Lacrosse is not a well known sport in this area, but it is gaining recognition.

In order to increase its appreciation on campus, the members of the ETSU Lacrosse Club are hosting a Free Try Clinic to bring about even more awareness.

The event will be on Monday, Nov. 7 from 4:30-6 p.m. on the intramural field right next to the CPA. It is open to all ETSU students, and staff advisor for the club, Mark Bodo, is anticipating 50-60 participants.

Bodo and the active Lacrosse Club members are looking to teach the basics of the game of lacrosse for students who are interested in the game or even joining the team.

Students who decide to come will be given a lacrosse stick to use, so no experience or gear is required.

The club currently has 18 members, some of which are player members. The player members are the students that will travel and actually play in the matches. Other members go to practices and enjoy the game without a ton of pressure because they will not play in matches.

Recruiting members starts with making the ETSU community aware of the sport of lacrosse.

Many colleges around the area, such as Tusculum College and Mars Hill University, have teams in Division II. Other colleges in the Southern Conference, like Furman University and Wofford College, have also brought in club teams like ETSU.

Interestingly enough, the lack of knowledge in the area is not because lacrosse is a new sport, but rather that it has never been widely played in this part of the United States.

Lacrosse is actually the oldest sport native to North America. (Yes, even older than the well-known sports of baseball and basketball.) It is mainly played in the Northeast, Midwest and Canada, but that could possible to change considering how quickly it’s growing in the South.

Bodo hopes that with this event will encourage active interest in the sport, so that when the club has games at home, there is a community there for support.

You can RSVP for the clinic on the team’s club page on BucHub, but no RSVP is necessary to get out and learn about one of the fastest growing sports in America.