By David Rice, Tampa Bay Times Correspondent
In Print: Sunday, February 19, 2012
WESLEY CHAPEL — Lacrosse may be the fastest growing youth sport in the nation, but when it comes to high school, finding a place to earn a varsity letter jacket with a stick in your hand isn’t so easy.
In Pasco County, there isn’t a single school that belongs to a Florida High School Athletic Association-sanctioned district, despite the fact that Wiregrass Ranch and Wesley Chapel have highly successful lacrosse clubs.
In neighboring Hillsborough County, there are only four schools that can play for an FHSAA title, all of which are private schools. The story is similar in Pinellas County, where the private Admiral Farragut Academy has the lone sanctioned team.
Parents and organizers of school lacrosse teams have grown tired of working under the label of “club team” and want their kids to have the right to play for a state title and letter jackets. But that decision rests with the local school district.
“The kids want to play for their school,” said Tampa Tribe coach Renee Diaz, whose daughters attend Wesley Chapel High. “They want a varsity letter. Many players, boys and girls, who would play lacrosse don’t just for this reason, or lacrosse is their secondary sports commitment. This severely stunts the growth of lacrosse in our area. The rest of the nation is booming, but locally growth is slow.”
