Stick tricks & Texan grit: Club Lacrosse on the rise

BY HELENA KNUTSON

Podcast Host

Club sports have been a growing and thriving activity at Tarleton State University for the last few years, with teams expanding and continuing to win games and tournaments. One of these club teams is the men’s lacrosse team.

According to the Texas High School Lacrosse League, Texas has 159 high school teams, which may seem high until you compare it with other states, such as New York, which has 314 teams, according to Lacrosse Allstars.

Men’s lacrosse has been lacking in Texas for a while, but Tarleton is one of the few universities that offer it as a club sport.

The team started in 2014 and has shown growth over time. Evan Pippin, a junior sports management major, has been playing lacrosse his whole life.

“This is like my eighth or ninth year, but I came in and everyone around me was brand new, even the older guys like Mac. He's a year older than me, and I’m teaching him how to play, pressing him and stuff,” Pippin said.

Pippin isn't the only one with experience in the sport and a desire to bring new players into it.

Coach Daniel Holdsworth, a Tarleton lacrosse club alumnus, has been coaching for a year now and has enjoyed getting to help these guys and make the sport more popular in Texas.

“Lacrosse is new to Texas; it's a sport that most people haven't seen,” Holdsworth said. “I grew up in Florida, and it boomed there. I am trying to get people intrigued in it, trying to explain it to them. It’s like basketball and all these sports they played.’”

Most of the members of the team come from little to no experience in sports, but that didn't stop them from joining the program.

Mac Hayman, a senior construction science major, found his love for the sport after meeting a past team at Rec Fest.

“This is my fourth year playing. I joined my freshman year, and that was the first year the lacrosse team was back because COVID-19 had kind of wiped it out. They were at the Rec Fest and I walked up,” Hayman said.

“I had been seeing clips on Instagram reels and stuff like, ‘Man, that looks cool.’ I walked up to the president at the time and I said, ‘Can I hit people?’ and he said, ‘Yeah,' and I said ‘Can I hit people with a stick?’ and he said, ‘Yeah.’ Then I was like, ‘Sweet, I’m in.’”

The team, like any other club sports team, has allocated money toward games. Due to the limited number of teams in Texas, the team has to travel out of state for many games, the latest one being in Louisiana. Most of the funding comes from the players, in addition to their regular dues.

Jackson Payne, a senior construction science major and president of the lacrosse club, knows the dues are expensive. However, it is for the game he loves.

“Operations are so expensive, and it only covers so much, so a lot of it is player funding,” Payne said. “We have our $250 semester dues on top of that, some people donate more. We've done fundraisers in the past; we're looking to do more now, including possibly some business sponsorships.”

Another reason the team has to go out of state for games is because other teams have dissolved due to a lack of players. This has also been a struggle Tarleton Lacrosse has dealt with.

“We want to have practice three days a week, and then during the spring semester, you're gone almost every weekend,” Hayman said. “Then you have to travel, and we're driving our own vehicles. It's on your own dollar most of the time, so it's expensive. It's hard to find people.”

This program has done a lot more than given its members an athletic outlet; it has also helped them prepare for their future.

Pippin has loved sports his whole life, and helping teach the members of his team has helped him realize his love for coaching.

“Coaching those new guys just makes me love this work. Over the summer, I go coach youth lacrosse, and I absolutely love it, and then it's just a different translation because, you know, older guys. But I love it,” Pippin said.

The team's next home games will be a three-day tournament from Feb. 27 to March 1, playing Kansas State, A&M Corpus Christi and St. Edwards.