I’ve been coaching HS lacrosse in GA for 15 years.
I believe the sport is growing exponentially due to the fact that middle to upper class mothers have been taught to be terrified of football.
I think lacrosse will overtake football (10-20 years) in a lot of HS demographics because of that and an undeniable fact about boys:
boys crave physical sports and contact.
We provide that physical outlet with a far smaller chance of head injuries.
I’m not saying I agree with the trend. My son has been encouraged to play football. But I see it and think it will continue to accelerate.
I think that over time, certain activities/trends etc.. just naturally separate into upper middle class or suburban and into "working" class or rural and/or inner city. Football will continue to attract the working classes of the cities and rural areas while lacrosse and soccer dominate youth sports in the suburban and middle class areas.
This isn't a conspiracy. Just people naturally designating themselves as they have always done.
I admit I haven’t watched lacrosse being played, but on face value it seems like the sticks have to be dangerous and the hard ball can be thrown by the stick at really high speed - how can that be remotely safe???On football, my brother lived a long life, but he finally died of the HS football injury which crippled him. You can say all you want about the odds. But in my school - which hasn’t had a losing football season in over fifty years, to give you an idea - no one in our school ever would have considered agitating me to play football after my brother’s injury. The thought of broaching the subject to my parents would have made even the head football coach’s head explode. Not that I would have been a star player anyway, but I was bigger than most.
My son didn’t reach his adult weight in HS, so the subject never came up in our family - but had he been enthusiastic about playing HS football I don’t know how I’d have handled it. I admit I watch football on TV. But then, I don’t even know anyone on the teams on TV - so a certain amount of detachment is involved. But hey - my son suffered a serious injury playing basketball in our driveway.
My brother coached Little League baseball. At a practice one day, a young pitcher accidentally beaned a batter. While the kid was being attended to, my brother called the pitcher over to talk to him. You could see the relief come over him when I called out, “Not your fault, Butch!” But the batter was hurt, and whose fault was that? The coach, and all the parents who support the game and help organize Little League, you could say society at large. All responsible. There is no such thing as perfect safety for kids, and that is clear to any conservative. But it does make you wonder.
I once was foolish enough to be an assistant coach on the softball team my daughter was on. The other coach took a youngster out of her comfort zone in order to teach her to catch the ball. Which might have been fine, you might say - but not when he ended up knocking out a front tooth with the ball! This business of throwing people into the deep end of the pool can have consequences. It may not always be so funny when you are the one who is in over his head.