They formed the Glendale Lacrosse Club for students eager to participate in the sport — invented by American Indians in the 15th Century. Students from Glendale High and other area schools have flocked in rising numbers to Moyse Field, hooked on picking up a white stick with a net on the end and flinging shots into the back of the net for the club’s boys’ and girls’ programs.
“Kids from around school came up to me and told me that they wanted to play,” said the 46-year-old Campbell, a New York native who played lacrosse in high school and college before being inducted into the Lacrosse Hall of Fame’s Greater Los Angeles Chapter in January. “I told them that I wouldn’t be starting a program for me, but instead be more for them to be self starters and get things done in their lives.
“Ninety-nine percent of the athletes are made, not born. It’s a game that allows you to make yourself into an athlete.”
There are about 30 players competing on the boys’ squad and around 20 on the girls’ team. The season runs February through May, highlighted with contests played mostly on the weekends from Glendale to La Quinta. A boys’ match will consist of four 12-minute quarters, while a girls’ match features two 25-minute halves.
CIF Southern Section Director of Communications Thom Simmons said there are currently 58 and 42 boys’ and girls’ teams, respectively, who have CIF sanctioned lacrosse teams from Orange to Santa Barbara counties. For a school to have a CIF sanctioned program, it must sign a CIF sports participation sheet and have the school district’s approval.
