The ISU men’s lacrosse club will head into its 19th competitive season this spring. The sport played on a field which is slightly smaller than a football field is making a name for itself in the Midwest.

One fact that is hidden among less-savvy viewers of the sport is that it is growing at a rapid pace.

“[Lacrosse] is considered the fastest growing sport in North America. And that’s something we can brag about, I guess,” said Connor Jorgensen, president of the club and senior in marketing.

A sport that is thriving out in east coast schools, such as Duke, North Carolina and Virginia Tech — all ACC schools — is slowly but surely making its way into more populated states in the Midwest, such as Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Iowa.

“It was popular with the Ivy League schools, and then it just got lucky where it spread, and it’s just making its way over [to the Midwest],” said Alec Johanson, vice president of the club and sophomore in computer engineering.

However, as bright as the future may seem for lacrosse as a sport, there are some difficulties that stand in the way of ISU Lacrosse getting its name out there.

The Lacrosse Club currently is coach-less and only has an interim student coach at the time. The team is looking for anyone who might be interested in the coaching position. Finding a coach is difficult due to lack of funds the club receives.

“We are funded primarily by dues,” Jorgensen said. “We do get some funding from GSB for helmets and some travel reimbursement. But for the most part, the club is funded by players.”

Funding for the lacrosse team is very tight. While the GSB only gives limited funding to the club for safety reasons, providing helmets and jerseys, the team itself gains most of their profits by fundraising and player dues.

Dues for spring play range from $300 to $400. However, in comparison with teams Iowa State plays such as Duluth, Minn., where dues can range from $2,500 to $3,000.

Teams like Duluth will travel to tournaments in states such as California, whereas Iowa State stays primarily in the Midwest, where its league is located.

Iowa State is part of the Upper Midwest Lacrosse League and competes against teams from Minnesota, Indiana and Wisconsin. Money from dues and fundraising go to the league to pay for costs such as hotel fees, tournament fees and travel costs.

While funding and coaching staff may slightly hinder the teams practice performance, players said that this season is one to keep an eye on.

“We’ve got a lot of new talent that we’re excited about,” said Steve Lindner, recruiting chairman as well as a midfielder for the Lacrosse Club.

The team is going to continue improving in every practice, along with working together as a team.

“We want to make more of a showing,” Johanson said. “Previously, we’ve been known as not as good of a team. We’re in a pretty tough conference, just because of the size of our school. But we’re definitely going to make more of a showing this year.”

Lacrosse has a huge reputation of being a very physical sport, along with being a mentally tough game to play.

“It’s very physical,” Jorgensen said. “There’s a lot of hitting involved, but it’s known as a finesse sport as well. We’re working on being physical and our skills to be successful.”