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State of the Game: Georgia
State of the Game: Georgia
January 22, 2008  With Double Stixx Lacrosse coach Joe LosurdoIL's Tim Gelles takes a look at the state of the game in Georgia. Biggest Rivalry: Georgia's biggest lacrosse rivalry is between the private Lovett School and public Lassiter High. Since the Georgia State High School Association officially sanctioned lacrosse in 2002, Lovett has taken three titles and Lassiter two. In the notorious 2004 state championship game, the two teams had to share the title because three overtimes could not determine an outright victor. Talent Pool: The hub of lacrosse talent is in Atlanta and its suburbs. "The schools in Atlanta are where lacrosse is," says Double Stixx lacrosse coach Joe Losurdo. "Many schools have very talented players, and every school's got somebody who can be a real solid player." Losurdo's club, a team under the Double Stixx program, is based out of Sandy Springs, an Atlanta suburb. Other clubs are nearby - Trident Lacrosse is based out of Marietta, and Roswell is home to the Bagataway club. Of the three different state high school champions, all are in the Atlanta area. History: Lacrosse began in earnest in Georgia only as recently as 1996, when Westminster, Woodward Academy and Lovett joined Darlington (which started in 1990) as the only schools sponsoring lacrosse. In 1999, Centennial and Roswell were the first public high schools to have club teams, and were soon joined by Pope High and Chattahoochee. It wasn't until 2002 when the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) classified lacrosse as an official varsity sport. Recruiting: Collegiate interest in Georgia players is just starting to get to that point, says Losurdo. "The numbers certainly have been getting a lot bigger." Each year, several players from Georgia get recruited to the Division I level, while others go on to play Division III and club ball. "Two years ago we had [Under Armour All-America] Neal Hicks get recruited to Notre Dame, and play as a freshman," says Losurdo. "That's huge for Georgia - we take pride in that." Tournaments: The clubs in Georgia scour the country to play in prestigious tournaments. "We did the Vail trip just to get the kids more exposure, and Vail is a hotbed for that," says Losurdo. The team placed well in 2006, finishing eighth out of 17 teams.Last August, Losurdo assembled a squad for the John Pepper Wildcat Invitational in Syracuse, N.Y., a tournament more about, "recruiting and getting our players in front of coaches they never would have a chance to see." Defeating Upstate New York powerhouse West Genesee and Maine stalwart Yarmouth, he says, "we turned a bunch of coaches' heads."Link - http://www.insidelacrosse.com/page.cfm?pagerid=2&news=fdetail&storyid=173918
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