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Growing The Game In The Foothills: Colorado Adds D1 Lacrosse

Editor’s Note: Nicole Dyrdahl dropped her first post on LAS yesterday and she covered the importance of history and tradition in lacrosse.  Today she is back with some HUGE Grow The Game news:  Colorado is making women’s lacrosse an official NCAA D1 sport!  This means a lot for the future of the game out West…

Watch out University of Denver Women’s Lacrosse!  Announced just yesterday, Colorado is FINALLY sanctioning a competitive NCAA women’s lacrosse team!  Talk about awesome news and Growing The Game, right?!

This would make Colorado the second Division I team in Colorado for women’s lacrosse!

Colorado ORegon Red Hot Buffs Ducks Lacrosse lax
Are the Red Hot Buffs next? Will they join the Lady Buffs in NCAA D1 lax?

CU already has a club team that competes in the WCLA, and pre-season polls this year have them ranked at #3 by Lacrosse Magazine. With that much talent, the newly sanctioned team, set to get underway for the 2013-2014 season, will definitely be one to beat quite quickly.  Add in the fact that girl’s lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in Colorado at the high school level and you have a good recipe for success.

With that said, the Buffs just might become a powerhouse team to beat in the NCAA pretty quickly. Is NCAA tourney participant within 5 years of the first season a reasonable expectation?  Let’s hope so!

The lady Buffs will be competing in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, even though CU is a Pac-12 member.  The Pac-12 doesn’t recognize women’s lacrosse as a sanctioned sport… at least not just yet.  But CU is the fifth Pac-12 program, along with USC, Stanford, Cal and Oregon to add a Division I team.

With the Buffs jumping aboard Division I, maybe that will lead other universities in the West to jump on the bandwagon as well. Perhaps Colorado State University?  Adding CSU, who just happens to be the 3 x reigning national WCLA champions, in the future, would add a fuel to the ever present CSU/CU rivalry.  That kind of publicity could only help spread the game and make girls want to lax it up!

It isn’t clear as to who will coach, or when girls will start to get recruited, but one thing is apparent… Colorado is becoming a HUGE hub for GROWING the GAME, and the lady Buffs will play a huge role in this continuing development!

Are YOU interested in joining Nicole on LAS as a women’s lacrosse blogger?  We’d love to have you!

More NCAA GTG:

Is Furman University going D1?

Is SMU Considering D1 lacrosse?

Delaware State Adds NCAA D2 Women’s Lacrosse