As spring arrives, fans look excitedly toward postseason tournaments. They eagerly devour any information they can find about their favorite team. They run out to the yard to practice their … stick skills? It is not March Madness, and it is not spring football. The sport is lacrosse. While the East Coast gears up for lacrosse season, one can find the LSU lacrosse club practicing on a soccer field. Mostly unpopular in the Gulf South, lacrosse mixes physicality with strategy as players don pads, helmets and netted poles or “crosses.” The object is simple – beat the opponents’ defense and put a small rubber ball in their goal. “In Maryland, lacrosse is like football in Louisiana,” LSU lacrosse coach Nick Joslyn said. A native of Ellicott City, Md., Joslyn played four years for LSU before taking over coaching duties. Joslyn and several of LSU’s players come from Maryland, where fans watch lacrosse powerhouses such as Virginia and Johns Hopkins with the same fascination that LSU students follow spring football practices. “I guess I knew what I was getting into,” business finance junior Mike Kessler said. Kessler played high school lacrosse in Maryland and found out about the team on the Internet. “I knew LSU wouldn’t have lacrosse, but I just wanted to keep playing for fun,” Kessler said. Many of LSU’s players have a curiosity for the sport. The team features players who picked up the sport in high school, and other who had never heard of the sport before the semester began. At the high school level, the sport seems to be gaining popularity. LSU team members listed high school teams from New Orleans to Shreveport, and one of LSU’s players even coaches the Catholic High School lacrosse team. “We went to a high school tournament about a month ago, and they were surprised we even had a team,” Joslyn said. Unfortunately, finding competition in Louisiana is difficult. The state features only a handful of club-level university teams. LSU has traveled as far as Texas and Oklahoma for games. This past weekend, LSU faced Ole Miss in Ocean Springs, Miss., and the team had a recent taste of success with a win against Tulane. Not surprisingly, LSU lacrosse lacks the resources its northern counterparts are accustomed to. Joslyn said he and his team do not have game film to watch, and since it is a club sport, no scholarships to offer players. Many players, like economics junior Mike Becherer, balance lacrosse with work and school. “It’s absolutely frustrating,” Becherer said. “But we wouldn’t be out here if we didn’t enjoy it.” Home games are played Saturdays at 1 p.m. at the soccer fields on River Road. Joslyn encouraged students to come out and work on their tans or grill food if the game isn’t entertainment enough. “If it’s between this and ‘Flavor of Love,’ I reccomend you come out and get some sunshine,” Becherer. LSU’s season ends long before the heavyweights do battle for the NCAA championship, but there are still several chances for students to see home games. The team is off during spring break, but returns to action with home games March 29 and April 5 against Mississippi State and Rice, respectively. “It’s a club team so we come out here to have fun,” Kessler said. “But we all work hard at getting better and making this a competative team.”