Blue Skies: Lacrosse on the rise

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

After walking around the Blue Skies Lacrosse tournament for hours Sunday, March 29, at Wadsworth Park in Flagler Beach, I realized I didn’t see one player leave the field with an injury. I immediately thought to myself, ‘If I had a kid, I would definitely sign him up to play this sport before any other,’ and in the past 15 years, thousands of parents have agreed.

Though lacrosse is one of the oldest sports in the country, it has failed to attract multitudes, until recently. Lacrosse has become the nation’s fastest growing sport, and it’s showing in Flagler County.

Just over a year old in Flagler County, Blue Skies Lacrosse, the only youth development program in the county, organized a spring tournament that welcomed 30 teams from around the area. In its infancy, they had less than 35 total kids. Now, when Blue Skies competes in tournaments statewide, they usually take more teams than any other program.

“There’s energy about this sport that’s infectious,” said Oliver Johnston, one of the Blue Skies coaches. “It’s spreading like wildfire across the country because of the intensity and high excitement of the game.”

While American football leagues continue to fall in numbers annually due to the ongoing concussion and injury crises, lacrosse has jumped from an estimated 253,000 players in 2001 to nearly 1 million participants, according to US Lacrosse.

According to the National Federation of High Schools, 621 boys teams and 588 girls teams were added from 2008-2013, while the NCAA has had 60 new programs added since 2013.

Blue Skies coaches, Oliver and Leann Johnston, who were All-American lacrosse players in college, have jumped at the opportunity to spread the sport they’ve loved for 20 years. When asked about lacrosse five years from now in Flagler County, Oliver Johnston said, “I expect there to be well over 1,000 kids competing in Volusia and Flagler County on a regular basis.”

With lacrosse expanding at such the speedy rate it is, Johnston may be underestimating the sport.

Blue Skies has teams as young as 3Us to teams where players have graduated from high school and college.For anyone who would like to join the Blue Skies, go to blueskieslacrosse.com.

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