Va., junior and team treasurer. "And we have a lot of prospective players who want to join. We want to have enough people for a really good-sized team."
Lacrosse is played on an area about the size of a football field, with 12 players on the field at once. The idea is to move a solid rubber ball about 3 inches in diameter down the field using sticks with nets on the end. These sticks, called crosses, are about 3 feet long and the nets, or heads, are about 6 inches by 10 inches. The women pass the ball to each other and try to score into a goal that is about 6-foot square.
Sport of the Week
Coach Dave Wiley said that lacrosse was unique because the basic concept was so broad.
"It combines so many different elements from different sports," he said. "You never get bored. It involves a lot of individual creativity, but at the same time is a complete team sport."
Wiley said that while lacrosse was not as popular in the Midwest as it was on the East and West coasts, it slowly was growing in popularity.
" T he Denver and St. Louis areas tend to produce people who have played before."
"There seem to be pockets of people with lacrosse experience," he said.
But Wiley said another reason lacrosse was unique was because players didn't need to be experienced to play it.
"It's like learning how to ride a bike," he said. "Once you learn it,
you get comfortable and don't have a problem. We try to get everyone's skills to a level that they are confident enough to go one-on-one with someone."
Jessica Kibbe, Osage City junior and club president, said that she had never played lacrosse before she heard about it and thought she would give it a try.
"After about two weeks of practice I was pretty comfortable with it," she said. "You just have to be willing to learn and have hand-eye coordination, you don't have to be a great athlete. It's a great way to stay active."
WOMEN'S LACROSSE
For more information about the lacrosse team, call Laura Lavid at 749-0076 or Jessica Kibbe at 841-7011. The team's Web site is located at www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Field /3225.
Last year, the team joined a nationwide league of 35 schools, in a division with Missouri, Truman State, Illinois and Knox College (Ill). Wiley said that he didn't think that kind of competition should be saved for just the varsity sports teams at Kansas.
"Everyone should have an opportunity to crush Missouri," he said. "Not just the basketball team."
The top two teams from each division qualify for the playoffs. Last year, Kansas took third.
"We lost by one goal in the tournament to Missouri," Kibbe said. "That was not fun."
The Kansas women don't play teams only in their league, however. Lavid said one of the highlights of last year was a trip to Madison, Wis., to play in a tournament held by the University of Wisconsin.
"We had so much fun," she said.
"The women on the Wisconsin
Members of the KU women's lacrosse club play in a game. Last year, the team joined a nationwide league of 35 schools, in a division with Missouri, Truman State, Illinois and Knox College (Ill.). Contributed photo.
team even had a barbecue for us. It is so fun to travel."
"It's cool to go to places I might not otherwise visit," she said. "We also went to the University of Illinois last year. You get to meet a lot of new people."
The team is going to start practice next week and plans on meeting about three times a week. While the main season is in the spring, the team does play matches in the fall.
Lavid said she wanted lacrosse to become popular and enjoyed being part of educating people about the game itself.
"To see one person get excited about it is enough for me," she said. "I want to see the sport grow." Lavid also explained why she enjoys the action so much.
"When you finally get good and make that great pass or block someone's shot," she said. "It's a total rush."
- Edited by Darrin Peschka
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Notre Dame Penn St. Florida St. Ohio St. Texas
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Kansas Penn St. Florida St. Ohio St. Texas
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Kansas Arizona Florida St. Ohio St. Texas
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