Lindbergh High lacrosse squad young, but ready for plenty of action this year

By STEPHEN GLOVER

For the Call

For the past 500 years, Native Ameri-cans have played the game of lacrosse.

The sport’s demanding style of play utilizes a person’s speed, endurance and brute power in a game that’s a cross between soccer, hockey and perhaps even a little football.

The past three years at Lindbergh High School have seen the sport grow from a junior varsity squad back in 2001 to its current status as a varsity club sport.

“We’ve got a really young team,” Head Coach Jim DeVoto told the Call. “The kids are beginning to pick up the game and I think we’ve got some good building blocks to start with.”

DeVoto joins the Flyers this season after coaching the junior varsity squad at CBC the last four years. A two-time captain at the University of Mississippi, DeVoto was one of the founders of the sport at St. Louis University High School.

The Flyers rookie coach hopes to spread his knowledge of the game to his players as they look for the school to sponsor the sport in the next several years.

“I was always a football player in high school and some buddies of mine at SLUH started up the Lacrosse club team,” De-Voto said. “I think that we can look forward to lacrosse being a school-sponsored sport in the next few years. I think it would be fantastic for the school to sponsor us because it would cut down some of the costs for the players.”

Lindbergh’s lacrosse team has drawn several students from the south county area, including junior x-attackman Shawn Bradford from Oakville Senior High.

Bradford currently is one of Lindbergh’s top scoring threat with his eight goals this season.

“Shawn’s a quiet leader on this year’s team,” DeVoto said. “He’s kind of like the quarterback on the team. He starts a lot of our attack from being behind the cage.”

Lindbergh junior Nick Jenkerson has established himself as being one of the top defenders in the metro area. He currently leads the area in ground balls controlled with 37 this season.

“Nick’s arguably one of the best defenders in the area,” DeVoto said. “He’s really a special player for us. He does a good job at eliminating the opposing team’s top player from the game. He’s a guy that’s not afraid to go in there and hit somebody.”

The 1-7 Flyers will return to action this Wednesday afternoon as they travel to Eureka for a non-league match with the Wildcats.

“This is one game that I think we should win,” DeVoto said. “Eureka is a first-year program so I don’t know a whole lot about them. They’ve taken their share of lumps as well as we have. I think that it should be a very competitive game.”

The Eureka match is slated for a 4 p.m. start.