Lacrosse looks to takes root

CHENEY - One of the fastest growing youth sports in the country has taken root – somewhat that is - on the West Plains with Spokane Stealth lacrosse.

Three members of the team that recently competed in the state tournament are from local high schools and include Cheney's Megan Stapleton, Halle Palmer, Brooklyn Gerry out of Medical Lake plus Rosalia's Keely Fournier-Moonen.

The Stealth are one of three girls' teams in the Spokane area and draw from the geographic area south of Interstate-90, club president, Allison Miller explained. Other girls' teams come from the Mead-Mount Spokane area and Gonzaga Prep. There are also about five area boy's teams.

While the others attract players from a variety of schools, G-Prep has only its students on the team. "Those kids get to have letters for lacrosse at their school, they get in the yearbook and that sort of thing," Miller said.

A youth program, Spokane Youth Lacrosse, has both boys and girls teams and feeds the high schools. That program encompasses ages first through eighth grade.

Lacrosse has yet to become a sport sanctioned by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, but they do have a playoff structure.

The Stealth qualified for state but were eliminated in the opening round, Miller said.

In addition to the three local teams, Sandpoint, Idaho also plays in the Eastern Conference with the Stealth. "They're the only girls lacrosse team north of Boise, I believe," Miller said.

Other programs in the region operate out of the Tri Cities at Kamiakin and Richland high schools.

While most of their games take place in Eastern Washington, the Stealth generally take one trip to the Puget Sound area where they can play a higher caliber of competition. They split games on that trip in March.

The Stealth were formed in 2016 and had to go through a process that initially elevated them from junior

varsity or provisional status to where they are today. That took four years.

"In 2020 we became a varsity team and an Eastern Conference was developed," Miller said. "But you know what happened in 2020?," she lamented, referencing COVID-19.

The Stealth did play in a shortened 2021 season, but there were no playoffs. Since then, the team has won regular season titles and earned trips to the playoffs.

While having not yet won in the post-season, "But next year is our time," Miller predicted.

Pickleball gains a great deal of attention these days in terms of popular participation sports but lacrosse - along with rugby - is right up there in youth circles, Miller said.

The sport is fast paced, she added, and not as rugged on the girl's side as it is with boy's lacrosse.

"If you ever go to a boy's game you'll notice that they have helmets and shoulder pads because there's a lot more contact," Miller said. "The girl's game is much more a game of finesse than physicality."

The sport of hockey has its roots in lacrosse, a sport played in Canada by indigenous people so some of its nuances carry over it terms of scoring.

However, penalties for the most part tend to have different punishments. Offenses can range from a free shot on goal to simply turning the ball over.

Most of the girls who play really enjoy it and hardly ever does a player not come back the following season.

Like most youth sports, lacrosse suffered declines in interest following COVID.

"Not as many kids came back to play sports after the pandemic, and so we've been pretty stagnant since then," Miller said.

Naturally there is a need to get more girls out playing at the youth level, "But we also we take kids who have never played before," Miller said.

The Stealth had a club soccer player sign up and she liked it so well that lacrosse might just win to sports battle. Sign up for next season begins in January 2025.