mfreter@mavs.coloradomesa.edu

All over the world, kids are starting to trade in their baseball gloves for lacrosse sticks. Canada, Australia and Japan have adopted the American sport and are becoming more competitive every year. Last summer, four players from the CMU men’s lacrosse team experienced the growth of the sport first-hand by traveling to Japan to participate in an international lacrosse tournament.

Griffin Perkiel, Stephen Dunn, Brad Brandenburg and Brad’s younger brother Steve were members of the only American team in the entire tournament. They joined the team that was put together by the organization USA Starz, a group that gives high school and college players the opportunity to play all over the world.

Brad Brandenburg explained that none of them, including himself, had ever played outside of the U.S. and were not sure what to expect.

“It was hard to have any expectations since it was such a culture shock,” Brad said. “But it definitely exceeded anything I had imagined it would be.”

On June 30, the team flew from Los Angeles to Nagoya, Japan. They stayed there for five days and then traveled to Tokyo for the remaining five days of the expedition. The team played three games in both cities in venues varying from large stadiums to playing on the beach. The rules were slightly different than in America, but that was the least significant change, according to Dunn. He says the atmosphere during games was much more surreal.

“Our first game coming in, we played in a big stadium with about 1,000 people watching,” Dunn said. “The crowd roared every time we saw them and even asked for autographs. It was like we were superstars.”

Perkiel added that the other major difference in Japanese lacrosse was the surprising popularity of the women’s game.

“The biggest difference was that women’s lacrosse is a lot more popular there than men’s,” Perkiel said. “We had a big crowd for our game, but there were at least 3,000 people there for the women’s game, and it was packed.”

When they weren’t on the field, the players got the chance to spend a night with different families in both cities. These overnight stays, called “home stays,” were a way for them to get out of their comfort zone and be immersed in Japanese culture. The families took their guests around the area and showed them all of the sights that their country had to offer, including the scenic countryside of Nagoya and downtown Tokyo.

“At night there are hundreds of people everywhere you go,” Steve said. “We had to take the subway to every different place we went, and it was always packed with people. It was crazy.”

The overall message being conveyed throughout the tournament was the slogan, “Lacrosse Makes Friends.” The Japanese lacrosse community wanted to create an environment for players from different parts of the world to meet each other and play the game they love. All four Mavericks who went expressed that it was an experience that they would never forget.

“It was hands down the best lacrosse experience I’ve ever had,” Steve said. “I would definitely do it again.”