Auburn girls lacrosse takes pride in expanding the sport
The National Federation of State High School Associations lists the variety of benefits that participation in high school sports provides for students; those ranging from emotional and behavioral to overall physical health. This is evidently illustrated in sports with wide-reaching and expansive programs such as football, basketball and baseball.
However, in Alabama, girls lacrosse is still breaking through with its programs among high school associations. Several of these teams are incorporated within the Alabama Greater Birmingham Youth Lacrosse Association (AL GBYLA).The participating schools, including Auburn Lacrosse, look to not only provide the benefits of playing a sport in high school, but also to present the opportunity to further the growth and skillset of those who are involved.
Today, out of the 718 schools in Alabama, approximately 5% (35) of these schools offer a varsity girls lacrosse team, with only eight including a junior varsity team. A portion of players travel out of their hometown in order to be a part of a team if the schools in their area do not have one.
“There have been some challenges in terms throughout the state, there have been teams that have come and gone,” said Auburn Girls Lacrosse Head Coach Pam Haney. “We have a girl from Montgomery, a girl from Prattville and a girl from Columbus, Georgia…three girls that are willing to drive at least 40 minutes to come to practice.”
Being the only girls lacrosse team in the Lee County area, Auburn Girls Lacrosse offers a youth program as well that feeds into its high school team with hopes to grow the game. This fall marked the first time that Auburn possessed a youth team that played a 10-game season and traveled to a tournament. The youth team allows girls as young as third grade to join a lacrosse organization and begin to incorporate into the program.
“We’ve got an interest from a younger population, so we’re actually talking about doing a Mini Sticks program, where it's six weeks of kindergarten, first and second graders. If those little kids can just try it out, then they love it because it’s so much fun,” Haney said.
Over recent years, the adoption of youth teams has been a dominant trait that girls lacrosse programs utilized to expand the Alabama league. Adding not only these new players, but their parents too, gives the sport a wider spread of public awareness. Through this, teams gain a following of these new members on social media platforms that has also played a major role in the growth.
“Right now in today’s age, social media is the quickest way to get anything out. What we are looking to do is a summer series where we explain basic rules in fun, quick videos. We hope that it will engage a larger population,” Haney said.
These summer series gear up girls lacrosse families for their fall pre-season practices and tournament appearances. Alabama native teams travel to neighboring states to compete against various regional teams. This grants players from Alabama the opportunity to go up against teams who are from states where lacrosse is a more heightened sport.
“The biggest difference between lacrosse in Alabama and lacrosse in other places is the availability and acceptance,” said former player and coach Marie Ogletree.
Traveling from southeast Georgia where lacrosse is a more popular sport, Ogletree provided outside expertise into the Alabama lacrosse community, adding to the growth of knowledge of the game and of the girls involved.
“Just like any sporting community, lacrosse provides a huge opportunity for girls to grow as people,” Ogletree said. “The game itself teaches them important life skills, how to be hard working, critical thinking and communication. My biggest hope is that it grows.”
— Kacie Barrett, The Auburn Advance