By Dylan Lux and Tala Alsharif / Jambar Contributors
Youngstown State University is always expanding and evolving — especially within athletics. The women’s lacrosse team is one of the newest sports to join YSU athletics’ repertoire.
Lacrosse was added to YSU’s existing sports in 2021, with its inaugural season at the Division I level in the Mid-American Conference — where its played since its inception.
Ron Strollo, executive director of Intercollegiate Athletics, said the process for adding lacrosse came from evaluating what sports were growing in popularity locally.
“Although it’s growing in the state of Ohio, [lacrosse] allows us to recruit kids from outside the area that wouldn’t necessarily come to [YSU] unless it was for … the fact that we’re sponsoring lacrosse,” Strollo said.
Strollo said the process of bringing in new students wouldn’t be difficult, because of young athletes wanting to continue their athletic career.
“There’s a lot of young people that want to continue their athletic careers past their high school experience. To attract those kids isn’t difficult,” Strollo said. “Now, obviously the difficult part is trying to find the right ones, because not only do you want to add the sport, you want to be competitive in the sport.”
Strollo also said athletics looks at different clubs throughout the area, to see where the region’s interests lie.
“Some of it begins with trying to get a sense of our students and our region’s needs and interests. We always try to take a peek at what club sports are out there,” Strollo said.
The men’s lacrosse club competes against regional schools, such as the University of Akron, the University of Findlay and the University of Pittsburgh.
According to YSU’s website, the team strives to compete at a high level and grow their members into well-rounded players. The program emphasizes that being a competitive team requires putting the best players on the field.
Strollo also highlighted the campus’ welcoming community as key to drawing in potential coaches and students.
“It’s not only the facilities, but [also] the people. If you talk to our coaches, they’ve all enjoyed living here. They’ve all enjoyed working on campus. It starts with the people and the people in our department,” Strollo said.
Involving the community in the lacrosse program at YSU helps engage local high schools to sponsor the sport.
“It’s a good way to introduce kids to YSU, whether they’re going to be here to play lacrosse or not, and just hopefully help grow the sport in this community,” Strollo said.
Strollo said the program receives funding through its gender equity plan and a portion of students’ tuition and fees.