Terrapins Lacrosse: Cheap Family Fun

My family discovered sports at the University of Maryland almost five years ago.  My husband and I had attended the odd football or basketball game at the campus for years before we had children, but only when we were feeling flush or someone gave us tickets. Once we had kids, the number of games we attended dropped even lower, since with each child we were adding exponentially to the bottom line. 

Then through our daughter’s soccer team, we discovered the men’s soccer team and realized that with free parking and incredibly cheap tickets, we could go to most games for twenty dollars for the whole family.  Since that time we have made an effort to check out other athletic events on the campus as well.  We were amazed to find the number of sports that have not only free parking but free admission as well -- the National Champion field hockey team being chief among them.

 So, as spring approaches we have decided to look into Maryland’s favorite pastime – lacrosse.  Since I have a son and a daughter we double the fun by attending men’s and women’s games.  With the women ranked first and the men ranked fourth in the NCAA rankings, our family is not only looking forward to an inexpensive season but an entertaining one as well.

As the teams have gained success in the NCAA, they have also gained in popularity.  The women still play most of their games in the shared field hockey/lacrosse stadium which helps keep their tickets at a very low six dollars per ticket.  The men, on the other hand, have become so popular in recent years that many of their games will take place in Byrd Stadium.  Because of the venue and their popularity, ticket prices have gone up slightly and are now ten dollars for the more well-attended games.

 Still, forty dollars for a family of four is cheaper than a night out at the movies these days, and a day spent enjoying not only a great game of lacrosse but a great day or evening spent outside enjoying spring at the College Park campus is hard to beat.

We're a soccer family, which means the lacrosse games for our family are all about the fun.  We enjoy the venue, the competition and the general atmosphere of any sport played on the campus.  But for families with lacrosse-playing children, the games offer so much more. 

Each week, the stadium is filled with young players.  Whether they are attending with their families or their team, they come to learn.  By attending the games they are witnessing the sport played at the highest levels.  They see the speed of play that it takes to make it at this level and they begin to understand what it means to be an athlete.  Not just the sport itself but the way the athletes conduct themselves with their teammates, coaches and fans. 

It is easy to let seasons go by without making a trip out to a game.  It is easy to take the opportunities available to us for granted but we have found as a family, attending the games becomes a part of our routine.  We put them into our calendar.  We plan our dinners and lunches around them, and we begin to look forward to the next game even before we pull out of the parking lot at the end of the day.