Much Talent in Minny
(6 votes, average: 4.83 out of 5)
Loading ...
By Jac Coyne
Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
The instant after I asked the question, I realized I had stepped in it.
I fell into the age-old trap I take great pains to avoid. I had relapsed into my tired East Coast mindset about ‘new’ lacrosse areas. So when I asked Rob Graff, the head coach of the Minnesota-Duluth men’s lacrosse team, where he found most of his kids, I cringed when the question was met with an awkward pause.
“Jac, let me give you a little background about Minnesota lacrosse…”
He probably wanted to say, “Listen, moron, there are other parts of the country that play the sport,” but Graff’s an even keeled guy who is the product of teachers, so he kindly schooled me on the history of Minnesota lacrosse.
In my defense, I assumed the sport must be in its infancy because the Minnesota State High School League just started sanctioning an official state tournament last year. In reality, Minnesota has had an organized non-sanctioned high school club league boasting over 50 teams for more than a decade. The hard work in the high schools during those early years is starting to bear some serious fruit for college programs.
Ryan Hurley, from Eagan, Minn., is currently the leading goal-scorer for Cornell while Lehigh and Air Force also boast players from the North Star state. Next year, Minnesotans will join the programs at Dartmouth and Stony Brook. In addition, the active roster at Minnesota-Duluth, the premier MCLA program in the state and currently ranked No. 3 in the country, is made up of entirely Minnesota products.
Click here for the full article on Lacrosse Magazine Online.
