Carson seniors for lacrosse league

An image in one's mind of Bud Kop and Ryan Dwyer playing lacrosse and the thought of that scene from "Wayne's World" where Wayne and Garth are playing hockey in the street pops into the head.

When a car would be on its way to pass through their game, Wayne and Garth would yell "car coming" before moving the goals out of the way. Kop and Dwyer have had a similar experience when they played lacrosse. "Sometimes cars would run through in the middle of our game," Dwyer said.

The two had their share of fun playing together. "We used to play out in the parking lot together," Kop said.

But Kop and Dwyer thought it would be nice to actually have real goals instead of using something like shopping carts. So as their senior project at Carson High, the two have begun a lacrosse league, which plays every Saturday at the Pony Express Pavilion.

The league has about 35 players - boys and girls that range in age from 12-18 - that make up four teams. The league will continue through May 20.

Dwyer and Kop are also accomplished inline hockey players. Dwyer will attend the University of Nevada which already has an inline hockey team and is beginning a lacrosse club. Dwyer said he would like to possibly play inline hockey and maybe even lacrosse at the school.

Kop will attend Santa Clara and as a National Merit Scholar the school has offered him a $2,000 scholarship to offset a portion of his costs. Kop said he would also like to continue to participate in some kind of club sport while at Santa Clara.

The two said they have received questions from adults about if an adult lacrosse league could be formed and that kids as young as eight have asked about playing in the league. Kop and Dwyer said they hoped that a senior-to-be would pick up the league to keep it going as a senior project next year.

Dwyer and Kop said they are both content with how the league turned out. "I'm really happy," Dwyer said. "I think we've done as well or better than I expected. The thing I like about it is the kids have fun."

The registration fee of $25 was also quite reasonable compared to other youth leagues. "It's cheaper than most other leagues," Dwyer said.

Players have to supply their own equipment. Dwyer and Kop worked with Play It Again Sports and Big Five to provide the needed equipment. The league is also using much of the Sierra Inline Hockey League's equipment.

Still, Dwyer and Kop admitted improvements can be made in the league. "It could be organized better," Dwyer said. "We started from scratch."

As part of their senior project, both had to log the amount of time it took and both have spent more than 50 hours on the project so far. Both also had to do a research paper related to their project.

Dwyer did his paper on how to begin a business. Kop did his paper on youth sports and the behavior of spectators, so it was important to Kop that sportsmanship was stressed in the league.

While lacrosse is an extremely physical sport, Dwyer and Kop started their league as a noncontact league. But even through the incidental conduct that has happened, the league is becoming quite physical.

Dwyer and Kop also had the help in beginning the league from a mentor, Mike Premo, who played lacrosse at Syracuse, a national power in the sport. Syracuse also has another famous lacrosse player who is more known for another sport in Jim Brown.

Kop had a good reason for choosing Premo, who has conducted clinics in the sport. "He's the only person I know who know how to play the game," Kop said.