TP_031518

46 | March 15, 2018 | The tinley junction Sports
tinleyjunction.com
Area LAX athletes hope to be ‘livin’ the life’ in the IHSA
JEFF VORVA, Sports Editor
On a cool, rainy night toward
the end of February, a
guest walked onto the Andrew
High School athletic
field, where lacrosse players
from Sandburg, Andrew and
Stagg were getting ready for
tryouts.
One prospective player
asked the guest how he was
doing. The guest said he was
doing fine and asked the
player how he was doing.
The player yelled “I’m
livin’ the life! I’m playing
lacrosse!’’
There is a lot for that
player - and a lot of other
lacrosse players throughout
the state - to yell about this
season.
This year, the Illinois High
School Association is recognizing
boys and girls lacrosse,
also known as LAX,
as the 30th and 31st sports
the organization is offering.
There are 78 boys teams and
59 girls teams. It is the first
new IHSA sport since competitive
dance was recognized
in 2012-13.
Locally, District 230 will
have a girls team that will
practice and host games at
Sandburg and a boys team
that will practice and host
games at Andrew. Tinley
Park High School is not involved
in a co-op, according
to the IHSA, although
Hillcrest is hosting a co-op
team with Oak Forest and
Bremen.
The D-230 teams have
played on the club level n recent
years and were known
as the Chiefs for the boys
and the Eagles for the girls.
Now the IHSA is giving
the sport respect, to hear
some athletes talk.
“It was considered an activity
and now it’s considered
an actual sport,” said
Andrew’s Kailee Tomkins,
a senior on the Sandburg
squad. “It’s a big difference.
The school and everyone
else recognizes it as an actual
sport. It’s was more like a
club. But now all of the other
sports in the school actually
recognize us. That part is the
fun part.’’
“It’s super, super exciting,’’
added Sandburg senior
Mary Cate Foley. “We’re
recognized. We get trainers.
Our coaches are teachers,
just like with every other
sport. We get our own practice
field. Before, we used to
have to come every night after
soccer practice was over.
Every night would be under
the lights, which was nice
but now it’s nice to be a part
of the school athletics. We
like the equality that comes
with being an IHSA sport.
Andrew boys lacrosse
goalie Chris Houchins has
already seen a new attitude
now that the sport is affiliated
with the state.
“We’re definitely more
focused on winning,”
Houchins said. It’s not just
a bunch of guys having fun.
We’re here to win. We’re
more respected. People
know that we’re here.’’
Sandburg senior Mark
Teschke said his mother,
Donna, was on the Orland
School District 135 board
and the Chiefs board and
was a supporter of the sport
being affiliated by the IHSA.
She died in January, but was
around when the IHSA made
its decision official in 2016.
“We’ve been fighting for
this for years,” Mark Teschke
said. “My mom fought
for it. Now we finally have
the same respect as all the
other sports.
“We were constantly waiting
for it to happen.’’
This move was anticipated
for years as lacrosse grew.
The IHSA was waiting for 65
boys teams and 40 girls teams
to commit. That criteria was
Sandburg co-op girls lacrosse player Jade Hamilton participates in an early-season practice in Orland Park. PHOTOS BY JEFF
VORVA/22ND CENTURY MEDIA
finally met two years ago,
“The players are stoked
and this has been a long time
coming,” Sandburg coach
Chris Milo said. “There has
been a lot of groundwork
done to get to this point.
Now that it has reached the
IHSA, it’s expanding quickly.
It’s exciting. What you
see with the girls is that there
is now a sense of ownership.
They see that they have their
own practice field. We can
actually get turf time. We
actually are a part of sports
here. Before, it was like we
were getting the leftovers.
Whatever scraps we could
get, we were going to get.’’
Andrew boys coach James
Ramazinski has spent years
coaching the sport with the
Chiefs and St. Rita High
School. He appreciates
knowing that the state has already
drawn up the postseason
assignments. The boys
will play in the Lockport Sectional
with teams that include
Andrew co-op boys lacrosse players raise their sticks during tryouts. The team is made up
of players from Andrew, Sandburg and Stagg.
the host Porters, Lemont, Minooka,
Lincoln-Way Central
and Providence Catholic.
The girls are at a sectional
that does not have a host
yet. Lincoln-Way Central,
Marist, Mother McAuley
and Minooka are some of the
teams in that sectional.
“It’s really cool because
these kids are representing
their school and they will be
playing against schools that
are already their rivals,so it
will really be exciting that
you will see them in a playoff
setting,’’ Ramazinski
said.