The idea began sometime in the spring of 2004. There was a desire from many of the younger players on the Dallas L.C. to be part of a team that had more than just a "show up, play, and leave" mentality that they felt had pervaded the team. Dallas L.C. had grown too large and unwieldy - reducing the good times and bonding that they felt should be part of a post-collegiate lacrosse club. It was with this idea that Big D Lacrosse Club was created - we wanted to be a family on and off the field!

So, in the fall of 2004, with the help of a generous grant from Friends of North Texas Lacrosse, Big D L.C. took the field! The team was composed primarily of former Dallas L.C. players, as well as some of the more talented members of the Coppell L.C.. That nucleus went on to finish second overall in their first season of SouthWest Lacrosse Association play. With the addition of talented out-of-state transplants and increasingly skilled returning Texas collegiate players the future of Big D certainly looks promising!

Lacrosse was introduced to the Lone Star State in 1971. The genesis of the sport's growth in Texas can be traced to a single event: the legendary Johns Hopkins vs. Navy game played in Houston's Astrodome in April of that year. This exhibition - part of the regular NCAA schedule for the two national powers - was calculated to spark the promotion of the sport in the Southwest. Two former East-coast high school players attending SMU and Texas A&M made contact through that event. Three weeks later, the fledgling Dallas Lacrosse Club challenged the newly formed Texas A&M team to a scrimmage on a section of the polo fields in College Station. Both new teams met several times over the next year, and by the fall of 1972, the Dallas Lacrosse Club accepted an invitation to play the newly formed Houston Lacrosse Club at the Kinkaid School in Houston.

The Texas Lacrosse League was formed by these three teams in 1974. The Tulane Lacrosse Club from New Orleans, applied for membership as did the San Antonio Lacrosse Club and the University of Texas. In 1975, Baylor, LSU and Texas Tech filled out the league to nine teams and redubbed the organization the Southwest Lacrosse Association (SWLA). By 1978, the SWLA was sanctioning teams in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. A two-tiered Collegiate and post-collegiate Men's Club division structure was initiated to promote competition among equals.

As the robust economic boom of the '80s took shape, the Southwest offered many jobs and opportunities for transplanted lacrosse players. The Men's Club Division of the SWLA reached 13 teams. Some teams would emerge as strong, competitive programs, while others nursed thin rosters and fluctuating interest.

The '90s were a time of great change for the Men's Club Division. Weaker clubs disbanded or joined the less-regarded Gulf Coast Lacrosse Association (GCLA), while teams in Texas's major cities often had to split or field second teams to handle the influx of both out-of-state transplants and increasing more talented Texas college graduates.

In the 2000s, new and reborn teams in Dallas, Austin and San Antonio have raised the number of teams in the SWLA to 10! Also, with the SWLA having officially split away from its collegiate teams in 2002, post-collegiate lacrosse has once again become the primary focus of the SWLA. With the SWLA's plan for controlled growth, the future of men's post-collegiate lacrosse in Texas shines as bright as the Loan Star!

- Original piece by Bob Korba, 1995
- Edited by Pete Hoffman, 2007