Sticks in the Air

For Edmond North senior Mark Tozzi the sport of lacrosse is a way of life. So undoubtedly the 17 year old felt a little out of sorts when he and his family moved from upstate New York — a lacrosse haven — to Oklahoma two years ago. As the moving vans headed south, Tozzi felt his dreams of playing the sport he loved going down with them. "It's the biggest thing, it's pretty much life there. It's the biggest sport in high school. Coming here I was kind of disappointed thinking I wasn't going to get to play," Tozzi said. Lacrosse is not offered as a high school sport in Oklahoma yet, but thanks to the Edmond Parks and Recreation Department, Tozzi and many others from the surrounding area, are getting to play one of the fastest growing sports in the nation. Edmond Parks and Recreation added the sport in 2006, and since its inception the number of people playing has more than tripled in size for boys (ages 7-18), going from 55 in the first year to 188 in 2008. According to Edmond Parks and Recreation, there are more than 60,000 boys and 50,000 girls nationally, that are playing the sport at the high school level. "I could never understand living back in the Northeast, why they didn't play it down here. They love the contact of football here in the south states,'' Tozzi said. "I really didn't understand why lacrosse wasn't big. But I was really excited to find out they had something, and how much it has grown has really been ridiculous," Tozzi said. The sport has grown by word of mouth, with Tozzi bringing in several of his Edmond North football teammates. Once they get out to play, the sport does the rest. "It is one of the fastest sports; it combines hockey, soccer and football. It has the contact of football, and the speed of soccer and hockey. There is nothing like it," said Edmond Warriors coach Josh Richards. "It's very challenging. It's a good sport for these guys to learn hand-eye coordination." "Tozzi is kind of our spokesman, getting people to come out. Most of these guys had never even picked up a stick." Kelby Peterson was one of Tozzi's first recruits, who with time, has grown his skills and scored more than 20 goals for the Warriors last season. "Tozzi got me to play. When I first bought my stick, I really didn't think I would use it. But when I started playing, I just fell in love with it," said Peterson. Lacrosse has become so big at Edmond North, that the football players bring their sticks to team camp. Richards went on to say that one of the elementary schools in Edmond had purchased youth-sized lacrosse sticks and teach the sport during P.E., which in turn will get the kids ready to play the sport at the high school level. He also fully expects the sport to become sponsored by the schools in the future, and very well could become sanctioned by the OSSAA. The sport has grown so much in Edmond alone, that they now have six fields which are being used every Saturday during the spring. Sponsorship by the schools would mean so much to the sports growth, because the players have to provide their own equipment, which is costly, while there is only one store in Oklahoma that offers lacrosse equipment. Still, Tozzi and his teammates believe there will be an Edmond North varsity lacrosse team in the future. "I think it will happen in five to 10 years, all it will take is for a school board member to have a kid that plays the sport. I really hope that when I come back here from college one day, that I will see the Edmond North varsity lacrosse team," Tozzi said.