Sept. 4, 2007

Nike equipment contract? Check. Manicured field? Check. Rabid alumni boosters? Check. Support from the administration? Check. Broad recruiting base? Check. Nationwide schedule? Check.

Considering this checklist, the University of Illinois men's lacrosse program has almost everything necessary to be a contender at the highest collegiate level.

Almost.

Seemingly the only impediment to the Fighting Illini joining the mainstream lacrosse consciousness is an elevation to varsity status. That's not to say Illinois and the other 194 Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) programs lack a following. In fact, these clubs have filled in nearly every corner of the country that NCAA programs have not -- or cannot -- reach. There is still, however, an underlying belief in many `established' lacrosse circles that the unsanctioned club teams are equivalent to the minor leagues.

In actuality, Illinois is among a group of MCLA teams operating in such a way that makes them nearly indiscernible from sanctioned programs at the three NCAA divisional levels.

"You wouldn't know we were a club team unless you saw where we were registered," said A.J. Stevens, the head coach of the Fighting Illini. "I run it no different than when I was a Division I coach or Division III coach. When we travel, we travel like any varsity team would -- we take charter buses, we fly, we play a nationwide schedule. All the way down to us wearing the exact same shoe. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

"There's a group of teams that are similar to what we're doing. You look at Michigan or Brigham Young that function under a virtual varsity flag and you really can't tell. Michigan is hosting Army and Hopkins in the fall and I guarantee you won't be able to tell any of our club teams."

Even the make-up of the Illinois coaching staff rivals the experience of many varsity programs. Stevens was the head coach at Roger Williams (R.I.), a D-III institute, as well as serving as an assistant at Dartmouth until 2002. Currently he is an assistant coach for the MLL's Chicago Machine. Recently, Stevens added Doug Shanahan -- the first Tewaaraton Trophy winner, the MVP of the '02 World Games, and one of the most complete midfielders to ever play the game -- to the staff as an assistant head coach.

Shanahan, who settled in the Chicago `burbs after joining the Machine, was looking for an opportunity to coach at the college level while remaining close enough to the Windy City to continue his pro career.

"I was coaching high school last year and I wanted to coach all year round, I wanted more of a commitment so I started looking at the college ranks," said Shanahan, who was the coach at Glenbrook South High School in Chicago's Northern suburbs. "It's great to see the growth [at the club level]."

Typically, a club program can't offer the kind of financial security for a head coach on its own, never mind an assistant with Shanahan's résumé, but virtual varsity programs find a way. The University is chipping in for half of Shanahan's salary while Stevens set up Shanahan with a position ("Director of Operations") at his chain of health clubs in the Urbana-Champaign area to fill in the other portion.

"We're the first club to hire a full-time assistant," said Stevens. "Doug has full benefits, everything. It's similar to a Division III job. If you're working in Division III you're probably going to be working with intramurals or something else, you're going to have another responsibility. It's just that ours is partially funded by an outside source."

Perhaps most importantly, the Illinois lacrosse team has the tacit approval of the upper echelon of the University's administration. While many MCLA programs are considered on par with the chess or ultimate Frisbee clubs, the Fighting Illini enjoy just about every perk of varsity status except for letter jackets.

"The support trickles down. It doesn't really increase our money, but money is not what we need. Money is the easy thing," said Stevens. "It's support like being included in the arrangement with Nike that the football and basketball team has, field space, things like that. We have our own field, and they are putting in turf fields and one will be ours."

Alas, it takes players to be good in any sport, and Illinois is still working on that. The Fighting Illini managed to finished 10-7 last year playing teams from all over the country such as Florida State, New Hampshire, Georgia Tech, Arizona and MCLA champion BYU along with its Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference rivals (Iowa, Kansas State, Lindenwood, and Missouri, among others).

Stevens is working to diversify his roster now comprised primarily of in-state kids. The coaching staff attends many of the camps that its varsity counterparts visit and Illinois will boast players from New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts in the coming year, in addition to the strong Chicago-area base. One incoming freshman from Glenbrook South was an All-American who Shanahan estimates could play at the low Division I level.

"We're really trying to push to become a national championship-caliber team and that's not something that happens overnight," said Stevens. "It takes a lot of hard work from the players and coaching staff, but I feel we've made progressive steps over the years and this is going to be a good year for us."

The Fighting Illini and the other virtual varsity clubs are in the distinct minority in the club landscape. As Stevens says, there are still the haves and the have-nots within the MCLA. But the emergence of programs that operate with all of the benefits and infrastructure of their NCAA comrades is uplifting.

With the many obstacles facing collegiate teams that want to go varsity -- gender proportionality for one -- teams like Illinois are filling the void and creating a virtual varsity climate all over the country. It's these pioneers who will help to eliminate the lingering, and erroneous, stereotype of MCLAs as some sort of nationwide rec league.

Contact Jac Coyne at jcoyne@uslacrosse.org.