POCATELLO — East Idaho’s own homegrown heroes will compete for state lacrosse glory this weekend for a shot at their first title.

The Pocatello Bandits might not be the largest team, but according to players and coaches, these teens are tougher and work harder than their competition.

The local lacrosse players are a club team composed of youth from Pocatello, American Falls, Arco and other nearby areas.

This weekend, hundreds of players from the north region will compete against the top four teams from the east region, vying for a state title Saturday evening. It is also the first time Pocatello has had the honor of hosting a lacrosse tournament of this magnitude.

“This is huge for us,” said Ryan Guerrero, head varsity coach of the Pocatello Bandits. “We’ve never hosted a state tournament, so it’s kind of a big thing for the team to be able to have a presence. We have yet to win a state title, but the future is always bright. We’re looking forward to this tournament.”

The tournaments are free and open to the public. Four quarterfinal games kick off at OkWard Park starting at 9 a.m. and running until 2 p.m. Semifinals begin at 4 p.m. and run until 10 p.m. Friday at Century High School, before a full day of games Saturday — from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. — culminating in a championship final at 7 p.m.

“Saturday will kick off with the consolation matches,” Guerrero said. “So if you lose your quarterfinal game, you do get one game in the stadium. Then we have a third-place match. Then an all-star match between the all-conference teams from the north and east regions. And then at 7 p.m. on the turf, under the lights, will be the two teams that have made the final.”

While Pocatello lacrosse clubs have had teams in the state tournament before, this is the first year they are under Guerrero’s direction. Between football and lacrosse, he has coached for nearly 20 years. Born and raised in southeastern Idaho, he has enjoyed learning the sport and coaching two of his own children, who play on the team.

“I was introduced to this by my oldest, who started in on it, and quickly found out that this was a hard-hitting, very technical and very fast sport, and so it was really fun and easy to get into,” Guerrero said. “That alone drew me to the sport.”

While not as hard-hitting as collegiate or professional lacrosse, the traditional Native American sport is still physical and welcomes a variety of body types and levels of athleticism.

“They’re shooting the ball over 90 mph,” Guerrero said. “There’s legal body checks like there are in hockey. Obviously, a hit against someone’s helmet is still illegal. We still have a lot of rules trying to keep concussions out of the game. I used to think my kids came home with a lot of bruises from football, but it’s nothing compared to lacrosse.”

For Pocatello Bandits player Gage Butler, a Highland High School senior who has been playing since fourth grade, lacrosse has given him a sport where he can truly excel.

Butler played football for two years growing up but said he was never very good at any of the sports he tried. A friend of his father’s — the former owner of the team — recommended lacrosse to Butler and ignited a passion for the sport.

“It’s a pretty unique sport and it’s one of the funnest games to watch,” Butler said. “Just watching the professionals play, or even the older high school teams when I was younger, it was always super fun. There’s a lot to it — a lot of coordination, a lot of different things. I do like the physicality part of it. It’s pretty dope.”

Butler and his teammates have spent the last three months playing regular-season games and working to improve in the lead-up to the state tournament. Butler plays attackman, an offensive specialist responsible for scoring and feeding who operates solely on the offensive half of the field.

“I’ve played with a couple of traveling teams from all different parts of the country,” Butler said. “One of the things that coaches have always said about Pocatello boys and Idaho boys in general is that we work harder than anybody else. We’re a little bit tougher than most kids. I don’t know how true that is, but from what I’ve seen, that’s kind of the facts.”

Butler has committed to the College of Idaho after graduation and is excited to gain new perspectives from veteran lacrosse coaches at the university level.

“I’m definitely excited to see what I can do against people that are like three to four years older than me,” Butler said. “It’s going to be a pretty cool challenge.”

Guerrero said the club could always use more participants — as many as 10 to 15 additional players on varsity alone — to better fill out the roster. Many of the teams the Bandits will face will have around 30 players on their sidelines.

“We do very well for the lower numbers that we have,” Guerrero said. “It’s pretty fun to see these little teams like us, to have that kind of chip on their shoulder and be willing to work, go out and participate. It’s a David versus Goliath type situation.”

The coaches expressed gratitude to Century High School for the use of their fields. For Butler, his appreciation extends to the coaches and the community that has supported him throughout his lacrosse journey.

“I would really like to shout out all the coaching — they don’t do it for the money,” Butler said. “They do it because they love us and they love the game, and they just love being out here. They put in a lot of work and time and effort. I also want to shout out my parents — I couldn’t be here without them. A big shout out to the organization as a whole — they’ve helped me along the way. I’m really excited about this upcoming tournament. Hopefully we will do our best.”