Another first for me since moving to Colorado.  Lacrosse.  Lacrosse was just starting to pick up in Washington when I moved to Alaska, but mainly at the University of Washington, and more of a club sport than anything official.  High Schools had not adopted it as a WIAA sport yet, and in Alaska, ASAA chose flag football for high schools girls instead of a potential college sport like lacrosse.  But, on a Saturday morning in Arvada, the Ralston Valley Lady Mustangs were hosting the Grandview Lady Wolves (WHOA, De Ja Vu, Wolves and Mustangs and it was not Eagle River and Chugiak!).  I had no idea what to expect.  I had seen a pro lacrosse game on tv, and saw how big the field was, and saw highlights from college and high school games and was figuring I would not be able to be too close to the field, but it was a sport I had been dying to try shooting, and since Ralston Valley is a school I would love to photograph for as their official photographer, it was a no brainer for me.

I got up to Ralston Valley High School, not knowing where the LAX field was.  I had a good idea, but with a track, softball field, baseball field, soccer field, tennis courts, and a utility/football field, I really had no idea where to go.  I saw some firemen doing group training on the track/football field, so I assumed this was not where I needed to be, and I knew the softball field was not going to be converted for LAX, but there is a field between the softball and baseball fields next to the tennis courts and I assumed this would be it.  But when I noticed no one walking that way I decided to drive to the upper back parking lot and I was glad I did.  The game was taking place on a field behind the baseball field that I was not sure was ever used.

There was a big net behind the goal on the school side of the field, and a large wall separating the field from the road and train tracks behind the school.  On the baseball field side, there was a hill where most of the parents were sitting on lawn chairs or standing around, and on the opposite side of the field was where the teams and scorekeeper were set up at.  I could see the school trainer, who I have gotten to know a little bit through basketball and hockey season, and decided that would be a good place to start trying to figure out what I was getting myself in to, so I walked over to where the Ralston Valley team bench was.

Like any sport with balls being thrown around, you need to keep yourself aware of your surroundings.  A lot of LAX balls being tossed around and I took one to the ankle, but it had rolled in the grass for about 10 yards, so it lost most of it’s momentum.  I started chatting with Lindsey, the RV trainer, and watching the girls warm up, trying to get a sense of what was going on.

I knew in a way, lacrosse was kind of a cross between soccer and hockey, but quickly learned there is a little football, and basketball in it too.  I learned quickly about the multiple offsides zones, but I am still struggling on the inner and outer boxes around the goal.  I would assume these are similar to the two boxes in soccer, but not entirely sure.

I could not have asked for better weather either.  The sun was out, there was a little bit of a cool wind, but it was just lovely out, and with a 10am start, the sun was not too harsh.

It is a quick sport to shoot, and it can be difficult to follow the ball through the viewfinder.  My goal was to get nice close ups of the girls tossing the ball and catching the ball, but some of the cuts, and collisions were pretty nice to capture too.

Ralston Valley went up on Grandview early and took a 7-1 lead in the first half .  I know LAX games can be very high scoring, and the way the coaches were talking at halftime, I figured that even with a 6 goal lead, they were not confident that 6 goals was going to be enough.  I was starting to fall into a rhythm shooting, and was feeling pretty good about this sport that I had never shot before.

In the second half things went well for my shooting, and for the home team Mustangs.  I captured some good second half images, and the Mustangs out scored the visiting Wolves held Grandview to 3 goals and tacked on 8 more goals to win the game 15 to 4.

I do not know if I will get a chance to shoot another LAX game this season.  Not every school has LAX, like hockey, but if I get a chance to hit RV for another game, I will.  To view and purchase photos from this game, please visit MaxPreps.