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About San Francisco Lacrosse Club

About San Francisco Lacrosse Club

The San Francisco Riptide (San Francisco Lacrosse Club) is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to developing the game of lacrosse and serves boys and girls of various ages in the city of San Francisco. We serve approximately 200 boys from Under-9 to High School and 85 girls from Under-9 to Under-15. Our Mission Statement:

We are committed to teaching the sport of lacrosse to all ages of boys and girls in the city of San Francisco.  Our goal is to instill within our players a respect and love of the game, as well as an appreciation of the skills and teamwork needed to succeed on the field.  Our coaches share a passion for the sport and love to teach and inspire players in developing their lacrosse skills.  They are dedicated to creating an atmosphere of learning, fun and mutual support of all players.
 
Our colors are dark grey and orange. We practice and play our games at either the Polo Fields at Golden Gate Park or Ryan Kimbell Field in Lower Pacific Heights. We are affiliated with the Northern California Junior Lacrosse Association (NCJLA) and play other youth programs in Marin, East Bay and the Peninsula.    We have an extensive coaching staff, many of whom have college and club experience. All of our coaches go through background checks and participate and abide by the Positive Coaching Alliance.
 
History
The Riptide (San Francisco Lacrosse Club) was formed as result of the merger of two established non-profit programs – the Outlaws (San Francisco City Lacrosse) and the Quakes (San Francisco Youth Lacrosse Club). The Outlaws were founded in 2002 by a small group of parents who wanted to provide high school boys an opportunity to play lacrosse in San Francisco.  The Outlaws fielded their first team in the Spring of 2003 comprised of boys from both public and private high schools.  In 2006, City expanded to include boy’s and girl’s teams at the youth level.   The Quakes were founded in 2005 as the first boy’s youth program in the city in order to develop the sport and provide boys from any middle school the ability to play lacrosse. In 2006, the Quakes quickly expanded to all levels of boy’s youth lacrosse.
 
The boards of both former organizations met in 2010 and decided it was in the best interest of the players and the development of the sport to combine into a single quality program that served the entire lacrosse community of the city of San Francisco.   On October 1st 2010, we became the San Francisco Riptide. Under an expanded board, multiple teams at each age level to foster development, combined coaching resources and new branding, the Riptide now serves as a single resource for lacrosse in the city. 

About Lacrosse

Lacrosse, considered to be America's first sport, was born of the North American Indian, christened by the French, and adapted and raised by the Canadians. Modern lacrosse has been embraced by athletes and enthusiasts of the United States and the British Commonwealth for over a century.

The sport of lacrosse is a combination of basketball, soccer and hockey. Anyone can play lacrosse -- the big or the small. The game requires and rewards coordination and agility, not brawn. Quickness and speed are two highly prized qualities in lacrosse.
 
An exhilarating sport, lacrosse is fast-paced and full of action. Long sprints up and down the field with abrupt starts and stops, precision passes and dodges are routine in men's and women's lacrosse.   Lacrosse is played with a stick, the crosse, which must be mastered by the player to throw, catch and scoop the ball.
 
Lacrosse is one of the fastest growing team sports in the United States. Youth participation in the sport has grown over 138% since 2001 to nearly 300,000. No sport has grown faster at the high school level over the last 10 years and there are now an estimated 228,000 high school players. Lacrosse is also the fastest-growing sport over the last six years at the NCAA level with 557 college teams in 2009.
 
For further information regarding men’s and women’s lacrosse, including basic skills and rules, please see the attached documents.