Effie Dawson, The Examiner
2008-05-30 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

After the final shot was taken at Towson University’s Johnny Unitas Stadium on Sunday night, there was little debate that the best women’s college lacrosse team calls Chicago home. The Northwestern Wildcats avenged their only loss of the season with a 10-6 win over Penn to claim their fourth consecutive National Collegiate Athletic Association championship. The final drew a record 6,125 spectators to the Towson stadium. On Monday afternoon, a record 48,970 packed Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., to watch Syracuse defeat Johns Hopkins, 13-10, in the men’s championship.

Instead of bemoaning the lack of fans at the women’s championship or the loss by the Johns Hopkins men, there are plenty of reasons this week to celebrate the role of the Baltimore region in the past, present and future of lacrosse. It is also a time for Baltimore to look for new ways to advance the sport and its regional connection.

Lacrosse is not the Preakness. And it’s not the state sport, as jousting got the early claim to that designation. But lacrosse is part of Baltimore’s soul, and the region should retain the pulse of the game.

First a bit of history: Native Americans first played something like lacrosse, although some varieties involved hundreds of players mostly banging each other with sticks and never touching the ball.

The more civilized version — well, the modern version — is more like the game formalized in 1867 by Canadian dentist W. George Beers, according to U.S. Lacrosse, the national governing body of the sport, which has its headquarters in Baltimore. The game spread south, through the Northeast and into New York. By 1880, seven U.S. colleges were competing in an organized league.

But not until 1893, when students at Johns Hopkins University organized a team, did the game gain wider attention. Baltimore so embraced the sport that it grew beyond the college campus, and leagues were established for lots of age groups. The women’s game was developed in Scotland and began in the United States at Baltimore’s Bryn Mawr School, according to U.S. Lacrosse.

These days Maryland kids often get their first sticks before their first tricycles. College coaches flock to the state for showcase camps and recruiting tournaments. And lacrosse has deep roots in the business and political communities, where former players maintain connections far stronger than academic degrees.

Maryland teams have enjoyed plenty of attention in national rankings and won an impressive number of national titles. On the men’s side, Hopkins has nine Division I titles and eight runner-up trophies. Maryland has two wins and seven second-place finishes. Towson and UMBC won Division II titles in 1974 and 1980, respectively. Salisbury has eight Division III championships, including its 19-13 title win over Courtland State on Sunday. And Washington College has one Division III win and seven other finals appearances. Navy has been to two D-1 finals and Loyola one. All of these schools continue to demonstrate the power this region has to develop young players and draw top players from other areas.

On the women’s side, Maryland has nine championships and five second-place finishes. Loyola lost to the Terrapins in the 1997 final. Salisbury has reached the Division III title game twice.

This is an excellent time for Baltimore lacrosse interests to reaffirm their connection with the sport (and make sure New York doesn’t steal their thunder).

There are some obvious steps, like helping to boost attendance at next year’s Women’s Final Four, which will return to Towson.

Northwestern coach Kelly Amonte Hiller called Johnny Unitas Stadium “the right size for our sport right now. Hopefully we’ll grow to bigger venues like Foxborough Stadium, but right now, this is where we’re at, and hopefully next year we can pack this stadium.”

Still, some online critics consider the attendance disappointing, second-guessing prices, times, the venue and parking charges. These issues should be reviewed as part of a bigger look at drawing more fans next year and establishing long-term connections with the event.

The bigger step, though, is for area lacrosse leaders to share their sport with a wider audience. Despite many advances, lacrosse is still linked to affluent schools and neighborhoods. Colleges, high school and club teams have opened up opportunities to others by donating equipment and sponsoring clinics, camps and scholarships. But far more needs to be done. This should become a greater priority for the city fathers and mothers of lacrosse. Once Baltimore does this, it will truly be the hometown of lacrosse.

- Correction: Lewin Carlton Powell’s name was misspelled in last week’s column.