Lacrosse’s manifest destiny has arrived.

Amy Bokker and Katrina Dowd see parallels between what they witnessed last summer in Europe and what’s about to transpire on the West Coast here in the U.S.

Bokker and Dowd, the women’s lacrosse coaches at Stanford and Oregon, respectively, were assistants for the U.S. and Canadian national teams at the FIL Women’s World Cup in England and the IWGA World Games in Poland. The latter event was an Olympic-like multi-sport extravaganza that elevated the sport on an international platform.

And while everyone’s already talking about L.A. 2028, the volume on the conversation will only get louder March 9, when Stanford visits Colorado to compete in the first-ever Pac-12 women’s lacrosse game. That same weekend, Arizona State, the 115th Division I team, will make its inaugural trip to USC, the face of the Pac-12, which like the Big Ten did three years ago is reaching into its deep pockets to invest in lacrosse.

“It gives our sport more credibility,” Bokker said. “To watch us go from the World Cup to the World Games and now representing a conference that’s somewhat nontraditional in our sport, it’s just really pioneering."

National participation in lacrosse topped 825,000 players in 2016 and has increased by 225 percent over the last 15 years, according to US Lacrosse data. At the collegiate level, a total of 115 NCAA and NAIA schools launched new lacrosse programs (men and women) in the three-year period from 2014-2016.

“Lacrosse will always be steeped in great tradition. Before it was an East Coast sport, it was a Native American medicine game. For me, there is no battle between East and West for ownership of our sport,” Dowd said. “If we have Olympic dreams [and] pro lacrosse dreams, [then] fields filled with kids playing need to be a major part of the equation.”

Stanford midfielder Mikaela Watson and USC goalie Gussie Johns graced our March cover. (PHOTOS BY JOHN MCGILLEN AND ANDREW VILLA)

Arizona State, Cal, Colorado, Oregon, Stanford and USC all stand to benefit from the Pac-12’s national footprint. In addition to credibility, the conference will provide exposure, funding and built-in rivalries for its teams and platform for further growth within the sport.

“This is a huge moment for D-I lacrosse,” Cal coach Brooke Eubanks said. “The conference will be able to unite the top talent from the East all the way to the West.”

Exposure

Much like the Big Ten, the Pac-12 owns a digital cable and satellite TV network with massive distribution potential. Despite its well-publicized impasse with DirecTV, the Pac-12 Network reaches 15 million homes, according to media analysts.

The conference’s addition of the sport opens more airwaves for lacrosse games to be televised at home and streamed online, including on Twitter.

Funding

The conference funnels its TV money back to its member institutions and their Pac-12 sports. It’s no coincidence new lacrosse facilities are popping up at Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers just three years into the Big Ten era.

Travel budgets also have expanded. In December 2016, Pac-12 funding helped to send Colorado and Oregon to Australia for international competition and clinics.

“The MPSF was incredibly supportive and is the reason for the huge growth of lacrosse out West,” said Elliott, referring to the regional conference that will continue to house Denver, San Diego State and UC Davis. “However, the Pac-12 provides us many more resources to utilize, a larger established infrastructure and a level of exposure.”

Rivalries

The Big Game, the Apple Cup, the Civil War — these rivalry games are entrenched in college football and basketball lore.

Pac-12 women’s lacrosse won’t be the subject of a “30 for 30” documentary anytime soon, but you have to start somewhere. Expect rivalries to germinate quickly, however, with Pac-12 teams playing each other twice per season in home-and-away series. It’s a subtle but significant distinction.

Growth

Arizona State coach Courtney Martinez Connor expects the prospect of playing in Pac-12 venues for schools with Power Five purses will lure top players away from the sport’s traditional eastern strongholds.

“You can leave the East Coast, play a sport that you love, get a great degree and play lacrosse in a beautiful atmosphere year round,” Connor said. “You can have your cake and eat it too.” 

And when the talent comes west, rival institutions will be watching. Perhaps UCLA, with a club team that’s perennially among the best in the WCLA, more closely considers elevating the program to varsity. And with Utah becoming the first Pac-12 school to field a men’s lacrosse team in 2019, it could inspire others to do the same.

“The footprint of our six states has a lot of lacrosse,” Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said. “As a result, people close to our universities, like alumni and donors and employees, are evangelists of the sport. It’s on people’s radars.” 

Pac-12 Snapshot

	Team	Coach	Players to Watch
	Arizona State	Courtney Martinez Connor (1st year)	Kerri Clayton (35 PTs in 2018) Emily Glagolevev (23 PTs in 2018) Maddy Hunter (40 DC, 31 GB in 2018)
	Cal	Brooke Eubanks (4th year)	Meredith Haggerty, D, Sr. (39 DC, 23 CT) Susie Ropp, A, So. (27 G, 13 A) Jenny Wilkens, G, Jr. (41 GB, 39.2 SV%)
	Colorado	Ann Elliott (5th year)	Sarah Brown, D, Sr. (39 GB, 33 CT) Kelsie Garrison, D, Sr. (43 GB, 22 CT) Darby Kiernan, A, Sr. (52 G, 25 A, 120 DC)
	Oregon	Katrina Dowd (2nd year)	Brittany Read, G, Sr. (51.2 SV%, 10.21 S/G at Louisville) Shannon Williams, A, Jr. (51 G, 21 A) Jill Zubillaga, D, Sr. (19 G, 53 DC)
	Stanford	Amy Bokker (10th year)	Allie DaCar, G, Sr. (42.8 SV%, 11.13 GAA) Kelsey Murray, A, R-Sr. (57 G, 30 A) Dillon Schoen, M, Sr. (28 G, 28 CT)
	USC	Lindsey Munday (6th year)	Gussie Johns, G, Sr. (46.4 SV%, 8.53 GAA) Kerrigan Miller, M, So. (36 G, 48 GB) Lydia Sutton, M, Sr. (35 GB, 27 CT)

*Stats are from 2017, with the exception of Arizona State which lists stats from its inaugural season. Players to watch were determined prior to the season's start.