Naperville gets on the stick with lacrosse program
Some say soccer is America's fastest-growing sport. Others say it's rugby.
But if you ask Paul C. Stolzer, vice president and general manager of Players Indoor Sports in Naperville, the fastest-growing sport locally is lacrosse.
"Aside from the North Shore, the Naperville area is the fastest growing spot for lacrosse in Illinois," said Stolzer, who also coaches high school lacrosse for St. Charles Co-op. "Several area high schools have lacrosse teams that travel to compete and there frequently is a shortage of field space."
Stolzer's latest endeavor to encourage lacrosse play is a partnership with the Naperville Park District. Starting in March, Players and the park district are launching a new lacrosse program designed for boys of all skill levels between the ages of 8 to 15.
The Naperville Park District had been running its own lacrosse programs through Lacrosse America in St. Charles. But the park district recently switched to Players for a number of reasons.
"We felt a Naperville company would have more of a vested interest with the children of out community," said Fred Gusel, superintendent of recreation programs for Naperville Park District.
The fact that Players already had its own expertise in running lacrosse leagues with trained coaches also played a factor, as did the cost. Gusel says park district program manager Brock Atwell was able to negotiate the cost to be about $100 cheaper for Naperville kids to participate under the new partnership.
"In the event of inclement weather, we would also be able to move inside if the facilities permit," added Gusel, highlighting the indoor fields available at Players.
Lacrosse instruction is the program's main focus, with two beginner programs known as "Buzz saw" for kids in grades three to five and "Bandits" for grades six to eight. An intermediate-to-advanced program for middle schoolers goes by the moniker "Braveheart."
Stolzer hopes the new collaboration will prove to be a good feeder program for local high school lacrosse teams. And beyond that, Stolzer hopes Naperville can develop a string of athletes who can get into top-notch colleges on lacrosse scholarships.
Though the new Players-park district program is focused only on boys, Gusel hopes its potential success will create a demand for a girls lacrosse program. Girls, he said, already have a good area role model in the Northwestern University Women's Lacrosse team, the reigning NCAA champion that recently won the 2008 FieldTurf Award for Team of the Year and NCAA Coach of the Year honors for Kelly Amonte Hiller.
On the professional level, lacrosse has had more of a mixed record in the Chicago area.
Financial pressures and low attendance forced the 3-year-old Chicago Shamrox indoor lacrosse team to disband just two weeks before its 2009 season was to start at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates. But the Windy City still has a Major League Lacrosse outdoor team, the Chicago Machine, which plays at Toyota Park in Bridgeview.
"Lacrosse was known as an elitist sport for a long time," Stolzer said. "But if you look at where lacrosse was five years ago and where it is now, it's mind-boggling how fast it has grown and caught on."
For information, visit playersindoor.com. Official registration is coming soon through the Naperville Park District at napervilleparks.org.