Lacrosse Participation and Growth

Written by: U.S. Lacrosse and Tom Hallissey

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Table of Contents
National Lacrosse Participation Grows 3.5 Percent in 2014 2

High School. 2
Collegiate Lacrosse 2
International.. 2

Youth Lacrosse Participation Rises to Record Levels 3

Youth Lacrosse More Popular Than Ever.. 3

Americas Oldest Sport is also its Fastest Growing. 3
High School. 3
Collegiate Lacrosse 3
Work Cited..5
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National Lacrosse Participation Grows 3.5 Percent in

2014
US Lacrosse released its annual participation report today and the number of players on
organized teams in 2014 was 772,772, an increase of 3.5 percent from 2013. Last year
marked the 11th consecutive year that the net increase of players topped at least
20,000.

The largest segment of participation is at the youth level (under 15), with just under
425,000 participants. Both boys and girls youth lacrosse grew at rates of about five
percent versus 2013 and New York (54,977) continues to have the most youth players.

High School

At the high school level, lacrosse continues to be the fastest-growing sport in the nation.
Just under 300,000 players competed on varsity, junior varsity, freshman and club
teams. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, from
2009 to 2014, a total of 551 schools added boys programs and 556 schools added girls
programs. That resulted in a growth rate of 27.8 percent for boys lacrosse and 31.2
percent for girls lacrosse. No other sport had a growth rate above 10 percent.

Collegiate Lacrosse

Lacrosse is also experiencing solid growth at the collegiate level. A total of 39 schools
added varsity programs in 2014 alone, including NCAA Division I mens programs at
Boston University, Furman, Monmouth and Richmond and womens programs at
Colorado, Elon, Mercer and Michigan.

In the NCAA from 2009 to 2014, mens lacrosse grew at a rate of 37.3 percent and
womens lacrosse grew at a rate of 38.9 percent. Both of those figures were the highest
among all NCAA sports in that time frame.

International

The growth of lacrosse on the international stage was also evident in 2014 as a record
38 nations competed in the Federation of International Lacrosse World Championship,
hosted by US Lacrosse in Denver. Nine nations competed in the event for the first time,
including Uganda, which became the first nation from Africa to compete in an
international lacrosse championship.

US Lacrosse has produced a participation report annually since 2001, and over that
time span the number of players has grown 204 percent, from 253,901 to 772,772. This
survey counts only play on organized teams, and does not count leisure-time play of the
sport.
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The primary source of data for this report is provided by the 67 US Lacrosse regional
chapters. Each chapter reports detailed participation at the youth level, and significant
data is also obtained from US Lacrosse membership records, the National Collegiate
Athletic Association, the National Federation of State High School
Associations and LaxPower.com

Youth Lacrosse Participation Rises to Record Levels

Lacrosse has never been more popular than it is right now. Thanks to every youth
lacrosse parent who coaches, carpools or supplies to oranges, more than 800,000
athletes now enjoy America's oldest sport.

Youth Lacrosse More Popular Than Ever

Today lacrosse boasts more youth players than in any time since US Lacrosse began
monitoring these statistics in 2001. There are nearly 450,000 youth lacrosse players in
the United States under the age of 15, according to a recent study.

New York is home to more than 50,000 youth lacrosse players, while 13 other states,
including New Jersey and Connecticut, have at least 10,000 youth participants.

Americas Oldest Sport is also its Fastest Growing

This year, the fastest game on two feet surpassed the 800,000 mark in total active
participants at all levels combined. The sport of lacrosse added nearly 30,000 players in
2015, more than a two percent increase in growth just this past year.

High School

As more youth learn how to play lacrosse, participation has increased significantly for
high school athletes.

For the first time, high school lacrosse participation topped 300,000 players. In the last
five years, the number of boys high school lacrosse programs has grown by roughly 30
percent.

This rise in popularity is more than in any other sport, including baseball, basketball and
football. The explosion of male and female lacrosse players comes at a time when
participation levels in other sports have decreased.

Collegiate Lacrosse
College lacrosse which now has nearly 40,000 male and female teams, has witnessed
growth similar to high school.
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Since 2000, 95 percent more men and 109 percent more women participate in NCAA
lacrosse, according to a 2015 NCAA report. In 2015, the NCAA recognized 350 mens
programs and 470 womens teams. An additional 57 new collegiate squads will begin to
play in 2016, 2017 or 2018.

The appeal of the fast-paced game of lacrosse cannot be denied. The sport continues
to attract kids of all ages in its traditional hotbeds, such as Long Island and Maryland,
while teams and leagues have expanded into less likely locations like Colorado and
California.
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Work Cited
http://blog.nylizards.com/blog/youth-lacrosse-participation

https://www.uslacrosse.org/blog/national-lacrosse-participation-grows-35-percent-in-2014
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