Jim Calder has attended lacrosse events of every kind across North America throughout his four-decade career, so he knows when a community has truly embraced the sport. As he arrived at University School of Milwaukee’s campus for LAXtravaganza on Saturday morning, he quickly realized the Milwaukee market was pumped for the occasion.
“There’s a buzz,” said Calder, a longtime ambassador of the sport based in Canada who came to the Milwaukee Area Youth Lacrosse Association’s (MAYLA) annual event to deliver a presentation on the history of the sport.
“You know when things are dead, and you know when there’s a buzz, and there’s a buzz here. You can see people are excited.”
That excitement has translated to ongoing growth for lacrosse at just about every level of competition throughout Wisconsin, and the youth divisions are no exception.
According to Mary DiGiacomo, secretary of MAYLA and the director of LAXtravaganza, the 2017 edition grew to 90 teams playing across seven fields over two days. In 2016, the “festival” attracted 72 teams.
MAYLA uses the term “festival” to differentiate its event from tournaments that are run throughout the area. DiGiacomo said the association launched LAXtravganza in 2012 as an annual affair (it was canceled in 2013 due inclement weather delaying the start of the youth season) to celebrate youth lacrosse, so teams may keep score, but there is no final champion declared at the end of Day 2.
“We started this as a way to give back to what MAYLA provides the members of the league,” DiGiacomo said.
With hundreds of boys and girls participating in 171 games over two days, DiGiacomo estimated that between 2,800 and 3,300 spectators would attend LAXtravaganza 2017 – if the weather cooperated. Considering the dreary conditions most of the weekend, that expectation might not have been met.
However, the excitement was still palpable, especially because someone with Calder’s pedigree in lacrosse was in attendance. These days, Calder travels throughout this continent reminding athletes and parents alike about the historical significance lacrosse has in the cultural fabric of North America.
The Creator’s Game – as the First Nations of Canada call lacrosse – was first played by these tribes long before it evolved into its current format, and Calder is on a mission to make its participants aware of their role in the game.
“I think it’s important because it gives you respect for the game from the beginning because you understand you’re just a little tiny part of a thing that’s been going on 10,000 years,” said Calder, who has penned two books about lacrosse and is presently planning the 150th anniversary celebration of the game’s organization as a modern sport. “It’s important to understand that you’re playing a game unlike any other in the world – it’s a spiritual game.”
Each week WisconsinLacrosse.com will highlight select games from around the State of Wisconsin. Made possible by a donation from Amplify Lacrosse.
