Teri Fox writes about the state of lacrosse in the state of California

Is there lacrosse on the west coast, you ask? The short answer is "yes", lacrosse is alive and thriving out here. West coast lacrosse has steadily grown over the last few years and it is due in large part to the constant influx of east coast transplants.

75% of the 44 women on the San Diego Women's Post-Collegiate Lacrosse Team are from somewhere other than the west coast and most of them are from cities that are considered "lacrosse hubs" on the east coast; one third of that 75% are coaching and/or reffing in San Diego. That's a notable influence on the west-coast lacrosse community. The statistics are similar for the post-collegiate club team in Los Angeles.

Southern California tends to be a rather transient location, meaning there are a lot of people who come here from other parts of the country to spend a few years "experiencing life" before moving back to where they came from to settle down. For those adventurous souls who choose to move far away from old friends and family, lacrosse serves as a sort of "home base" giving them a sense of belonging and comfort in a place where everything else is new and different. It also serves as an easy way of meeting other people who share similar interests and experiences.

It is becoming easier to find the teams once one arrives in a new town, thanks in large part to e-mail and websites. Most teams have their own websites; performing a search for lacrosse in any given city will likely yield results. The Women's Division Post Collegiate Council is helping by listing the various clubs by city on their website.

Once one joins a post-collegiate club team, the assimilation into the lacrosse community happens quickly. This opens the doors to various coaching and reffing opportunities as well. The large influx of east-coast transplants filling the pipeline of various coaching positions is yet another reason for the growth of lacrosse on the west coast. As more coaches become available, more middle schools and high schools are implementing girls' lacrosse programs. As these girls progress in their skills and then move on to college, it increases the pool of players from which colleges can choose which in turn raises the skill level of those teams. As they graduate from college, there are more women looking for a way to continue playing lacrosse, which feeds the growth of the post-collegiate teams further. It's a continuous cycle and the result is an ever-growing lacrosse community.

What may surprise you is that northern California and the Pacific Northwest have an even larger post-collegiate lacrosse community than southern California. Both of those areas have their own developed "lacrosse leagues". The teams pay dues to their respective league and in return they are given a schedule of games throughout the season. At this point in southern California there is only one team in L.A. and one in San Diego so no "league" can be formed. It is therefore the responsibility of each team to create its own schedule of games with each other and the various willing local colleges in the area. The teams play in various tournaments throughout the region each year.

As interest continues to grow, we hope to form a league in southern California. The growth among all levels of the lacrosse population is definitely pushing that in the right direction; finding a way to keep the east coast transplants here would help even more. It is even more crucial for the growth of lacrosse at its base - at the middle school and high school levels. To continue the overall growth, we need a larger population of "local" players to hit the post-collegiate club level. It appears that we are on our way.

So don't be afraid to move to SoCal for fear of your lacrosse career being over. There are definitely teams for you to play on and plenty of teams in need of coaches. And maybe, just maybe, you'll like it enough to stay!

Teri Fox is a native of Baltimore, MD where she grew up playing lacrosse. She moved to the west coast over six years ago. She originally played on L.A.'s post-collegiate club team when she lived closer to L.A. Since moving to San Diego 2 ½ years ago, she has spent the last year running the San Diego post-collegiate club team.


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