Gulliver senior Ben Pelton has been waiting four years for the sport he loves to be recognized beyond the borders of his neighborhood.
Pelton got his wish recently when lacrosse was officially sanctioned by the Florida High School Athletic Association.
After years of searching for recognition, the fastest growing sport nationally among high school and college student-athletes, opened its first season under FHSAA rules this week.
''Around here in Pinecrest, people know about lacrosse,'' Pelton said. ``But most people still have no clue what the game is about or what it is I do. Hopefully, that will start to change soon.''
Four schools from Miami-Dade County, which has had high school lacrosse in one form or another since 1974, will field boys' teams this season -- Gulliver, Ransom Everglades, Palmer Trinity and Miami Country Day.
''It's great for the kids and coaches that have seemingly toiled in obscurity for years,'' said Gulliver coach Gary Robinson, who has coached the past five years at Gulliver after a prior 10-year stint at Palmer Trinity.
``It's great the FHSAA has recognized it, and it's starting to become mainstream around the country.''
The inaugural state series will open with 63 teams playing in a single-classification and concluding with a state final four on April 18-19 at a site to be determined.
Teams are mainly concentrated in the Orlando, Jacksonville and Naples/Fort Myers areas.
Although no Dade public schools have been sanctioned to carry a lacrosse team yet, there are a handful of club teams in Dade and 59 statewide.
''Having the sport sanctioned finally is great because it gives it some validity,'' Palmer Trinity coach Josh Blumenthal said. ``I was born in Long Island where everything is hockey and lacrosse. It's been great to see the sport start to pick up in recent years in South Florida.''
Ransom coach Roy Kelly remembers when the state had only six teams in the late 1970s when he was the coach for Palmetto High's club team.
Blumenthal's program at Palmer Trinity has 96 male and female players overall, including a varsity, junior varsity, and middle school team.
''We had a youth lacrosse league started in 1974 by then-FIU athletic director Paul Hartman,'' Kelly said. ``We put together teams with kids from the Kendall, Coral Gables and Miami Shores areas, but it was hard to get kids to come out.''
Blumenthal said financial costs have been a hardship for many schools. With few teams in Dade, teams have had to travel north to Broward and Palm Beach Counties for years to find opponents to play.
Blumenthal believes the sport being sanctioned will encourage more programs around the state to count lacrosse in their athletic programs.
The game, which incorporates elements of football, basketball and soccer, continues to attract star athletes from other sports.
One of Gulliver's key players is Ricky Robinson, an All-Dade first-team defensive back. Miami Country Day midfielder Jon Oberti was an All-Dade wide receiver. Ransom goalkeeper Max Rappaport is the team's starting quarterback.
''It encompasses so many qualities the kids like in the other sports they already have a background in,'' Robinson said. ``Basketball players find it easy since the game employs elements like zone defenses. Football players love for the physicality of the game.''
Pelton played football before he committed himself totally to playing lacrosse, but never found the to play lacrosse for the comraderie it builds on the field.
''Football is exciting obviously when you make a big play or a big hit,'' Pelton said.
``But with lacrosse, you're just there with a bunch of your friends throwing the ball around and having a good time while you still have the excitement you find in other sports.
``To me, there's nothing like it.''
