With coaches now hired, lacrosse makes a return

A Friday Letter was sent out announcing the return of lacrosse.

After being canceled in the ‘23 season due to a lack of registered players and difficulty finding coaches, the school will field boys and girls lacrosse teams this year.

The boys’ and girls’ lacrosse teams are set to play this season after not running last year due to a lack of registrations and difficulties hiring coaches.

The Sports Boosters organization — a nonprofit organization that pays for resources like concussion testing, athletic scholarships, strength and conditioning training and athletic capital improvements not covered by the district, such as scoreboards — helped the athletic department find four coaches this season with experience coaching or playing lacrosse. They will coach the lacrosse teams this year.

In previous years, lacrosse has struggled with small rosters. During the ‘22 spring season, girls’ lacrosse only had 15 players, but 10 were needed for a game. Athletic director Rick Ellis had to regularly connect with the coach on whether the team would have enough players for them to compete that week.

Last year, all the lacrosse teams were canceled due to a lack of coaches and player sign-ups.

Junior Riley Adler, one of the many lacrosse athletes disappointed with the situation, said she worked with parents, teachers and school faculty to find a coach to lead lacrosse practices for both boys and girls twice a week in replacement of having a proper season. This coach, Ian Morran, will coach the boys’ team in the 2024 spring season.

This season, 18 students signed up for girls’ lacrosse, who will be coached by Sarah Brauer and Kate Cortese. Both are full-time coaches. The team will compete in the De Anza division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL).

The boys’ lacrosse team has 20 sign-ups, one part-time and one full-time coach — Morran and Brian Dodge, respectively. The school decided to run a boys’ team too late, and as such, they were unable to get into a league, Ellis said.

They instead plan to compete as an independent team, meaning they will not be part of any athletic league. The coaches and Ellis are working to set up matches against local schools in the SCVAL and the Tri City Athletic League. Ellis noted difficulties of setting up matches, as only 6 of the 15 schools in SCVAL have a lacrosse team.

“One of the benefits about being an independent [team] is that we can play JV teams or varsity teams; it gives us some flexibility,” he said.

Adler is excited for this year’s spring season and encourages others to join.

“Lacrosse is such a fun sport to learn and play; I would encourage any student wanting a sport where they can have fun, learn new skills and develop physically and mentally to join lacrosse,” Adler said. “The girls are extremely inclusive and the sport is geared towards new players with little to no experience.”