Monday, May 23, 2011

Fastest Game On Two Feet!....

In the midst of the craziness of the NCAA softball regionals and super regionals of the Women's College World Series, lies the women's NCAA Lacrosse Championships. The sport of lacrosse is not new. It's origins are rooted in a Native American team sport played with a ball and a long handled stick. The game was adapted for women's play during the 1890's mainly because it was seen as an ideal sport for women who played field hockey during the fall.

The women's college game boasts 91 division I teams, 57 division II teams and over 200 division III teams, but it's largely a geographic game. It's predominantly played east of the Mississippi river. Only a handful of schools in the west and midwest compete. Lacrosse has been dubbed the "fastest game on two feet"...and it's gaining popularity outside traditional northern states. I Live in the southern state of Georgia. There are only three (division III) women's programs in the entire state. However the sport has drifted into the city and county recreational programs and the rapid addition of lacrosse programs into the local High School Association is another sign of the rapid growth of lacrosse in general.

The U.S. Women's Lacrosse Association, founded in the summer of 1931 governed the sport on the collegiate and club levels until 1981. In 1982, the NCAA took over and began hosting it's National Championship Tournament for women. In the 29 year history there have been 10 different champions. The University of Maryland has been dominant with 10 titles, including a run of 7 consecutive victories. In recent years, Northwestern has shown hints of a dynasty with a 5 year consecutive streak of their own.
The photo to the right is of Northwestern player, Jessica Russo.

Some great athletes have played the game, but unlike women's basketball, soccer or softball there is no professional league available in the U.S. for athletes to continue with their playing careers. Unfortunately, not much television coverage is available for the present 2011 NCAA tournament. The tournament which began May 14, concludes May 29th with the championship game. The final four competing in the May 27th quarterfinals are Maryland vs. Duke and North Carolina vs. Northwestern. The remaining games can be seen through a live stream on NCAA.com. For more information regarding the division I championship tournament check out the women's lacrosse home page of the NCAA. If you are interested in more information about women's lacrosse resources, check out the following links.

WomensLAX
Womenslacrosse
STX WomensLacrosse

These sites contain information on both men and women:
Lacrosse Forums
LAXPOWER

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

The Gap is Closing....!


The NCAA began crowning a women's softball champion in 1982. In that time, west coast teams have dominated. Well over 250 Division I schools have softball programs, so it's hard to fathom that in it's 28 year history only Texas A&M, Michigan and Oklahoma are the only spoilers to the west coast party.

I'm making a bold prediction: The WCWS will see it's first east coast winner and they will come out of the SEC. I realize I'm displacing Arizona State, Texas, Oklahoma and Michigan but as this years women's basketball tournament upset of favored UCONN should tell you, you still have to play the games.

The Women's College World Series tournament begins with 64 teams from 16 different regions that compete in a double elimination round. The sixteen winners then enter a "super regional" usually played at the higher seeds campus in a best of three series. From there the eight winners compete in the WCWS. Although largely dominated by UCLA (10)* and Arizona (8) in number of titles, other parts of the country are represented and year after year they creep deeper and deeper into the tournament. If you have watched the softball polls this season you have seen a few SEC teams trading places in the rankings. The SEC boasts four contenders to challenge the elite pedigree of the west.

The USA Today/NFCA Division I poll has seen UGA and Alabama never fall below 7th place while Florida and Tennessee haven't fallen below 11th. Both UGA and Alabama have occupied the no.1 spot, UGA (4wks) and Alabama (3wks). Both Tennessee (2007) and Florida (2009) have been Women's College World Series runner-ups. In 2010, Alabama was one out away from making the WCWS but was knocked out by a 7th inning walk-off homer. UGA advanced to the WCWS for the second straight year and looks to contend for a third try. The four programs have talent, experience and leaders on the field. They are poised to be battling in June,...possibly each other.

The SEC regular season ends this week and the SEC Tournament begins May 12-14 at Ole Miss Softball Complex. NCAA Regionals take place on campus sites May 20-22. Super Regionals will be played on campus sites May 28-29. WCWS will be at ASA Hall Of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, OK June 2-8. Access the NCAA Softball Championship site here.
*1995 title vacated by the NCAA