Over the past few years, the N.C. State women’s lacrosse team has undergone changes that have led to increased team participation, as well as improvement on the field. Club president Courtney Drummond and vice president Courtney Sparr have transformed a team with only 10 members just three years ago into a team with over 30 girls on the active roster for the 2010-2011 season.   “When I started three years ago, we had a roster of about ten girls,” Drummond said. “Now, we have an active roster of 31 girls so we’ve become three times as competitive as we used to be. We have enough players for two full teams when we practice now plus substitutes so it makes us more competitive.”   The increased participation has revitalized the team and allowed it to better prepare for opponents in the Carolina Women’s Lacrosse League. The CWLL is one of the most competitive leagues on the east coast and includes schools such as North Carolina, Duke, Elon, Wake Forest and East Carolina, among others.   The team opened up the fall season on Sept. 19th with games against Appalachian State and Elon, losing both contests. Despite the two losses, the team is still committed to improving in time for the spring season.   “We play year-round but our main season is in the spring,” Drummond said. “In the fall, we have four games and then a big tournament at East Carolina where we play against teams from our conference and around the east coast.”    Although there are many experienced players on the team, there are a few with little to no lacrosse experience. However, learning the basics of the sport is a lot easier than many people might think, especially when there are older girls present to lend a helping hand.   “We have a lot of girls that have played before,” Drummond said. “But then we also have a few girls that have just started playing and never picked up a stick before until this year. So it’s been up to the older girls to teach the game to the newer players.”   Despite the lack of experience by the team’s newcomers, Drummond said the fundamental concepts of lacrosse are surprisingly easy to learn.   “As soon as you get down the basics, like catching and throwing, it’s really easy to pick up,” Drummond said. “The hardest part is just getting the basic skills down pat. It really doesn’t take that long to learn.”   One strategy veterans have thought of to give newcomers more experience, as well as toughen the team up for its next game, is to scrimmage against the men’s lacrosse team.    “We coordinate with the men’s team a lot,” Drummond said. “We’ll talk with their coaches and learn new things. We support each other’s teams and do a lot of things together. We’ve been talking with the men’s coaches about holding a scrimmage.”   Seeking its first win of the fall season, the women’s lacrosse team plays its next game Oct. 17 against conference-rival Duke.