Next SMU sport?

[Otto]

Visited a friend who works on campus recently, and while waiting for her to get off the phone, I was nosing around in her office. She has a calendar produced by the office of Risk Management, or something like that. Pretty standard calendar -- pictures of students walking by the fountain, Dallas Hall, a football picture -- until I got to October (I think) and there was a picture of female two students, carrying lacrosse sticks, wearing SMU jerseys (clearly not borrowed from another sport) and standing in (or in front of) one of the end zones at Ford Stadium.

Is SMU adopting women's lacrosse next?

[Cheesesteak]

I don't know if SMU is starting/considering starting a women's lacrosse team.

Lacrosse is increasing in popularity and is consistently one of the first sports many colleges consider when they need to add a women's team (assuming they don't already have women's lacrosse).

[Otto]

I've read where other similar schools (Tulane, Tulsa, Rice, Vanderbilt) either have women's lacrosse or are considering adding it. Plus, there are loads of DFW-area schools with girls lacrosse teams, for whatever that's worth.

[PonyKai]

Lacrosse is next. Both teams within the next four years. Women's first. men's by about 2010-2011.

[abezontar]

Why men's lacrosse before Men's Track and Field? I personally would rather see Track and Field return before we get a men's lacrosse team. I would think that track and field would be more useful in getting top caliber football players here.

[mrydel]

I have gotten the "wink wink, nod nod" that Track and Field are on the way back and certainly got the impression it would be before 2010/2011.

[PonyKai]

The men's lacrosse team is one of the better club teams in the nation, mostly because of SMU's drawing power of students/club athletes from around the country. Almost the entire starting line comes from Maryland. Players on the team said women's lacrosse gets picked up within 2 years, and the men's lacrosse team goes varsity in 2010-2011.

[MustangMan]

That's great that we have a great club team. As a former lacrosse player, I hope both lacrosse teams are added.

But not before a men's track team is reinstituted!

I love lacrosse and I was horrible at track, so don't read this as just someone who likes one sport more than another. From what I've read, there are two players on the football team (Taylor Bon and Pete Fleps) who were lacrosse stars in high school, and I have no doubt they're excellent athletes who very well might help the Ponies. But how many football and basketball players are there out there who would give SMU a second look if we had a track team? Lots. There needs to be a team for the big throwers (i.e. Michael Carter) and the top-end sprinters who want to compete in both sports.

[Water Pony]

Here are the members of the American Lacrosse Conference, which would be the most likely home for a future SMU Women's Varsity Lacrosse Team:

Team names

Johns Hopkins Blue Jays
Northwestern Wildcats
Ohio State Buckeyes
Penn State Nittany Lions
Vanderbilt Commodores
South Carolina Fighting Gamecocks (2009 Member)
Florida Gators (2010 Member)

Not a bad group to associate with, despite the travel distances.

[PonyPride]

If the Hopkins women's team is anything like its men's team, I would propose a few years of program and talent development before wading into waters that deep.

[Boston Pony]

While I love the guys game (played on 1st SMU team & still coach hs), it ain't going to happen. Men's programs are dropping like flies as AD's cut costs / programs. Women's program could happen but not in near term. The two lacrosse players you saw were going to have picture taken for the new club team (see their website). The ALC is very good - Northwestern is returning national champs. Impressive since they are in only their sixth season (started from scratch) with no 'hotbed' of HS lax anywhere around them to recruit. SMU could do it with much success but I think it will be 3-4 years before it would or could happen

[Water Pony]

Note:

Northwestern's victory this year was their third in a row, a three peat. They recruited heavily in New England, where their coach came from. Likewise, Vanderbilt has less than 10 years of competiton and has been very competitve, reaching the Final Four once.

Women lacrosse is a sport, where a dedicated school can make reasonable progress in a short period.

[NavyCrimson]

Well - if the men's sport is soon apearing to equal the women's in numbers, you can bet baseball will never happen

Sad

Great article on the Mustangmanics.com board on UC-Irvine's new baseball team in the CWS. I guess you could say it's the "$99 Special".

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/09/sport ... ref=slogin

[PonyPride]

.... Women lacrosse is a sport, where a dedicated school can make reasonable progress in a short period.

Interesting - how so?

[Water Pony]

.... Women lacrosse is a sport, where a dedicated school can make reasonable progress in a short period.

Interesting - how so?

There are approximately 80 schools that sponsor Womens Div. 1 Lacrosse, while the number of HS that play continues to expand. At the season's end, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and Denver (typically a Div. 3 school in most sports) were in the Top Twenty.

Althought the east coast dominates the balance of the Top 20, the above schools have only been fielding LAX teams for 10 years or less. In recent years, Stanford, Oregon and other west coast schools have jumped into this program.

Recruiting a experienced head coach, who can recruit in the east has been the ticket for the new entries. Often Field Hockey and Lacrosse have been associated with one another in producing opportunities for women with Field Hockey in the fall and LAX in the spring.

As a side bar, strong LAX goes hand in hand with a school, which is also strong in academics, the reverse of FB and men's BB.