North Carolina teens and parents like the looks of lacrosse
December 9, 2003

North Carolina HSAA sanction of boy's varsity lacrosse may be only 2-3 years off
by Gerald Goulder, editor, YouthLacrosseUSA.com

By every measure the sport of lacrosse is booming in North Carolina. In 2003, there are 2,900 members of US Lacrosse in North Carolina, up over 60% in the last five years. Pete Katrinos, President of the NC Chapter of US Lacrosse, a high school assistant lacrosse coach and former stalwart for the Great Atlantic Lacrosse Club team says, "Lacrosse participation in North Carolina is even greater than out US Lacrosse membership indicates. We have several hundred high school lacrosse players who have not joined US Lacrosse. So lacrosse growth in North Carolina is probably even stronger than 60% in the past five years."

Durham Academy captains celebrate their 2003 NC State Championship	Chapel Hill High celebrates their 2003 NC State Championship

NC Youth Lacrosse Grows Varsity Players
Lacrosse starts at the youth level. Yet, despite the tremendous growth in lacrosse in North Carolina in recent years, the youth players who started in third and fourth grade and stayed with the sport have only started filling the high school rosters in the last two or three years. NC high school lacrosse talent is only now starting to bloom into college roster caliber players.

There are 7 major youth programs spread geographicaly over every major region in the state. TYLA, the youth lacrosse 501 (c)(3) in Greensboro-Winston-Salem and Burlington region has 318 kids playing Fall Ball and about 425 during the Spring season. Traingle Youth Lacrosse (TALL) also has approximately 400 youth players. And there are two youth programs in Charlotte that have about 650 youth players.

No one has been more active in youth lacrosse in NC than 2003 North Carolina Lacrosse Coach's Association "Coach of the Year" Bill Hook who refers to his passion for teaching the sport of lacrosse with almost religious vigor, "This is what I love to do," says Hook, "it's not work, I love this."

Hook has been coaching youth lacrosse in Greensboro since he moved here in 1996. He spends 5 or more hours a day on lacrosse from the February through July every year. In season and through summer clinics, camps, and all-star travel teams Hook is on the field every afternoon and night. He coaches his TYLA team each afternoon, works with another TYLa team each evening, he follows his son's high school team. In season Hook is coaching lacrosse every night. Weekends, too, Hook is on the fields with the TYLA kids--all day Saturday and on Sunday afternoons. And, he's a volunteer. Hook's wife, Wendy, recently became TYLA's first paid staff person. "She was working 5 to 6 hours a day on TYLA, so they just made her the paid staff," Hook says.

Hook was practically born with a lacrosse stick in his hand. He has had a stick in his hand literally ever since he can remember. He started playing team lax in 3rd grade. By then his oldest brother was already playing college lacrosse. He was a prep star at storied Calvert Hall and went on to a stellar career at Villanova, where he was the sport's initial Member of the Villanova University Sports Hall of Fame.

Jim Kirkley, Coach at Riverside (Durham) High School and the head of the NC High School Lacrosse Coach's Association says of Hook, "I wish we had a Bill Hook in Durham! Billy has been just ttremendous for lacrosse in North Carolina."

Despite his tireless efforts growing lacrosse in North Carolina Hook credits TYLA's successwith "the Dad's who did not play lacrosse in their youth but who are involved because their kids like the sport." Hook, who has coached "An in-depth background in lacrosse is not critical to coaching youth lacrosse," says Hook, who has also coached youth soccer, basketball and baseball, says, "these Dad's are the key to TYLA's success."

Hook has a fine edge to his focus on the challenges facing youth lacrosse in North Carolina. "Field availability will always be an issue. Thankfully, it hasn't been an issue for us because we have a terrific relationship with Greensboro Parks and Recreation. But generally, getting access to fields is a key challenge. The bigger issue for developing lacrosse players in North Carolina is to come together as a state and provide more intra-league play and weekend jamborees. Along those lines comes playing up, playing better teams from other states. Our kids are comparable athletes and our better kids even have comparable stick skills. But lacrosse at the highest levels involves playing with nine other players on one field and developing a sense of the game, of the ball movement, of the team play. NC kids won't be filling up college roster spots on DI, DII and DIII teams until they have more opportunities to learn to play on teams that can play at the higher levels. And that's how we want to grow in Greensboro."

2003 NC Lacrosse Coaches Man of the Year Recipient Bill Hook and NC Public High Schools Lax Commissioner Jim Kirkley.

Hook was instrumental in developing the Greensboro LaxFest, started in 2001, and which last year had 26 teams, youth through high school, competing in a mid-June tournament. Hook has become an ambassador for lacrosse in North Carolina and the Triad. At the 2003 Greensboro Laxfest Hook personally made sure the Canadian and Texas teams were treated to proper Greensboro-style southern hospitality.Says Hook, "We invite everyone to come to Greensboro and play lacrosse. Come here in the Spring during Spring break. Come here in the summer to LaxFest or a weekend Jamboree. Come here for a clinic. Come here for to hold a camp. We want the best teams, the best clinics, the best camps to come and visit Greensboro and play lacrosse with us."

NC High School Lacrosse
In 2004 there will be 59 high schools playing boy's lacrosse: 36 public high schools varsity teams, 12 private high schools and 10 public high school club teams. [As of this date it is unconfirmed whether Sheets Christian School will add varsity lacrosse.]

In 2004 there are 17 full varsity girls teams, 5 associate teams and approximately 6 club teams. (See box.)

NC is a leading indicator of national acrosse trends. Stats and graph.

NC lacrosse growth and development is so strong that there is a movement underway to add lacrosse to the State Games. Sam Carpenter, Caoch at East Chapel Hill, has encouraged the NC Chapter of US Lacrosse to develop a sponsorship proposal to initate the North Carolina Lacrosse State Games perhaps as soon as the summer of 2004.

Most people think of lacrosse as an elite prep school sport. In fact, it is anything but. The face of lacrosse is in transition once again. Lacrosse, "The Creator's Game, is an Indian sport dating back over 400 years. It is also the national sport of Canada, where they play indoor or "box" lacrosse. It is also the sport that 21st century American ouths would increasingly rather play in the Spring over baseball, as many little league observers lament lacrosse is the sport children increasingly choose instead of baseball.

Certainly, there are many prep schools that play lacrosse throughout the USA. And in many lacrosee hotbeds like Baltimore and suburban Maryland and Long Island private schools have more of the longer established programs. Most fans will suggest that the best boy's varsity lacrosse conference in the country is the MIAA ( The Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association is an independent organization comprised of 28 private high schools located in and around the Baltimore Metro area. MIAA schools include: Baltimore Boy's Latin, Calvert Hall College High School, Gilman School, Loyola Blakefield, McDonogh School, Severn School, St. Paul's School for Boy's, many more schools with venerable lacrosse programs. Certainly these MIAA lax programs are among the top in the nation based on last season's LaxPower rankings: Calvert Hall (#6), Boy's Latin (#9), Loyola (#11), and Gilman (#19). [Toss in Georgetown Prep (#2) if you want.]

But public school power-houses with equally venerable lacrosse traditions also rule: West Genesee, NY (#1); Farmingdale, NY. (#3); Shoreham-Wading River, NY (#4), Yorktown, NY (#9), Garden City, NY (#14), Ridley, PA. (#15), Dublin Scioto, OH (#17).

Coach Joe Seivold, Durham Academy (see box), himself an All-American at University of North Carolina, observes that the number of teams playing varsity lacrosse in NC has "increased remarkably, as have the facilities for lacrosse and the caliber of varsity coaching." Seivold also observes that the level of parent involvment and financial support for their children playing lacrosse has also increased including spending on camps, tutoring and equipment. Seivold also believes the public schools will receive NCHSAA sanctioning in the near future.

Mt. Tabor (Winston-Salem) coach Tom Perrault started the prpogram at Mt. Tabor four years ago when he began a research fellowship at Wake Forest University. This season may be his last coaching at Mt. Tabor depending on his post-fellowship placement and his inital team are now seniors. "The schools in North Carolina have to do a lot more to support the sport than they do now," says Perrault. "Not enough schools participate in varsity lacrosse in North Carolina. In the larger cities the sport has some support, but the rural areas need to get behind lacrosse, which is a more athletic sport than baseball (which is big in rural NC). And I would be be so happy to see it happen."

Perrault's teams are known to spend a fair amount of time in the classroom. "The sport can be traumatizing to the body and the boys need some down time from drills and scrimmage in order to be able to play at their peak. Additionally, in order to understand the game and its flow some classroom time is helpful," says Perrault. Perrault also comments that with the help of some very supportive parents the team is able to develop some limited scouting reports and playing stats on Mt. Tabor's competition.

The Wilmington area has only had varsity lacrosse for a few years, but last year Wilmington Laney played in the State Finals evenbtually losing to Chapel Hill High in the Championship Game. Laney coach Ken Broomfield says lacrosse has attracted the best athletes in the high school, including accomplished athletes from football, wrestling, soccer and cross country. Broomfield says, "that kind of participation is indicative of how quickly high school athletes become attached to lacrosse."

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) "Sanction" will ignite the second stage of a lax explosion in NC

The "club" / "varsity" sport distinction is a labelling process that certainly has hindered the development of the sport in North Carolina. Although throughout the state public schools field varsity lacrosse teams, in Mecklenburg County (Charlotte), public schools do not allow lacrosse as a varsity sport. Vicky Hamilton is the Athletic Director for the Charlotte Mecklenberg County Schools. When asked why Charlotte-Meck doesn't allow lacrosse as a varsity sport whereas other public school systems in NC do allow it as a varsity sport Hamilton said, "Lacrosse doesn't come under my jurisdiction it would come under club sports...we have 39 sports, but lacrosse isn't one of them. We only fund sports that have Championships under the NCHSAA. Club sport questions are better directed to the individual school principals."

The Charlotte-Mecklenberg County public schools have 8 or 9 well developed club-varsity lacrosse teams, most of which have been in existence for many years. These club teams are kept from attaining varsity status by the Charlotte-Meck School's adverse policy on lacrosse. Several well known North Carolina high school sports experts expressed surprise and amazement that the Charlotte schools have not already added lacrosse as a varsity sport. One person interviewed for this article even commented, off the record, he was "shocked lacrosse hasn't been added in the Charlotte public schools", indicating he knew there "were people in the Charlotte community who had offered to bridge financial concerns, including coaches." But for the present, at least, in the Charlotte-Meck public high schools the decision to play lacrosse is made by each school's principal, and even then, at least one parent-community has been able to jump lacrosse to "varsity letter" status.

Myers Park, a public school in Charlotte, does have "varsity letter" lacrosse. The Myers Park High School lacrosse team plays other NC high school varsity lacrosse teams. Their games are not limited to other club teams. And their players can earn a varsity sport letter playiong lacrosse. Myers Park AD Greg Clewis says, "Lacrosse is not under the jurisdiction of our Athletic Department, it's a club sport. But we include it in our Spring sports banquet and for letters." Clewis explains that Myers Park's varsity lacrosse team isn't really a varsity lacrosse team "because if we were full varsity we couldn't compete with the privates, instead we'd have to play our full conference schedule, but only 4 others play varsity lacrosse in Charlotte, and they are privates... " Clewis continued, "Varsity sports are required to compete throughout the full conference schedule. We can't do it unless our conference plays the sport. It's like soccer in the '80's." Okay, that must be "AD-speak" for political correctness purposes. Because the fact is Myers Park, a Charloote-Meck public school has found a way to play varsity lacrosse. Unfortunately, none of the other public school club programs in Charlotte have climbed on board, yet.

Dick Knox, Director of Men's Sports for the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA), explains the NCHSAA varsity sports rules, "Once 25% of our schools offer the sport we will be playing it under the NCHSAA statewide, and if we get 25% we will more than likely offer an open classification State Championship." For the 2004-2005 season there will be 360 schools in the NCHSAA; twenty-five per cent of the schools means 90 public (or NCHSAA member) schools will have to offer lacrosse before the NCHSAA "sanctions" the sport.

Asked if that would take many more years, Knox stated unhesitatedly, "No, no...I think it will happen in the next 2 to 3 years." How will that seemingly quantum leap occur? "More and more communities are demanding the schools make it a varsity sport. When communities demand it, the schools follow, says the NCHSAA's Knox."

NCHSAA membership is generally comprised of public schools. But that is not a hard and fast rule. Charlotte Catholic is a member and beginning the 2005 school year Raleigh's Cardinal Gibbons will be joining the NCHSAA, as well.

As for the "AD-speak" referring to regulations about conference restrictions being a limitation on schools adding varsity lacrosse Knox stated that was not a limitation. "We have 280 men's soccer schools and 270 women's soccer schools. We don't apply conference restrictions in soccer. We have combination conferences and combination classification conferences in soccer," states the NCHSAA's Knox.

Who to watch in NC Boy's Varsity Lacrosse in 2004:

The top teams to watch in 2004 NC boy's varsity lacrosse appear to be Durham Academy, Charlotte Country Day, Charlotte Latin and Cardinal Gibbons (Raleigh) among the private schools and Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill and NorthWest Guilford among the public schools. Many varsity coaches believe Cardinal Gibbons should have a strong season. Coaches also mention Riverside, which always has a good team, and Grimsley (Greensboro) as possible surprise teams.

Mt. Tabor's Perrault is hopeful that Mt. Tabor will have a good team this year. Noting that he lost his entire second middie line and some strong senior leadership from last season. Perrault stresses, "Mt. Tabor has strength to grow with.... Goalie Evan Watts' stats were better than some of the players who got statewide recognition last year because he was only a sophmore. He should have a strong year." Perrault also notes Defenseman and Captain Chris Dyer will provide some strong senior leadership for the team. And, evryone who talks Tabor lax talks about Jamie DeBole who was All North Carolina in Attack last year. Says Perrault of DeBole, "He can play D-1 college ball. If he goes to Carolina he probably will have a spot on the team." Perrault also says being a 4-A school is a big advantage in fielding a lax team at Tabor, "We get a lot of good athletes from other sports joining lacrosse. It's a popular sport for our high school athletes."

Perrault also speaks highly of several other Triad area prep laxmen. "Brian Holden (Forsyth Country Day and a Syracuse commitment) is the real deal. He has exceptional speed, stick work, he works hard and he's smart. Whether he will make the transition to D-1 is the question most high school players face, and his size may become an issue in playing Defense at Syracuse," says Perrault. Perrault also likes Northwest Guilford's Goalie Karl Schmidt. "He didn't have an exceptional year last year, but this could be his breakout year," says Perrault.

SouthEast Guilford's Coach Mark Goldsmith, himself a former D3 All-American and the crew chief of NC's top COC college lacrosse official crew, notes the following players to watch this season: DA's Peter Moon, John Short, Rob Fairchild-Carbonell, and Tyson Pinnell; Cardinal Gibbons' Greg Duffy, Trip Auray and Tom Pillsbury.

Goldsmith says the following are some players to watch in the Triad, and this is just off the top of his head. Forstyh Country Day's Brian Holden, "in a class by himself"; Mt. Tabor's Jamie DeBole, "Carolina definitely wants him"; Greensboro Day-- Patrick Robinson; Page's (Greensboro) Matt Goodson, "he was All State last year-he's a player"; NorthWest Guilford--"Michael Masterson, Brian Bishop and Karl Schmidt are all top players"; Grimsley (Greensboro)- -John Wells and Garrett Sherwood; SouthEast Guilford--Parker Ferguson and Mark VanKover; Western Guilford--Kellen Edenfield and Austin Clayton; West Forsyth--John Jordan; Bishop McGuiness--Marcus Kirbey.

Many NC lax prep observers believe East Chapel Hill may be the best public school varisty boy's team in the state in 2004. ECH will be led by: Hans Almekinders a Face-Off Man and Midfielder who is being recruited by Roanoke and Lynchburg; Gates Benson, a Junior D-man; Peter Curtin, the senior Goalie who was 2nd Team All-NC last season and who is being recruited by Williams, Dartmouth and UNC; Cody Kelly, who was Honorable Mention All-NC last season and who is being recruited by Roanoke, Lynchburg, Virginia Wesleyan, and Wingate; and, Dwight Weld a Junioir Attackman who is a 2 year starter.

For a listing of North Carolina players currently playing on NCAA collegiate lacrosse teams please click here (a compilation from the LaxPower data base). The listing includes three NC prep players who have signed Letters of Intent to play for NCAA lacrosse teams, as well.

What NC lacrosse needs most

When asked to address the future of varsity lacrosse in North Carolina most coaches speak to recognition by the NCHSAA. Laney's Broomfield conversely observes that many high schools should not be using that yet-to-be-sanctioned status as an excuse to not start varsity lacrosse programs. Both Broomfield and Mt. Tabor's Perrault expressed concerns that high school team participation in lacrosse may level out for several years unless schools stop using the non-sanctioned (NCHSAA) status as a crutch to not offer the sport. On the other hand, the NCHSAA's Knox clearly believes that the lacrosse community can have key influence in moving the NCHSAA determination forward if parents push the schools to add varsity lacrosse. Moreover, Myers Park's finessing of the issue by making it a "Spring sports banquet and letter sport," while retaining official "club" status does light another way for innovative schools to enable lacrosse teams to play other varsity teams.

Aside from the NCHSAA sanction aspect, the next biggest issues facing varsity lacrosse in North Carolina, discussed by coaches , are more and better coaches and more and better officials. Coach and official recruitment, judging by the growth of the sport in North Carolina, are on the verge of becoming serious issues.

The small base of lacrosse officials will become a constraint in the next few years if it hasn't already become one according to North Carolina Lacrosse Officials Association Secretary and its Supervisor of Officials Paul Espinosa. "I can see the situation in the next year or two when a varsity coach is going to call me to schedule a game and we just won't have people to cover their game," says Espinosa. "We already pull officials from one region of the state to other regions just to cover schedules. I recruit officials from other sports, but it's not easy to find new officials. And we lose officials to to coach and fan abuse." The strong growth of college lacrosse in the region is also a constraining factor for officials coverage because the COC (collegiate officials) are not allowed to officiate college and high school games in the same day. "I think the coaches need tro focus on this issue," says Espinosa, "they need to start stressing to their alumni players the importance of staying in lacrosse to officiate."

One observation predominates over all others from those interviewed for this article: more high school AD'sand principals need to relax and allow lacrosse to continue its high powered growth and acceptance in NC; it is clear that the high school athletes love lacrosse, once given the opportunity to play. As the NCHSAA's Knox observes, "If the communities demand it the schools follow."