Here in Arizona, the game of lacrosse may not be as popular as it is back along the East Coast but, the sport has gained quite a following here at Desert Vista High School. Unfortunately, both girls and boys teams are restricted to belonging under the name of ‘Lacrosse Club.’ Without the title of being a sport, how are lacrosse players negatively affected by not receiving benefits from the district?

In an interview with freshmen Zoe Metzner, who plays midfield on the girls  JV team, she told about how lacrosse would benefit from being an actual sport, and not just a club.

“It would be great! We would get more money for funding, food, water, and transportation.”

These basic necessities seem like the given for players of other well funded teams, but for lacrosse players, it is a blessing. Metzner also shared the things her parents do to go out of the way for the players. Parents of children in clubs definitely go the extra mile to provide for the entire team, as she described during the interview:

“Right now, we all have to find our own rides, without a team bus, our parents have to pull us out of school for far away games.” She continued by saying: “My dad has to get off work early, and he also buys the water [for] every game.”

That is crazy! Typically a sport with a booster club will provide the basics such as transportation, water and uniforms. But lacrosse players rely solely on the hope that their parents will be able to help them out. This should not be the way Desert Vista lacrosse club operates, this dependence on parents takes away from the player’s education and working hours from parents.

In search of reasons instead of just details, Desert Vista lacrosse’s club sponsor, freshman English teacher Lois Calo, described why lacrosse does not fall under the category of “sport” at Desert Vista.

“It goes back a long way and had to do with insurance and district concerns.”

Calo also sympathises with the lacrosse team and also hockey players that face the same issue. Mrs. Calo also gave lots of insight and strong opinions about how on the contrary, not being a sport can be beneficial. Girls lacrosse players are insured under the US Lacrosse organization, which actually provides better insurance than the insurance given by Tempe Union High School district. Unfortunately, without school sportsmanship, the girls’ games have a very low attendance, and that working without professional coaches gives them less experience.

Mrs. Calo strongly opposes the unsportmanship of the  girls’ lacrosse team as she told in a discussion on Tuesday, April 4th:

“[Lacrosse] is no more dangerous than baseball!” and added: “It has become more popular, wouldn’t it be better to support players!”
Hosting lacrosse games at Desert Vista would not be hard for the school is accommodate for because they use the same fields as soccer players. Supporting both the boys and girls team by gaining sportsmanship would give players better training and team experience. Without taking parents away from work and students out of school, growing out of their club state would make lacrosse players and families feel supported in their sport.