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by NORMAN CANNADA
The state of North Carolina has never
claimed to be a hotbed for lacrosse.
At the present time there is no inter
scholastic competition in North Caro
lina's high schools. No member of Caro
lina's 1982 lacrosse team is from this
state.
ON SPORTS
Still, the Tar Heels have one thing no
other lacrosse team in the country has
a national championship.
"The lacrosse program wasn't in as
bad shape as some people might have
thought," UNC coach Willie Scroggs
said. "They had already had some suc
cess on the national level."
Scroggs came to Chapel Hill from la
crosse national power Johns Hopkins
four years ago. He began recruiting
heavily and last spring brought the Tar
Heels their first national championship.
This year UNC is 40 and is ranked No. 1
in the country.
The key to this success has been re
cruiting players from out of state. This
year's Tar Heel team has seven players
who were all-state in Maryland in 1979.
"We've had great success recruiting,"
Scroggs said. "I think one reason that
people have been willing to go there is
that there is no professional career in
lacrosse. So, it's not as important for
them to go to a place that might help
them in that respect.
"We have several attractions that
might make someone want to come
here. We play Division I lacrosse, which
is the highest level of lacrosse, and we
have a very academically attractive
school." .
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With the success of recruiting and
the rise as a national power, the Tar
Heels lacrosse team has enjoyed more
success in crowd attendance. In a game
against Navy last May, a crowd of more
than 5,400 fans paid to see the game.
And classes were not even in session.
"The attendance has been very en
couraging," Scroggs said. "We've done
it with a minimum of publicity. We're
not trying to educate everyone on la
crosse, but we do say that we have one
of the top lacrosse teams in the coun
try. It's an enjoyable game and we play
in the springtime in Chapel Hill."
Although, there is not a strong high
school program in lacrosse in North
Carolina, the trend appears to be on the
verge of a reversal.
"We haven't gone around forcing la
crosse on anybody but we have made
ourselves available to schools who are
interested in learning about the sport,"
Scroggs said. "Our players and coaches
have already worked with just about
every high school in this area. I don't
think it wll be long before there will be
serious discussion about lacrosse as an
interscholastic sport."
The Tar Heels put their No. 1 ranking
on the line this weekend against peren
nial national power Johns Hopkins in
Baltimore. UNC won the last meeting in
the national championship game last
year, breaking a string of Johns Hop
kins' national championships.
"It's one of the biggest if not the big
gest game of the season," Scroggs said
of the game with the No. 2 ranked Blue
Jays. "But it's not a must win. I don't
think they have a score to settle and we
don't have anything to prove. We just
want to go out and do the best job we
can." (J)
Norman Cannada is a columnist for
The Spotlight.
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The UNC lacrosse team has earned a reputation for its slick stickwork
Three Tar Heels put some moves o'n their Maryland opponents.
Spotlight, April 8,1982
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