Fastest Sport On The Island

For a very long time, Long Island has been a powerhouse in lacrosse. Many of the professional players in the league today pass through the schools on Long Island with very notable players such as Myles Jones (an alumnus of Walt Whitman High School) who currently plays professionally for the Redwoods Lacrosse Club of the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) and is currently on the practice squad for the New York Riptide of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). For Men’s lacrosse, many strong teams have a chance to win it all every year across all divisions.

 Class A is the highest division, with the top schools in Suffolk being Smithtown West and Ward Melville, and in Nassau which Massapequa heavily dominates. Class B is a division dominated by Garden City in Nassau and Comsewogue in Suffolk. Class C is a smaller one, but the competition in this class is very high, with Shoreham Wading River and Mount Sinai being some of the best programs on the Island, with both schools having great youth programs that give them the edge in their division. Class D is the smallest class on the Island, with Mattituck and Southold being the class’s dominant schools. Long Island also has impressive talents in the private school division, with St. Anthony’s and Chaminade being two of the best schools in the country for lacrosse, and the number 1 recruit from 2020, and 2021 class in the nation graduating from St. Anthony’s. 

Women’s lacrosse has different top schools for their classes. Northport is in complete command of the women’s Class A division, with a perfect season and a Long Island championship beating Massapequa to end an undefeated season. The Lady Trojans of Garden City rule Class B in Nassau, and West Babylon does the same in Suffolk. Mount Sinai and Bayport Blue Point heavily rule Class C. Long Island also has some of the best travel and youth programs in the nation, with the 91 Lacrosse being the best program in the country now expanding to most states. 91 Lacrosse is the pinnacle of youth programs for the sport, with many of today’s professional athletes playing on a 91 Lacrosse team in their youth. 

Also, with lacrosse now being a world sport, many players born on the Island currently play in the world championship. The 2020 Olympics were supposed to have held skateboarding and lacrosse as their new sports lacrosse could not be held in Tokyo, so the hope would be that lacrosse could be held in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. 

This would not be the first time that athletes played lacrosse at the Olympics. Lacrosse was first played in 1904, then again in 1908, it was then brought back in 1928, then in 1932, and finally, in 1948 but during this time, the sport was never a medal sport. With seasons being canceled over the last two years, there will be a few schools really on fire this year. Smithtown West, I feel they will win the Class A championship. To follow that, Shoreham and Mount Sinai will be two of the best if not the best teams in the public school division for years to come. In the women’s class, the team to watch will be Mount Sinai for the coming years.