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PREP LACROSSE: From club lacrosse to the NCAA
Smith is 1st Desert Vista player to move on to college

By Christopher Drexel
Brendan Smith is living proof that high school lacrosse in Ahwatukee Foothills has become more than just an extracurricular activity.

This spring, the Desert Vista senior became the first Thunder player to receive and accept a scholarship to continue playing the sport in college.

Because of lacrosse, the sport he decided to try for the first time as a freshman, Smith will have the vast majority of his expenses taken care of when he attends Fontbonne University in St. Louis this fall.

“We’ve had some pretty good players from Desert Vista in the past – we’ve had kids that have played club lacrosse in college – but it’s pretty cool I’ll be the first person from DV to play NCAA,” Smith said.

“There are a lot of younger kids on the team that look up to me because I’m furthering my career and everything. There is only like six or seven kids that are playing NCAA lacrosse next year from the state. But it gets bigger every year.”

Desert Vista coach Bill Lynch said high school players from Arizona, and more specifically Ahwatukee Foothills, that go on to play in college will become less and less rare as the sport continues to grow.

He added that sending players onto college has in fact been a goal of the team since its inception.

“That’s what our program is all about,” Lynch said. “It’s not just to teach kids lacrosse, to have fun and play, but to get them to play at the next level.

`MM9 wrote:Another example of NCAA hype.

Didn't Fontbonne lose to some MCLA teams this past year?


I had a friend that went to Fontbonne last year, and he said it wasn't any more intense than our HS program.


Thats awesome that the kid is going out to play DIII, but yeah...I would much rather play for a school in the MCLA than go to some random school to play "NCAA"