Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 9/29/08
Scholastic boys’ and girls’ lacrosse has grown at a stunning rate of nearly 100 percent in the past seven years, well ahead of growth patterns for any sport except for bowling.
The statistics were released this month by the National Federation of State High School Associations, which reports that boys’ lacrosse participation has grown 98.1 percent in the seven-year period. The number of boys’ teams has grown 93.5 percent in that period.
Other than bowling (184.8 percent growth for participants and 160.5 percent for teams), no other boys’ sport (among the top 15 most popular) has grown more than 47 percent.
Lacrosse gained the most participants among boys’ sports in 2007-08 with 11,336, followed by soccer with 5,562, swimming and diving with 5,158 and cross country with 5,042.
Girls’ lacrosse has shown a 107.4 percent growth in the number of teams and 88.5 percent in overall participation. Again, only bowling is higher (168.6 percent for teams and 133.8 percent for participation) and no other sport in the top 15 showed even a third of the growth of girls’ lacrosse.
In terms of combined participation, bowling increased 17 percent, while lacrosse participation was up 14 percent.
