Lacrosse will be a sanctioned sport in the 2009-2010 school year. (Photo by Ben McKeown, VYPE High School Sports Magazine)
May 24, 2009
North Carolina’s mild climate may not lend itself to a, “snowball effect” but it’s a fitting way to describe the increase in participation for the newest North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) sport, lacrosse. Thanks in large part to the peak in interest, the sport, which has already been offered and played in area schools, has finally garnered the recognition that longtime local enthusiasts have yearned for.
In December 2008, the NCHSAA board voted to sanction both men’s and women’s lacrosse as a championship sport starting with the 2009-10 academic year. A handful of area coaches have been waiting for this to occur for some time.
“I was one of six to eight coaches sitting in a room trying to set up the North Carolina High School Lacrosse Association (NCHSLA) and its bylaws, and one of the driving premises behind everything that we did was that we were firm believers that in fact one day we would be sanctioned by the NCHSAA,” said Chapel Hill High School Head Coach Robert Cappeletti. “We wanted to convey the legitimacy of lacrosse by modeling it and governing ourselves by NCHSAA rules. So, there was a lot of thought put into it on the front end that we would find ourselves where we currently are.”
The NCHSLA had organized and governed the game of lacrosse thus far in the state of North Carolina. Jim Kirkley, the head coach at Riverside in Durham, was instrumental in building and guiding the NCHSLA, and has maintained that position during its transition to the NCHSAA says Deputy Executive Director Que Tucker.
“They made no bones about it. They wanted to one day be in a position where this association (NCHSAA) would take over lacrosse, and whenever that happened it would be a fairly easy transition,” Tucker said.
Despite having a governing body in place prior to the sanctioning, lacrosse’s participation numbers didn’t justify an invite from the NCHSAA. According to the NCHSAA’s constitution, when half of a classification is offering a sport, then that sport can be considered for addition as one of the association’s sanctioned sports. So, when the number of schools finally met that level it was brought to the board’s attention, and then the decision to sanction lacrosse was made.
“It (sanctioning) just became the right thing to do because our membership was requesting it and because the numbers were such that within our constitution it says we were able to begin to offer it,” said Tucker.
It was just a matter of time however, before the participation figures were up to the NCHSAA’s sanctioning standards.
According to Cappeletti, lacrosse has grown in the state from a miniscule three programs back in 1990, to more than 60 today.
Today, membership in the U.S. Lacrosse Association is more than seven times higher than it was in 1998, according to Erin Sturgis, USL’s director of chapter relations. Membership in 1998 topped out at 660, and in 2009 it numbers 4,860, she reported.
A handful of factors can be attributed to the upturn in lacrosse’s popularity: Northern transplants bringing their knowledge and love of the sport down south, three local college programs that allow kids to experience the game at one of its highest levels and lastly and most importantly, the game itself.
“It’s a mix between so many sports, football, hockey, soccer, that it’s attractive to so many people,” said Chapel Hill captain, senior midfielder John Haus.
While the sport has come a long way, the sanctioning by the NCHSAA is just the next step in the sport’s progression. Schools have until Sept. 1 to declare whether they will offer the sport. Once that number of schools is determined, the NCHSAA will break up the teams into conferences. Until lacrosse grows to a point that classifications can stand on their own, there will be an open classification championship. That means any school A, AA, AAA or AAAA that offers lacrosse will come into a single playoff bracket that will culminate in a men’s championship and a women’s championship.
“It’s wonderful that we are now part of it. The sanctioning is ceremonial and it’s great that legitimacy has been conferred upon the sport in North Carolina” said Cappeletti, whose Tigers are #2 in the state according to www.laxpower.com.
However, the coach thinks the snowball is just picking up speed.
“It’s a good time right now. Where it goes in the future is anyone’s guess. I tend to believe that it will go up, become more popular and grow as it has. But, that having been said, where we’ve come from and where we are now, it’s a nice place to be.”
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