September 27, 2019
A new sport will break into the East Texas area as East Texas Baptist University announces the addition of men’s lacrosse as a varsity club sport for the 2020-21 season, and the 22nd sport for Tiger Athletics. This will be the sixth new sport added at ETBU in the last four years joining men’s and women’s golf, hockey, bass fishing, and acrobatics and tumbling. The Tiger Lacrosse program will focus on transforming young men’s lives, building their faith and character, and helping them excel in life, while fielding a competitive team on the field.
“We are excited to announce the addition of another sports program at ETBU,” Vice President for Athletics Ryan Erwin said. “Lacrosse is a sport that we have closely monitored and have seen the increase in participation across the country. As we begin to recruit for lacrosse, we are committed to recruiting student-athletes who desire to be in a Christ-centered environment, where they will receive a quality education, while being a part of a highly competitive program. The vision for Tiger Athletics is to develop student-athletes in mind, body, and spirit.”
ETBU will play in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) in the Lone Star Alliance comprised of 11 Division I teams and 27 Division II teams representing Texas, Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. ETBU will face a majority of the Division II teams that include Centenary, Louisiana Tech, Trinity, Louisiana-Lafayette, Hardin-Simmons, Baylor, Dallas Baptist, Abilene Christian, Oklahoma State, and Rice among others.
Alain Savage is the first head coach of the program and will be tasked to build the program. He will coach both the ETBU Hockey and Men’s Lacrosse program. Savage is from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and grew up playing lacrosse at Édouard Montpetit. In his two years guiding the ETBU hockey team, they have won 30 games including the program’s first-ever post-season game last year.
If you are interested in becoming a part of the men’s lacrosse program email Coach Savage at asavage@etbu.edu.