Lacrosse is a rapidly growing sport in the Midwest, with women’s club teams already having been established at schools such as the University of Minnesota, the University of Iowa and the University of Kansas.

The women’s lacrosse club, which was established at Iowa State in the fall of 2004, has been struggling to field a team and begin full practices, due in large part to a lack of interest and knowledge about the club. The club was formed as a way to provide women who enjoy lacrosse an opportunity to play at an organized, competitive level.

Sofia Farone, women’s lacrosse club president, has been playing lacrosse for six years. She said she is eager to get the word out about the club to those students who may not know it exists at Iowa State.

“Lacrosse is still an up-and-coming sport in the Midwest,” said Farone, junior in pre-journalism and mass communication. “There are more and more girls hearing about it and playing every year.”

Jacob Oakland, captain and club president of the men’s lacrosse club, said he has been contacted by girls wanting to get involved in the men’s lacrosse club practices.

“I think there are enough girls interested in lacrosse to fill a full team and start playing games,” Oakland said. “As long as they’ve got leadership to get organized, which I believe Sofia Farone has, they should be able to get a team together soon.”

Farone said she has contacted the club teams from the University of Minnesota and the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. about playing games. Both schools verbally agreed to play against Iowa State whenever it can field an entire team.

“I absolutely foresee the women’s lacrosse team growing in the future,” she said. “It just takes time.”

Jennifer Morris, women’s lacrosse club member, also said she believes the club can do well at Iowa State.

“We have someone like Sofia taking charge, and I think that if we get enough people interested and devoted, this club can go far,” said Morris, sophomore in apparel merchandising design and production.

Krystal Luxon, sophomore in marketing, said she joined the club because she loves to play lacrosse and wanted to be a part of something new.

“I just really love the atmosphere of the game and the competitiveness involved with the game,” she said.

The club is looking for any girls at Iowa State who enjoy playing lacrosse to join the team. Farone said that no prior experience in lacrosse is needed to participate, just an interest in learning about the sport.

“Right now the club is just starting up, so there are only about six girls in it right now,” Farone said. “There seemed to be a lot of interest at ClubFest last year, so we are hoping to get more [members] soon.”

The club is free to participate in, because they have not yet scheduled any games that involve traveling. Farone said she expects the team to begin traveling next year, after the club fills a roster and begins practicing.

“Right now we want to generate interest, get the club established and practice, practice, practice,” Farone said.