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LakeForestLeader.com SPORTS
the lake forest leader | March 15, 2018 | 29
Lacrosse
Sport faces minor, unique changes with IHSA sanction
Michal Dwojak
Contributing Sports Editor
The IHSA sanctioning
of boys and girls lacrosse
had been a decade in the
making.
When the IHSA announced
in 2017 that lacrosse
would become an
official IHSA sport this
spring, many expected
sweeping changes coming
to area teams.
But that hasn’t been the
case, surprisingly.
Despite the few changes
coaches and players will
need to make this season,
nearly everything will remain
the same based on
the respect lacrosse has
earned from area athletic
directors.
It has been a slow build
for the sport, and has taken
some time for the IHSA to
recognize it.
“I think the state has always
recognized the level
of play,” said New Trier
coach Pete Collins, who
was a key leader to helping
lacrosse become a
sanctioned sport. “When
it became an emerging
sport, they realized how
much it’s growing and we
needed to set a minimum
number of teams to have.”
Local interest has grown
over the last 20 years,
and by 2017 lacrosse had
achieved the appropriate
numbers to become sanctioned.
Those key numbers
were achieved, partly, by
the youth leagues that have
been established over the
last few years.
“It comes from a youth
level because the kids are
playing it and parents are
wondering why we don’t
have it,” Collins said.
“Years ago when I started,
there were seven schools
playing and now it grew
into the teens, 20s, 30s and
now over 60.”
For most area coaches,
the official sponsorship
of lacrosse by the IHSA
doesn’t change much, if
anything, in how they will
run their programs this
spring. Many are ready
to continue with business
as usual, but that doesn’t
mean they don’t appreciate
the significance of the
IHSA officially taking lacrosse
seriously.
Coaches have spent
nearly a decade working
with IHSA administrators
on fulfilling the requirements
for the sport to
be officially recognized.
All the teams in the state
have run things as if they
already were an IHSA
sport including scheduling
that still works the same,
games are played with the
same rules and the players
follow the same policies.
It just took time to get the
numbers of necessary teams
to become recognized.
“The IHSA has been
good to us,” Loyola Academy
coach John Dwyer
said. “Some of the coaches
and I have been going
down to Bloomington as
(long) as four years ago
and over the course of
time, as the transition was
unfolding, more teams
were coming into the
fold.”
Seeding Issues
So, what will change for
area teams this season?
For many schools and
athletic directors, lacrosse
was functioning as a sanctioned
sport already. The
main difference this season
will be postseason
seeding.
“In the past we’ve had
our coaches meeting at
the end our year, seeding
our playoffs,” Dwyer said.
“This year’s playoff will
look different but that’s
not something we worry
about because that’s something
we can’t control.”
Both boys and girls lacrosse
leagues ran the
playoff ordering by seeds
instead of the traditional
regional and sectional format
the IHSA runs based
on proximity. This means
teams like Loyola Academy,
Glenbrook South
and New Trier could play
each other much earlier
than they have in the past
instead of meeting in the
semifinals of a state championship
tournament.
The change has been
met with some pushback.
“It’ll be interesting the
first year,” said George
Georacakis, Glenbrook
North boys lacrosse coach.
“But ultimately, every
other [sport] has a regional
and sectional seeding.
Once we get through the
first time, it’ll be good.”
Coaches ultimately
know that if they want to
be the best, they’ll have
to beat the best, no matter
when they play each other.
The new sectional format
could give other teams a
better run at a state title in
the future.
“The seeding in the sectionals
means a lot to a lot
of teams,” said Marc Thiergart,
Lake Forest boys lacrosse
coach. “If you’re
in a sectional with two or
three tough teams it’s going
to be hard to win your first
couple playoff games.”
Financial Consistency
A major concern for a
sport being officially sanctioned
is the financing.
Some schools struggle
with adjusting budgets to
fit that new sport in, especially
with supplies and
equipment costs that can
accompany a new sport.
But, lacrosse is different.
Financing for area schools,
in large part, will remain
the same since most athletic
departments have already
treated lacrosse as if
it were an IHSA sport
“The finances haven’t
changed, but we’ve been
mirroring IHSA sports,”
Glenbrook South boys lacrosse
coach Will Jeffery
said. “Our athletic director
has been in charge of the
program. Coaches are paid
by the district, boosters
helps with some things.”
Most players are required
to buy their own
equipment, such as sticks,
shoulder pads and gloves.
The only piece of equipment
that the school provides
is helmets for the
boys teams. The booster
programs, run by parents,
will remain in place for
most schools.
“That does help, lacrosse
is not a cheap sport to play
or keep going,” said Ryan
Werhane, Highland Park
boys lacrosse coach and
former player. “We are
continuing to have our parents
have fundraisers.”
Despite the lack of
changes in the short-term,
coaches are looking forward
to the lasting impact
sanctioning could have
on the sports health in
the state, especially Central
and Southern Illinois.
With the growth in popularity,
coaches hope the
change not only affects the
growth of the sport at the
high school level but at the
youth level as well.
“We don’t have the
numbers at the youth level
that you would see with a
soccer or softball,” Glenbrook
South girls lacrosse
coach Annie Lesch said, “I
hope by going IHSA it will
have a trickle effect on the
girls at the youth level.”
It took almost a decade
for the IHSA and lacrosse
to come together, so it
won’t be easy for the sport
to continue to grow in
the state. Different area
schools are working to
establish youth programs
so athletes aren’t learning
how to play the sport for
the first time when they
try out for a lacrosse team.
The youth level will be
critical for the growth of a
sport still seen as emerging
in the Midwest.
Area teams seem to be
on the right track.
“It just goes to show
you that hard work pays
off,” Glenbrook North
girls lacrosse coach Tom
Rosenbaum said. “It’s a
pretty awesome thing to be
respected and shows the
girls that if you do the right
thing the right way, this is
how you’re treated. I’m
excited about this year; it’s
a long time coming.”
Additional reporting by
Sports Editors Brittany Kapa
and Michael Wojtychiw
POLO
From Page 31
and we’re going to have
to learn to coordinate
with each other better on
defense,” Highland Park
coach Christine Pasquesi
said. “We need to make
sure we’re communicating
on switches. We have
a young team but we do
have a returning senior,
Breanna Haak. We consider
her to be our coach
in the water which is
important to have on a
team that has less experience.”
The Giants will be trying
to get better collectively
as a group as well
as individually.
“We’re going to have
to work on individual
growth,” Pasquesi said.
“We have to set goals that
can help us learn and become
better as individuals
as well as help us collectively
get better as a
team.”
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