By Peter Rasmussen, Palm Beach The Desert Sun

LA QUINTA -- At the first Desert Lacrosse Fest, people sported shirts that read "The only Lacrosse in the desert," referring to the boys’ club lacrosse team from La Quinta High School.

For coach Rick Baker, the shirts are a source of pride, but if the coach gets his way, the shirts will someday be a thing of the past when the sport expands into high schools across the Coachella Valley.

The event, which started Saturday and ends today, is a tournament organized at the Boys and Girls Club to bolster support for the sport.

Nine teams, including teams from Northern California and Arizona, participated in the tournament.

"I told my team it doesn’t matter if we win or lose," Baker said. "The only way we could promote the sport is by hosting this tournament. It goes hand in hand."

"I am disappointed that we lost (3-2 against Brophy of Phoenix) but I am glad we can host this tournament," La Quinta sophomore Chris Battin said.

Baker said within three years he sees lacrosse becoming a varsity sport at La Quinta and hopes other schools in the desert form teams.

"It’s a matter of finding coaches and referees," Baker said, adding that there is enough money to learn the game through loans from United States Lacrosse.

The Blackhawks are members of the Orange County Lacrosse League, because that is the nearest group of teams they can play. Baker said CIF rules state that in order to create a new varsity sport there needs to be 180 teams in the Southern California area ready to participate. He estimates there are about 80 teams.

With Title IX, La Quinta faces another hurdle. In order to have a male team, the school must have a female team --so a group of girls at the school decided to start their own team.

"We also kind of got it started so there could be a boys team," said Madia Kendus, team captain.

The girls have never played a game but held a clinic with Kate Robinson, a two-time national lacrosse champion at Maryland.

She had to start with the basics of the game because some had never seen a game.

"I had to teach them the rules but they learned quickly and now I am already teaching them tricks," Robinson said.