By Branson Hardcastle | Reporter
Lacrosse is a physical, full contact sport where one uses a crosse, a pole with a net at the top, to throw the lacrosse ball, a solid rubber ball about the size of a tennis ball, in the goal.
Each goal is worth one point and the team with the most points at the end of the game wins. At the start of each of the four quarters, the teams start in a face-off, where a member from each team fights for control of the ball. Whoever wins the face-off controls the ball and the teams immediately go into their offense or defense.
Kansas City senior Brad Dickerson, president of the Baylor Lacrosse Club, said that the physical aspect of the sport is constant. The players wear chest protectors, helmets, gloves and some wear shoulder pads to protect themselves from hits. The players are able to stick check, a move used to knock the ball out of the opponent’s possession and body check. Body checking is allowed if the opponent has the ball or if they are within five yards of a loose ball. There can be multiple big hits in lacrosse, but most of the contact comes from fighting for loose balls, stick checks and body checks.
Dickerson said that lacrosse can be described as a mix of hockey, basketball and soccer.
“I would compare it to hockey because of the physical aspect and the fact that everyone has a stick. They are also two of the only sports that can go behind the goal,” Dickerson said. “I would also compare it to basketball. The offensive schemes are very similar. There is a heavy emphasis on ball movement and the rotations are a lot alike. Conditioning wise, it is definitely on the level of soccer. There is a lot of running and you need to be in shape to play.”
Physicality plays a major part in lacrosse, but one’s mentality also plays a role in how players go about approaching the game according to Flowermound senior Trey Cambere, vice president of the club.
“The physical aspect can make people scared or timid going into certain plays. All in all after going to a couple of weeks of practice, the mental aspect of worrying about the physicality isn’t an issue,” Cambere said. “I go into every game with the mindset of wanting to have fun and win. We go out there to compete and play the best we can.”
Not only is the game physically and mentally challenging, but it requires stamina. Cambere said possession changes a lot throughout the game which moves pretty quick. One aspect for new members to adjust to is this quickness. Cambere said that once new members figure out the speed and get in shape, lacrosse becomes a lot easier.
The Baylor Lacrosse Club, which has been on campus for 43 years, plays Division 2 lacrosse in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association. Within that association, there are different leagues; Baylor plays in the Lone Star Alliance Conference South Division. They play teams such as Incarnate Word, Texas A&M Corpus Christi and University of Texas San Antonio.
Last year the club finished second in the Lone Star Alliance Conference South tournament to advance to the Lone Star Alliance Conference tournament. They lost to the eventual champions, University of Louisiana-Lafayette, in the semi-final game. They weren’t able to advance to the national tournament last year, but this year they hope to reach that point.
Baylor lacrosse will play in their first tournament of the season Nov. 12 at the Cowboy Cup in Dallas.
