Lacrosse the New It for the Mavericks
With the increase in collegiate sports for the Mesa State Mavericks, the efforts to raise more money will prove to be a challenge. Next year, Mesa State will field two brand new lacrosse teams. However, the city of Grand Junction has been instrumental in the arrival of lacrosse for the Mavericks.
Lacrosse clubs have been springing up all over the Grand Valley over the last two years. It has really caught fire in the high school level with a competitive team that can hold its own with any of the Denver high school teams. None of the schools in the district are playing in a CHSAA sanctioned event but the club team has the opportunity to play with some of the best teams in the state.
For the Mavericks, athletic director Butch Miller has put the task of bringing collegiate lacrosse to the mainstream with the hire of AJ Stevens. Stevens was named the Director of Lacrosse/Men’s Head Coach in October. His resume runs deep with his most recent coaching stay at the University of Illinois. He quickly turned Illinois into one of the premier lacrosse clubs, compiling a 23-13 record in his two seasons there as well as a trip to the Great River Lacrosse conference game in each of his two years. He was a two-time GRLC coach of the year and his coaching produced 21 All-Conference players, 9 Academic All-Americans, 4 All-Americans, and the Offensive Player of the Year. He had the Illini ranked in the top 25 which it had not seen in the de4cade prior.
After his stint in Illinois, Stevens oversaw the Chicago Machine lacrosse team as well as the director of lacrosse operations and as the assistant head coach for Chicago’s Major League Lacrosse franchise. Prior to this, Stevens was coaching in the Ivy League as he was the assistant coach as Dartmouth. The Big Green under Stevens went from perennial doormat to NCAA national title contender. Before Dartmouth, he was the Head Coach of Roger Williams College in RI where he led them to a winning conference record.
He also coached the New England Senior All Star game. The University of Indiana also had him as head coach where he led the Hoosiers to a 13-3 record. With a resume like that, one would not believe that funding for this sport will go unturned.
The excitement of lacrosse coming to Mesa State as well as the support of the Grand Valley will surely make this sport a reality for years to come. The goal at hand is to make Grand Junction the West’s premier destination for competitive lacrosse.
The athletic clubs generate about $600,000 from fundraising. This will probably have to jump up another $50,000 to fund the lacrosse teams. Since Mesa State is the only school west of Ohio to field a college lacrosse team, the excitement is on a high. Recently Stevens got Maverik Lacrosse to field their equipment for the upcoming season. With 27 commits, the Mavericks will try and bring excitement to a town that is already crazy for lacrosse.