Clifford “Cliff” Kigar is a former varsity lacrosse player at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (a top 20 program in the nation) and a United States Lacrosse All American. An alumnus of Haymakers Lacrosse in Columbus, Ohio, Cliff Kigar has spent over 5 years with the organization as an elite travel team coach.
Like many sports, lacrosse has a lengthy, somewhat complex history at the Olympics. A summer sport, lacrosse made its debut at the 1904 games in St. Louis, Missouri, and returned for the 1908 Olympics in London. However, only four teams competed at the two games, with Canada fielding two teams in 1904. Canada won gold at both Olympics, competing only against the host nations.
Lacrosse was played as a demonstration sport at the 1928, 1932, and 1948 games, with the United States being represented by teams from Johns Hopkins and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Canada and Great Britain fielding all-star teams. Following a 72-year hiatus, the global lacrosse community has begun targeting a return to the summer games by 2028.
Lacrosse had an international membership of 62 nations in 2019, though CEO of World Lacrosse Jim Scherr plans to increase that number to 100 by 2024. While Scherr admits that the 2028 target may be ambitious, he spoke positively about the sport receiving provisional recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2018, the first step towards joining the official Olympic program.
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