Lacrosse – apparently it’s not just a spring thing anymore.

As Alexander Wolff wrote in the April 23, 2005, issue of Sports Illustrated, “A longtime niche sport, lacrosse is the fastest-growing game in the United States at every level. The appeal? It’s a neat composite of other sports, it’s fast, it’s easy to learn. And it’s cool.”

The growth of the game nationwide is out-pacing other youth, high school and collegiate sports and the opportunities for lacrosse players – especially those in Newtown – to stay on the field after their regular season ends are becoming more plentiful.

According to a US Lacrosse participation survey published in 2006, there were more than 220,000 youth players  and nearly 170,000 high school players across the country.

In 2001, there were a total of 253,931 lacrosse players in the national (youth, high school, college and other). In 2006, there were 426,022.

Many Newtown players have been keeping their lacrosse skills sharp this summer for several local club programs at a variety of elite tournaments up and down the east coast. Throughout late June and July, Newtown players made significant contributions to a very busy and successful summer lacrosse tournament circuit.

For instance –

Representing Newtown on the Danbury-based North County Lacrosse teams were Parker Rodbell, Evan Isaacs and Alec Beauchemin (U12); Mike Zaccaro and Matthew Vavrek (U14); Andrew Hyland, Tim Dalton, Dana Hansen, Chris Gregory, Ryan Lasher and Dan Sclafani (U16); and Brett Mauro (U18).

North County’s program director and Immaculate High School head coach Brendan Carney commented on the Newtown infusion, stating that “having the Newtown players on our teams was great. They came in very well coached and all the players from youth to high school were always ready to learn new concepts and then put them to use out on the field.”

Justin Brophy represented the Connecticut Chapter of US Lacrosse as part of the U13 Select team that played against the nation’s best at the National Youth Festival in June at the University of Massachusetts. Brophy then joined fellow Newtown players James Marusi, Danny Hebert and Trey Trudell at the U13 level in the Team CT program based out of the Trumbull Sports Zone.

Cheshire High School head coach Eric Bailey coached the Team CT U14 Spartans, and applauded the hometown contribution, saying “the kids from Newtown were very talented and fun to be around. They always seemed to be the ones who stepped up when we really needed a goal or a big stop on defense.”

Other locals playing with Team CT were Jeremy Schaniel, Brandon Body, Colby Summerlin, Ryan Korth, Lewis Thompson and Will Northrop (U14); and Kyle O’Connor, Dylan Heubner and Ben Mahony (U16).

Newtown High School coaches Brian Micena and Chuck Chiodo led the Team CT U16 squad.

Playing for the Yale-affiliated CT Bulldogs, Newtown residents included Casey Fuller (U13); Connor McNamara (U16); and Connor Martin, Brian Reszoly and Mack Fuller (U17). Kyle McNamara played for the Gators U17 team, one of Bulldog’s elite high school affiliates.

And playing for the IAS Lacrosse Club out of Greenfield, Massachusetts, Jamie Vavrek joined former Newtown youth teammates and current Nighthawk varsity players Will Mahony, Zack Varga, Kevin Canavan, Christian Beitel, John Grimaldi and Clarence Cheung to showcase their talents in front of top college coaches.

Even with the summer nearly over, the players won’t necessarily have to put their sticks down. The Trumbull Sports Zone offers fall and winter indoor leagues.

Then, of course, the spring 2008 season is not all that far off …