BALTIMORE– US Lacrosse, the national governing body for the sport, has announced the addition of two new chapters to the organization: Alaska and Houston.

US Lacrosse now has 60 regional chapters in 38 states and the District of Columbia. Each chapter exists to provide US Lacrosse programs and services to its local membership. Men’s and women’s youth lacrosse clinics, coaching education clinics, and officials’ clinics are a few of the US Lacrosse programs offered through these regional chapters.

"The addition of the Alaska and Houston chapters demonstrates how far-reaching the sport of lacrosse has become," said Erin Sturgis, director of chapter relations for US Lacrosse. "Our organization and the passionate volunteers in these regions are making the opportunity to get involved in this sport possible."

Alaska, the newest of all of the US Lacrosse chapters, has reported that there are at least 150 active lacrosse players within the statewide chapter.

"That is a promising number for a region where lacrosse is historically non-traditional and the average high temperature in Juneau during lacrosse season is a chilly 51 degrees," said Sturgis.

Now, the chapter is working to identify lacrosse players, coaches and officials that have moved to the state but don’t know that the sport is available there.

"At the start there was no lacrosse in the Anchorage area," said Alaska chapter president, Joe LoSciuto. "Now, we currently have members playing on the Kenai Peninsula, Anchorage, Mat Su Valley and Fairbanks. We’ve applied for grants and are advertising all over the city. Coordinating all the efforts and having a statewide Midnight Sun tournament is our near-term goal for the summer."

Houston, the third chapter in the state of Texas, has already hosted a U.S. women’s national team youth clinic and a Level 1 Coaching Education Clinic.

"It has already impacted the Houston area," says Houston chapter president, Brian Ackman. "These are the type of events that the Houston area needs in order to continue to grow at the rate that the sport has growing throughout Texas."

Houston reports that there are over 2,400 lacrosse players in the Houston chapter.

Texas has two other US Lacrosse chapters, North Texas and South Central Texas. In March, North Texas will host the 2008 Patriot Cup at Texas Stadium. Army, Navy, Rutgers and Holy Cross plus four high school lacrosse teams will participate in a four-game men’s lacrosse showcase. The Patriot Cup will be the first lacrosse games ever played in Texas Stadium, which is home to the Dallas Cowboys.

A chapter of US Lacrosse is an extension of the national organization. A chapter unifies, promotes and provides programs and services to the many aspects of men’s and women’s lacrosse in its geographic area. Each chapter serves as a conduit of the national headquarters of US Lacrosse. Chapters run their own hall of fame banquets, special events, fundraisers, tournaments, festivals, meetings and gatherings. They also host Coaches' Education Program Clinics, Officials' Training Clinics, can participate in US Lacrosse’s equipment grant programs, can send teams to US Lacrosse National Youth Festivals, conduct National Tournament try-outs and participate in All-American selections.

All US Lacrosse chapters are supported by the Chapters Advisory Council. The Chapters Advisory Council, is an extension and support network of the sport’s national governing body. The council upholds the US Lacrosse mission by providing responsive and effective leadership and facilitation with commitment to education, respect, good spirit, trust and tradition among the organization’s chapters, regions and national entities.

US Lacrosse, a 501(c)(3) corporation, is the national governing body for men’s and women’s lacrosse. US Lacrosse has more than 200,000 members around the country. The learn more about US Lacrosse, please visit www.uslacrosse.org.