Mukilteo club sign of new interest in lacrosse

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, May 28, 2002

By Bob Mortensen

Herald Writer

Those guys in the wacky headgear swarming all about area athletic fields are not novice bee keepers whose training went tragically awry.

Lacrosse, a fast-paced and physically demanding sport that has long thrived at all levels on the East coast, has migrated west in recent years. It is attracting new players to a burgeoning number of programs at the high school and youth levels in the Puget Sound area and throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Nate Luzenga, coach of the newly formed Mukilteo Lacrosse Club comprised of boys ages 13-18, says there were 11 new teams at the high school level in Western Washington in the recently completed season.

The Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association has not yet sanctioned lacrosse as a high school sport. That could change in the future as leagues and teams continue to sprout up in places like Spokane and Port Angeles, well-removed from the Seattle metro area. In Oregon, programs are booming beyond Portland, in cities like Eugene and smaller towns east of the Cascades as well.

“Teams are popping up everywhere now,” said Luzenga who played in the virtual varsity program at Gonzaga University. “Lacrosse is huge over on the east coast, but it’s growing rapidly in this area.”

Indeed, but aside from containing elements of basketball, hockey and football, what is it that attracts players to the game?

“Lacrosse has everything I love about sports. It’s very physical, it has finesse, lots of strategy, it’s fast-paced and high scoring,” Luzenga said. “So much about the sport just screams my name.”

Luzenga is pleased with his current crop of prospects, but would be glad to add players with football experience.

“They’re good defensemen and physical players aren’t afraid to lay a check on somebody if they need to,” Luzenga said. “Most of these guys in this core group are hockey players. The two sports really accent each other very well.”

Luzenga was an assistant coach for the fledgling Snohomish Titans program last season.

“We’re happy to see Nate take off and run the Mukilteo club,” said Bonnie Roulstone, one of the Titans sponsors.

Roulstone says that in an era when competition for limited varsity slots at the high school level is increasingly fierce, lacrosse is another option for young athletes. The Titans girls team has players from Snohomish, Bothell and Mukilteo.

“It’s wonderful. Many parents have told us they are thrilled their daughters are out doing this sport,” said Roulstone, whose husband Doug played at the Naval Academy.

Roulstone likens the lacrosse expansion to the soccer explosion that occurred over the last generation.

“I went to school in Oak Harbor in the 70s and we barely knew what a soccer ball looked like,” Roulstone said. “There has been tremendous growth in lacrosse here. We are looking to expand with clinics for kids of middle school age in October.”

Luzenga likewise projects growth in the youth programs that will eventually fuel high school clubs.

“We expect good things this year and even greater things in the future,” Luzenga said.