MISSOULA — Lacrosse is a niche sport in Montana, but signs of the game's growth are prevalent.
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Look no further than the Spartan Lacrosse Club in Missoula, one of the top teams in their region, and a program that is seeing their players find more frequent college opportunities.
Related: Billings lacrosse player Kaitlyn Foster hopes to help blaze a bigger trail for Montana players
"I remember my sixth-grade year, we had to play with like third graders," senior Olivia Shepherd said. "It was second-to-eighth grade, which is like a huge range that's like eight year olds and 13 year olds playing. But it was just like the only opportunity to play lacrosse. So having a JV team and a varsity team is really cool."
Shepherd is one of a pair of seniors on the Spartan Lacrosse Club team that's headed to compete at the college level. She'll compete at the University of Hartford next year in Connecticut, a NCAA Division III school.
It's a return east for Shepherd, a senior at Missoula Hellgate who moved to Montana when she was seven from New York, but found a community and love for the sport.
"It was very special. I mean, being in lacrosse, there's only like 10 people who have ever gone to college to play lacrosse," Shepherd said. "So it's very small and it's just like a great opportunity. And I'm really excited."
The other, is Sentinel senior Callie Crass, who will head to Division II Newberry College in South Carolina to play at the next level.
"I'm a super athletic-centralized person, like I love to play sports, all of them, and my entire family is that way," Crass said. "And so just getting the opportunity to keep doing it for another four years is just so special to me that I can keep being part of the team, keep running around like crazy and just have that flow with the team and just play lacrosse."
Crass had a later start in lacrosse, with a steep learning curve, but immediate connection.
"My brother played, so I actually grew up learning on a boy's stick, so I had to make that transition over to a girl's stick," Crass said. "And then I started my eighth-grade year, which is kind of a late start for a new sport, but I picked it up really fast and I had a great first coach. And so I just immediately fell in love with the sport."
As lacrosse continues to grow in Montana, so will the Spartan program.
For Shepherd and Crass, it's a sport that's given a lot back to them as they begin these next chapters.
"I started coaching lacrosse two years ago, and I think that's like, given me a lot," Shepherd said. "I really enjoy coaching little kids. Taught me a lot about patience and just like lacrosse IQ. How to see the field. How to explain how to play. I think that the opportunities it's given me is definitely the best."
"It's taught me so much about teamwork, using other people," Crass added. "I've learned how to deal with wins and losses. It's helped with my mental-like abilities to think about things clearly, really leaving it all out on the field, and then being able to wrap it up, catch my breath, and play the next game.
"I just think it's given me a lot of self-control and a lot of like skills that I need in my actual life outside of lacrosse when that ends in the next four years."
