NEB HS: Omaha Metro League Play Begins Sunday
March 29th, 2007
By Robert Molinelli
WSL Nebraska Correspondent
OMAHA, Neb. -- In a state where football and baseball reign supreme, the fastest sport on two feet is quickly catching on.
Nebraska, known for its cornfields and Cornhuskers, now boasts a fast-growing lacrosse movement that parallels the growth of lacrosse in the rest of the country. On Sunday April 1, six varsity teams representing 200 athletes from around the Omaha metro area will meet to kick off the 2007 season.
Lacrosse in Nebraska has developed from a beginners' Y.M.C.A. program to its own autonomous league. And it has even created its own junior varsity league.
"When I moved here in the fall of 2000, there was a small youth league," said Will Gilner, head coach of both Millard West High School and the Creighton men's club team. "Now we have a strong youth league, six varsity programs, and every year we see growth in the amount of participation and the skill level of our players."
Transplant coaches, like Gilner, are working to ensure Omaha's high school growth will continue. Alex DeManss, the head coach of Westside High School, is a Baltimore native and played four years at the Air Force Academy. Derek Koll, head coach at Papillion LaVista, hails from Fort Collins, Colo., and played two years with Denver University before transferring to Colorado State.
"I've had a lot of fun here, because you get to help the league grow by doing more than just coaching," Koll said. "You do a lot of work behind the scenes to secure fields for practices and games, get officials, recruit kids, plus coaching. And because of that, I have a lot of respect for league coordinators and people who do work behind the scenes."
Graduates, coaches and current players from Nebraska's three club schools -- Creighton, Nebraska-Lincoln and Nebraska-Omaha -- also work outside the lines to develop lacrosse at the high school level. And with more involvement from local colleges, local high schools get more resources for growth.
Players said they are attracted to the sport for different reasons. Ian Goding, a freshman middie from Papillion La Vista, and a first-year player, picked up lacrosse because of its similarity to other popular sports. For Jared Widseth, a senior defenseman from Millard West, it's the thrill of starting a new tradition for his school.
Nebraska is still behind its neighbors in terms of skill level, but with more interstate games that may soon change. In 2006, Millard West traveled to Minnesota for three games against Eagan, Eastview and Prior Lake. Defending state champion Creighton Prep made its way down to Missouri to play Pembroke Hill, Shawnee Mission South, and St. Thomas Aquinas. And in 2007, Creighton Prep and several other Omaha-area teams will be hosting teams from Missouri who want to get a taste of Omaha lacrosse.
"The competition is definitely better (in Minnesota)," Widseth admitted. "But afterwards, when we came back to Omaha, we sort of bonded. We brought that level of competition back from Minneapolis to Nebraska."
WSL Nebraska Correspondent
OMAHA, Neb. -- In a state where football and baseball reign supreme, the fastest sport on two feet is quickly catching on.
Nebraska, known for its cornfields and Cornhuskers, now boasts a fast-growing lacrosse movement that parallels the growth of lacrosse in the rest of the country. On Sunday April 1, six varsity teams representing 200 athletes from around the Omaha metro area will meet to kick off the 2007 season.
Lacrosse in Nebraska has developed from a beginners' Y.M.C.A. program to its own autonomous league. And it has even created its own junior varsity league.
"When I moved here in the fall of 2000, there was a small youth league," said Will Gilner, head coach of both Millard West High School and the Creighton men's club team. "Now we have a strong youth league, six varsity programs, and every year we see growth in the amount of participation and the skill level of our players."
Transplant coaches, like Gilner, are working to ensure Omaha's high school growth will continue. Alex DeManss, the head coach of Westside High School, is a Baltimore native and played four years at the Air Force Academy. Derek Koll, head coach at Papillion LaVista, hails from Fort Collins, Colo., and played two years with Denver University before transferring to Colorado State.
"I've had a lot of fun here, because you get to help the league grow by doing more than just coaching," Koll said. "You do a lot of work behind the scenes to secure fields for practices and games, get officials, recruit kids, plus coaching. And because of that, I have a lot of respect for league coordinators and people who do work behind the scenes."
Graduates, coaches and current players from Nebraska's three club schools -- Creighton, Nebraska-Lincoln and Nebraska-Omaha -- also work outside the lines to develop lacrosse at the high school level. And with more involvement from local colleges, local high schools get more resources for growth.
Players said they are attracted to the sport for different reasons. Ian Goding, a freshman middie from Papillion La Vista, and a first-year player, picked up lacrosse because of its similarity to other popular sports. For Jared Widseth, a senior defenseman from Millard West, it's the thrill of starting a new tradition for his school.
Nebraska is still behind its neighbors in terms of skill level, but with more interstate games that may soon change. In 2006, Millard West traveled to Minnesota for three games against Eagan, Eastview and Prior Lake. Defending state champion Creighton Prep made its way down to Missouri to play Pembroke Hill, Shawnee Mission South, and St. Thomas Aquinas. And in 2007, Creighton Prep and several other Omaha-area teams will be hosting teams from Missouri who want to get a taste of Omaha lacrosse.
"The competition is definitely better (in Minnesota)," Widseth admitted. "But afterwards, when we came back to Omaha, we sort of bonded. We brought that level of competition back from Minneapolis to Nebraska."