Westside lacrosse team looks to become school sponsored

Lacrosse, the fastest growing high school sport in the Unites States, has taken its place at Westside. This sport has been around at Westside for over 12 years, but only as a club. Recently, players have been pushing for the club to become an official school sponsored sport.

“I would like to see it become a school sponsored sport but I don’t know if Nebraska is ready for it [Lacrosse] yet” Counselor Ted Dondlinger said.

Currently, there are only seven high school lacrosse teams in Nebraska. Out of the seven, only one school, Millard West, actually sponsors their lacrosse team. This means the school provides the sport with equipment, jerseys and practice fields.

Because Westside Lacrosse is a club, they are only able to practices three times a week which makes it important for players to put in work outside of practice.

“You can go to all the practices and still be a decent player but to be an outstanding, successful Lacrosse player you have to put in work outside of practice… you have to love the sport to play the sport.” Team Captain Nolan Dondlinger said.

The team also does not have access to equipment and uniforms paid for by the school or the mentality that comes with playing a high school varsity sport.

“Sometimes work, family vacation and other activities are given the higher priority, things that certainly don’t fly on a school-sponsored varsity team. I want the mentality and commitment on this team to be that of other varsity sports at Westside and it’s definitely a challenge,” Lacrosse coach Evan Johnston said.

Lacrosse also can benefit athletes who play fall sports such as football and basketball by helping them keep up their skill sets during the off season.

“Westside’s lacrosse program would be able to attract more athletes to the team and athletes from football, basketball and hockey would benefit tremendously from playing lacrosse in the spring…I would absolutely love to help contribute to championships in other sports at Westside by working with young athletes in their offseason,” Johnston said.

As of now, the chances of Lacrosse becoming a school sponsored sport are slim, due to the low amount of backing. Though with strong administrative support, the possibility of lacrosse becoming a school-sponsored sport in the future is strong.