Lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in the country, according to US Lacrosse, yet NAHS doesn’t have a team or even a lacrosse club.

“I love the idea to get kids involved in something if they’re not already, and give them another opportunity,” golf coach and math teacher, Mr. Rick Belcher said. “We do clubs, sports, theater, all of our fine arts but on the flip side it’s a whole lot of money and you gotta have the kids wanting to do it, kinda like the boys volleyball. There was a lot of interest and it’s gotta be a growing thing and a lot of reasons to go after it.”

With more than 680 high schools in Indiana, there are nearly 100 have club high school lacrosse teams, according to US Lacrosse . Because IHSAA does not sanction the sport as a school sport lacrosse are considered clubs. In Kentucky, KHSAA does not recognize the sport either and in 20 high schools in JCPS, 14 of them have a club lacrosse team.

“There’s gonna have to be a lot of students that want to do it, and community support for that,” Mr. Belcher said. “With a lot of our sports it is very community-driven, they come to the events and the games, so you’re going to have to have a lot of community involvement for that.”

Cardiovascular endurance, socialization, coordination, teaches discipline, and a full-body strengthening workout are just five commodities that playing lacrosse helps with, according to Indiana High School Lacrosse Association (IHSLA).

“I would go [to NAHS lacrosse games], but I wouldn’t go to a bunch,” Mr. Belcher said. “My problem is that I coach so much that when I’m not coaching I want to be at home with family.”

Athletic Director BJ McAlister says one of his favorite books by John Gordon is written about a lacrosse team.

“The great thing about NAHS I feel is that there is something for everyone,” McAlister said. “We’ve got a lot of teams playing already that are also willing and able to add team members. That’s not taking anything away from lacrosse, but I think we’ve got a lot of teams here with availability on the roster, so I’m hoping if someone is wanting to get into something there is plenty of opportunity for them.”

McAlister also says that as long as the kids are competing and enjoying the sport, he doesn’t care if there’s one person supporting the team.

Sophomore Diana Ready says she loves to watch many Bulldog sporting events.

“I would go to New Albany lacrosse games because it seems like soccer, and soccer is my favorite sport to watch,” Ready said.

Ready says that since sports at this school aren’t funded enough, we shouldn’t bring in another team.

“It’s not whether we can have it, it’s whether we have the locations and the facilities for it,” Mr. Belcher said.” Now we’re talking about additional funds for the actual facilities to play lacrosse. I don’t know what they are or if it could be on either a soccer or football field. We would also have to have a season for it that isn’t interfering with the seasons that are using those fields. In addition there would have to be a girls and boys lacrosse and the seasons in which they take place. Within the building there are the uniforms and equipment for the team. District wide that would take care of a field but that’s a lot of funds to go into that, so really there are a lot of facets to this.”