High School Lacrosse
PRESEASON
MARCH 11, 2007
Proof is on the field during Icebreaker festival
By NATHAN CHAMBERS
BeyondTheDerby.com
Scott Howe stood on a patch of well-trodden grass at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park on Sunday and recalled that less than a handful of teams participated in his first Louisville Icebreaker Lacrosse Festival seven years ago.
As he spoke, two teams were playing on a field to his left, two teams were playing on a field to his right, and eight more teams were playing on four other fields around the park.
Those accounted for only a fraction of the approximately 50 high school and middle school teams that competed in the eighth annual festival on Saturday and Sunday - a testament to Howe’s observation that lacrosse has “gotten a foothold” in Louisville since he started the event and a reason that BeyondTheDerby.com will begin covering the sport extensively during the 2007 season.
There currently are 19 boys' teams and 12 girls’ teams scheduled to play in the Kentucky Lacrosse Association’s varsity leagues this season, which begins this week. Trinity is the three-time defending champion in the boys' league, and Manual is the three-time defending champion in the girls' league.
“It’s just taken off,” said Howe, a former University of Virginia player who coaches the three-time KLA champion team from St. Xavier High School and co-owns the Stickhead Lacrosse store in Louisville. “It’s grown and grown every year. All these moms and dads are here, and you look around and see little kids running around with sticks. It’s become a thing in this town. It’s a big deal.”
Boys' teams from Ballard, Christian Academy, Collegiate, Eastern, Kentucky Country Day, Male, Manual, St. Xavier and Trinity, and girls' teams from Male, Manual and Mercy represented Louisville in the festival. Teams from seven other states - Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee - also played, including Hickman High School from Columbia, Mo.
“We usually participate in a preseason tournament in Missouri,” Hickman coach Jamie Mullen said. “We thought this would be a good opportunity to get out and test the waters before the regular season.”
He said that the team also could have traveled to Memphis or Chicago.
“We love it here,” he said. “It’s been great to play teams from Kentucky and other states in this region. It’s a good facility, the fields are wonderful, and the people are friendly.”