Sheridan Shootout To Feature LaCrosse Games And Clinic

Sheridan will be sport central this weekend, with soccer, track and field, and legion baseball…and there’s another sport that’s starting to get attention and it is on the schedule as well.

The Sheridan Mavericks Boys LaCrosse Team is in their 2nd season of playing, and are scheduled to host games vs. Cheyenne and Cody this Saturday (April 22nd) at the old Normative Services field.

On top of that, the club teams from the University of Wyoming, Denver University and Montana State as well as a number of youth leagues will be in town competing against each other.

The Mavericks play in the Montana High School Lacrosse League division 2 and are 2-2 on the season so far, winning both of their games this past weekend against Butte and Helena.

Junior Jaidn Roberts says the sport is tougher than it looks, especially for those who are new to the game, but it can be fun once you get used to it.

“Passing, catching, getting through the frustrations of kids with new sticks, things like that. There’s a lot of physical contact for sure. It’s probably worse than football, just because getting whicked with a stick isn’t too fun, but gotta love it.”

JR Wright who is the head coach of the Sheridan Mavericks Boys High School team says players are starting to show interest at various levels, but there’s a lack of one important thing.

“Sheridan youth, through the rec district has over 70 kids signed up this year, so it’s got a lot of success. There’s a ton of kids. The one thing that we need are parents to help us coach. No experience necessary what so ever. Many of the coaches we coach against, even at the high school level, have never played this game. They’ve learned it, youtube videos, coaching clinics, other coaches, and so the one thing I need a lot of right now is just help from parents. We’ve got lots of kids.”

Wright says the sport is growing in Wyoming, but teams usually have to play opponents from out of state, because it’s less travel that way.

He adds at some point he’d like to see lacrosse become a varsity sport in Wyoming.

There needs to be at least 8 schools for that to happen, and it could just be a matter of time.

“Cody is the other Wyoming team in the Montana league. Cheyenne also has a high school program. They’re just not in our league, they just mostly play Colorado and South Dakota teams. In the past Laramie, Rock Springs and Casper have all had teams at one point in time or another and fizzled out or whatever, so the sport’s growing a lot, it’s getting a lot of traction here in this part of the country, so I don’t foresee this going away at any point in time soon. The most sustainable way to grow it when it’s sponsored by a school, and it’s more affordable for everybody and that’s absolutely the best way to do it I feel. So we’re looking to go that direction ultimately in the state. There’s plenty of it going around the perimeter of the state, we’ve got to fill it out in the middle.”

Games start on Friday (April 21st) as UW plays Montana State at 7pm at the old Normative Services Field.

On Saturday, UW plays Denver University at 2pm and then MSU and DU play each other at 7pm.

As for the Mavericks, they play Cheyenne Saturday at 9am and play Cody at 4:30pm, also at the old NSI field.

Various youth leagues as well as an MSU Youth Lacrosse Clinic will take place at Dan Madia Field on 11st Street and at Black Tooth Park.

There is also a girls Lacrosse team in Sheridan.

They are 0-5 on the season and are scheduled to play their home games on Saturday, May 13th.