If you were to rate the different areas around the United States that play high school lacrosse, South Florida would not be high on that list.

For years, lacrosse has existed in public and private high schools in Broward County but never expanded from a handful of schools that had boys' and girls' club teams. Lacrosse, which is the oldest team sport played in North America, has been rapidly growing across the country with the popularity of professional lacrosse, college, high school and youth leagues.

South Florida is starting to reap some of the benefits of the lacrosse boom, with youth leagues popping up across the state. With increased access to the sport, high school athletes who might have opted to participate in the other spring sports, such as baseball and softball, are dedicating their time to lacrosse.

''The sport is just blowing up in South Florida,'' St. Thomas Aquinas boys' lacrosse coach Lenny Coy said.

More schools in Broward County are starting to offer lacrosse at the varsity and club level. This season, only private schools make up the six boys' and five girls' varsity teams. Some public schools are starting to have lacrosse teams, but the sport has remained at the club level. Club teams play in their own leagues and do not play against varsity teams from the area.

Last season, the Florida High School Athletic Association recognized boys' and girls' lacrosse as a varsity sport for the first time, and St. Andrew's School from Boca Raton was the inaugural state champion.

In Broward, St. Thomas has had some success in the program's short life. Three years ago, St. Thomas fielded a boys' club team to offer a new sport to its students, and more than 60 signed up. Last season, St. Thomas moved up to the varsity level, and after some initial growing pains, was able to win a district title.

St. Thomas defeated Miami Gulliver in the first round of the state tournament, but then lost to St. Andrew's.

In 2009, St. Thomas will have 12 seniors who are ready to avenge last season's playoff loss.

''This year is going to be interesting to see who steps up for our team,'' Coy said. ``We have a lot of players that have a lot of experience.''

In their first big matchup of the season, St. Thomas lost to Miami Gulliver 12-3 on Wednesday night. St. Thomas, which lost its leading scorer, was able to slow Gulliver's offense, but its offense couldn't produce.

FOOTBALL

Cypress Bay's Luke Bray, one of the top kickers in Broward County last season, has signed a scholarship to play soccer at Florida Atlantic.

BASEBALL

CARDINAL GIBBONS 9, FLANAGAN 8

CG (2-0) 130 031 01 --9 10 3 Fla (1-1) 100 030 4 0--8 4 1

WP: Thomas Woodry (1-0). LP: Torres (0-1). Top performers: Erick Whaley was 2 for 4. Chris Foglia had a three-run home run.

ARCHBISHOP MCCARTHY 12, ARCHBISHOP CARROLL 2

AC (1-1) 101 000 0 --2 3 3 AM (2-0) 325 200 0 --12 10 1

WP: Andre Martinez (1-0). LP: Rivero. Top performers: Nick Castellanos was 3 for 4 with a home run and five RBI. Johnny Cole was 2 for 2 with two home runs and four RBI. Alex Fernandez was 2 for 4 with two runs scored.

FLORIDA CHRISTIAN 6, FT. MYERS 2

FM (0-1) 010 001 0 --2 4 1 FC (1-0) 201 003 0 --6 11 1

WP: F. Roque (1-0). LP: Welch. Top performers: Hector Crespo was 2 for 3 with three RBI. Danny Canella was 3 for 4 with one RBI. Nathaniel Galliford was 2 for 3 with a home run.

SOFTBALL

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@