Since lacrosse started as an important part of Native American culture, it has evolved into a game played by wide variety of people extending beyond gender and geographical borders.

“It’s a game of privilege today,” said Oren Lyons, former goaltender for Syracuse University’s lacrosse team and current Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation. “When you’re wealthy, you can send your kid to a prep school so they’re more disciplined and prepared to go right to college and handle sports and school and being independent.”

The evolution of lacrosse was one of the topics discussed during a panel that followed the world premiere of the documentary, “America’s First Sport,” a film produced by students and faculty members in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics.

Students, faculty and community members filled the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium on Monday afternoon to see the film and panel discussion on the history and culture of lacrosse.

The film, narrated by S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications alumnus Mike Tirico, covered topics such as the connection between Native Americans and lacrosse, the current state of the game and where the sport is headed in the future.

The film will hopefully lead to similar projects down the road, said Dennis Denninger, sport management professor and panel moderator.

“We’re hoping to create a lasting legacy of research and videos to be able to show future classes,” Denninger said.

The six panelists also discussed in depth where they see lacrosse as a sport in the future. Many of them hope to see it at the Olympics by 2020 or 2024.

Even though each panelist was hopeful the sport would become a global sensation, they also said they saw potential roadblocks the game could face.

“The problem with international competition is the level of competition in the United States is much more advanced than other countries,” said Lyons, the former Syracuse goalie. “It will force other countries to step up and advance their skills quickly.”

Another panelist, Roy Simmons Jr., was a teammate of Lyons and Jim Brown on the SU lacrosse team, as well as a former coach. He said the game needs help from television to continue growing.

“Lacrosse is a tough sport to bring home on TV,” Simmons said. “I think TV has to do a better job of explaining the game to people at home for the game to grow.”

Former SU lacrosse player and current SU women’s lacrosse head coach Gary Gait said he believes other countries will have a difficult time catching up to the skill level of U.S. players. In other countries, there aren’t as many resources for the game, which will make international players develop more slowly, Gait said.

Within the United States, the game has been expanding geographically and in other ways. The film discussed how the game has spread beyond of the East Coast to states like Texas and Florida, and also how women are becoming more involved in lacrosse.

Gait said the spread of the game can be attributed in some ways to those who played in the past.

“The people that have played the game and love the sport want to give back,” Gait said. “I think once you’ve been touched by it, you want to stay involved.”

Published on April 23, 2013 at 12:50 am

Contact Brett: blsamuel@syr.edu | @Brett_Samuels27