Since our inception in 1998, Lacrosse Northwest has reached 1000s of young and adult lacrosse players alike through its offerings of leagues, lessons, clinics, camps, and athletic training.  Doug Foster, the original owner, figured out quickly after moving to Portland from Virginia that Oregon was missing out on something great.  Lacrosse!

“What is Lacrosse? Is it that game played where people run with sticks carrying a ball in the net?”  These are just a few of the many questions people had when Lacrosse Northwest started running its first lacrosse leagues in the Portland area.  Only the few people who played lacrosse on the east coast could answer questions about this great Native American sport that has since grown by leaps and bounds.

After hiring Paul Voas, an east coast lacrosse player from Syracuse, New York, Doug and Paul worked together to educate players on how to play.  The lacrosse they witnessed wasn’t “pretty” as many of the players had never seen the sport played.  “Bad lacrosse at a cheap price is what we experienced when we first began”, said Foster. This is a far distance from the now booming lacrosse community in the state of Oregon and the high level we see in our leagues.

Boys’ and Girls’ youth programs have exploded in each lacrosse community by the hundreds.  High School Boys’ and Girls’ programs are now comprised of 80+ programs.  Universities have implemented successful programs including the Division 1 women’s team at University of Oregon and the Division III women’s teams at both Pacific University and Linfield College.  In addition, men’s and women’s post collegiate leagues and teams have grown in the area. 

Since July 1, 2008, new owner Sarah Tomlinson, has taken her passion for lacrosse and has implemented her own business philosophy into the company.  Sarah’s vision has been to take the already strong belief Lacrosse Northwest had in place of growing lacrosse in Oregon and to continue growing the sport by creating innovative, organized, fun, challenging, and educational experience for players of all genders and ages.

Tomlinson comes from a long line of business and a solid customer service philosophy stemming from her family’s linen service company Tomlinson Linen’s in Seattle, WA.  Perhaps you have seen their linen trucks driving through Northern Washington?  It wasn’t too long ago Sarah was driving one of those trucks as she was learning all aspects of the business from the “inside/out”.

For years, Lacrosse Northwest was the only company offering year round lacrosse.  Today, Lacrosse Northwest continues to offer year round lacrosse at a reasonable price in Oregon including offering fast paced indoor lacrosse.

Our highly qualified coaching staff is comprised of post- collegiate, collegiate, and high school lacrosse players as well as local experienced high school and collegiate coaches.  Many of our staff members are also educators!

If you haven’t already become part of our family we hope you will join us soon!