Lacrosse club shows vast improvement
For some it is just a sport. For those on the Utah State University men’s club lacrosse team, it is an obsession.
“It is a lifestyle,” junior player Warner Behrmann said.
This is the kind of dedication that has allowed the Aggie lacrosse players to improve their club on campus and allow other university lacrosse teams to take them more serious.
“Before this year, the league wasn’t impressed with our dedication,” club president Paul Larkin said. “We wanted to show the league we were in good standing.”
Three years ago the team ended their season with only 14 players. They had low advertising for their games and as a result people rarely came to watch them play. The opposing teams would show up to play them and USU would have to borrow players, Larkin said.
This year the presidency set goals before they started their season, and so far they have kept nearly all of them.
“We discussed the team and where things were going and what was to come,” Larkin said. “It was a lot more organized.”
These goals included things such as better advertisement, more community involvement and a winning record.
“Jonathan Atwood got The Statesman archives and got every lacrosse article,” Larkin said. “He got the names of the alumni and got their addresses and sent newsletters to alumni and parents,” Larkin said.
He said the team also started the Cache Valley Lacrosse Association. Two players on the team help coach the Sky View and Mountain Crest High School lacrosse teams. The high school teams were started this year.
The team did all this in hopes of getting the community more involved.
For those in the community who did become more involved and go to the lacrosse games, they found improvement there also.
“We are supporting fans by having free hot dogs at every game,” Larkin said. “We also let our fans come shoot into the goalie after the game. We are trying to get the fans more involved in the sport instead of just going and playing our game and then going home.”
The team also improved their record.
The 2000-01 season record was 7-10. This year the team had a fall record of 3-2 and a spring record of 5-5 with a division record of 2-1.
The team belongs to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association and plays in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Lacrosse League. Teams in this league mostly come from Utah and Colorado. Idaho and Arizona are also represented.
Utah State hosted the league’s Fall Brawl this season. There were eight teams at the Fall Brawl with BYU walking away with the title.
“There was [The] Herald-Journal publicity about it,” Larkin said. “Channel 12, the Cache Valley Morning Show, did an interview with me.”
About 250 fans came to watch the games Larkin said. Overall, the Brawl was a great success in helping the team become more publicized and known in the community and league, he said.
There is a Division I and Division II in the league. The Aggies are ranked fourth in Division II. Until they have better funding and a full-time coach, the Aggies will stay in Division II.
The team did not just spend time improving their game but also their friendships.
“Camaraderie between the players has improved,” Behrmann said.
The team had a fall retreat at Larkin’s cabin. Older players took younger ones and helped them with everything in general, not just the game, and the team also has weekend barbecues, Larkin said.