Oct. 24, 2008
by Paul Ohanian, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
COLUMBIA, S.C. - With a unanimous vote of 11-0 by
the South Carolina High School League's executive committee
Thursday, the sport of lacrosse received sanctioning approval in
the state, beginning in 2010.
The state's public high schools had competed on a club level for
most of the past decade.
Thursday's vote was the culmination of a four-year lobbying effort
by the sports' supporters.
"It's been a bumpy road," said Hall Ness, vice president of US
Lacrosse's South Carolina Chapter. "We got serious about
sanctioning in 2004, but it's been a slow process in part because
the executive committee didn't know lacrosse."
A marketing campaign by the South Carolina chapter that included
sending committee members game DVDs and copies of Lacrosse
Magazine may have helped. A letter and e-mail writing campaign
from players and parents in recent weeks may have also helped tilt
the sanctioning decision.
Due to conflicts with space and facilities - state high schools
play soccer as a spring sport - the SCHSL originally considered
approval for lacrosse as a fall sport. Chapter officials worked
with the SCHSL to bring forth a compromise, moving lacrosse to the
early spring, culminating with a championship playoff in April.
"We just didn't want to go head-to-head with football, so we felt
fortunate to get this compromise," said Ness, who attended
Thursday's executive committee vote.
A four-week preseason will begin in January, followed by a
six-week regular season and two-week postseason. The SCHSL will
sponsor the season-ending playoff tournament, provided that at
least 16 boys' teams and 16 girls' teams are eligible. Last year, a
combined 31 schools sponsored the sport. Lacrosse supporters expect
more schools to come on board by 2010 now that the sport has been
sanctioned.
"This decision will initiate more growth of the sport in the
state," said Bill Utsey, director of athletics for Greenville
County Schools. "Being under the SCHSL umbrella is such an
advantage in so many ways."
While there will be some hurdles for schools with lacrosse to now
overcome, namely greater funding demands for coaching and
equipment, Utsey says the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.
"This is a win-win decision all-around," he said. "We're providing
about 30 more kids at each school with the opportunity to be
involved in interscholastic sports, and that's a good thing.
Nobody's complaining."
Shane Lecroy, head boys' coach at three-time defending state
champion Greenville High School, says that sanctioning should
provide programs with greater legitimacy when competing with other
school teams for field space, funding and support.
"We're definitely happy with this decision," said Lecroy, "It
solidifies everything we've been working towards."
South Carolina will become the 17th state to sanction high school
lacrosse as a championship sport at a statewide level, joining ,
Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,
Pennsylvania, Vermont and Virginia. (California's state governing
body sanctions the sport in sections; Missouri's formally
recognizes, but does not officially sanction girls' lacrosse.)
Is North Carolina
next?
North Carolina could follow suit, pending approval of the state
association's board of directors in December to sanction lacrosse,
officials said.
"We met with the lacrosse folks that know the most about it, and
they said it's getting ready to explode," Charlie Adams, executive
director of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association
(NCHSAA), told constituents and media at a September regional
meeting. "We'll make a presentation to our board, and ask them to
get on top of this."
There were 48 high school boys' teams and 42 high school girls'
teams registered with the NSCHSAA in 2008, with others offering
lacrosse as a club sport likely to convert to varsity should the
state approve sanctioning.
Operating under an independent lacrosse association, the Chapel
Hill boys and Apex girls claimed North Carolina state titles in
2008.
