LAX is M.I.A.

When I was in high school, my spring time did not consist of wearing short shorts and running long distances, or stepping out of the dugout and swinging a bat as the weather got warmer and sun shone for more hours.

No, my spring was spent strapping my helmet on, padding up and stepping back onto the field for 60 minutes of the fastest sport you've never heard of. Or many have never heard of.

I played Lacrosse in high school and as spring break has hit the high schools in Kansas, I am reminded that this sport, which I hold very near and dear to my heart, is absent from Kansas high schools. Actually, saying that it is absent would be an understatement. Never heard of would be more like it.

If you have no idea what I am taliking about, lacrosse is a field sport that combines the speed of basketball and the physicality of football; essentially it's Ice Hockey on grass. Players use their stick to throw a rubber ball into a net, and the team with the most goals at the end wins the game. Players may use their stick to steal the ball from their opponent, and may 'check' their opponent with their hands, stick or body, and no one is allowed to touch the ball with their hands.

I won't do this often, but on Saturday or Sunday, if you can peel yourself away from the Jayhawks or Tyler Hansborough, turn on ESPNU and watch some lacrosse. I promise, you will not turn the channel away. It's fantastic! They score a lot, hit a lot and run a lot. It's called the fastest game on two feet.

The sport is predominately played on the east coast, and is the official state sport of Maryland. Lacrosse is expanding though, and you can find it played all over the country now; in Colorado, Texas, Florida, Michigan, Washington and California. It is the fastest growing high school team sport in the country, and now you can run down any roster of any college lacrosse program and you will find players from all over the country.

But you won't find much in Kansas. Outside of the Kansas City area, lacrosse is not seen in the Sunflower State. Go to Lawrence or Manhattan and you will find club teams on campus, and suprisingly you will find players from Kansas, but outside of that it's a pretty bare landscape. And I think that is a shame.

It's such a great sport for everyone, and one of the best things about lacrosse is the accepting nature of the game for players. It doesn't matter what size you are, there is a position for you on the field. Often times football and basketball can over look the smaller kids, but if you lack a little height of size, lacrosse will gladly open it's arms.

Some of the best players in the country right now are under six feet tall and less than 200 pounds. Our captain in high school was 5'7", 150 pound mouse with a shot that hit almost 90 miles per hour.

Lacrosse often thrives in private and Catholic schools, mostly because the sport can be expensive when you add up all the equipment, like Ice Hockey. Really nice sticks itself can be almost $200 dollars! But that aside, I get sad when kids step out of the basketball court and off the wrestling mat, and don't step onto the lacrosse field.

Could you imagine Blake Bell and Bishop Carroll, with all their football skills taking on Wichita Heights, with all their basketball speed, in a big school clash?! That would be awesome! Or all the tradition of winning at Hutch translating onto the lacrosse field against the winning tradition of Smith Center?! Hays and Great Bend lacrosse game would be a precursor for the football game in the fall, and then the reverse in the spring. It would be awesome!

But sadly, that won't happen. Not at least for a while. For now, kids in Kansas, especially Western Kansas, will never know the thrill of throwing a low to high shot on a goalie, or throwing an awesome wrap check to start a fast break. Brings a tear to my eye...

If you live in the Wichita area, you can join the Renegades, and play the more experienced teams in Kansas City and Olathe. If I were you, I would. I promise you won't regret it!