Some high school students are trying to create a new club sport that they believe many will be interested in.

After Naomi Falcon petitioned for a girls lacrosse team, they were denied. With the nearest school lacrosse team being in the Madison area, there aren’t enough nearby competitors to make it work.

“We’re just not in the right area to start a lacrosse team,” said athletic director Jim Rufsholm.

However, students such as Naomi Falcon are working to create a club team. Players will be responsible for everything–including raising equipment money, running drills and transportation.

“At first, we are going to all pitch in what we can, even if it’s not that much. Then we are going to do all sorts of fundraising to get the rest of the money,” said Falcon.

This sudden interest in starting a girls lacrosse team is due to the fact of having a team in middle school, and not being able to have a team in high school. A middle school team officially started in the 2014-2015 school year and ended during the 2016-2017 school year. This team was also just a club sport. However, the middle school kept students informed on games and other such information. The team was run by a local citizen named Kurtis Tindall.

Tindall was the father of one of the team members, Jennifer Tindall. Tindall said that he started the team because his daughter really enjoyed the sport, but there was no team, that is, until he created one. Tindall stopped coaching due to personal reasons, and the team vanished.

“Coach Kurtis did his job really well. It’s just really sad that we don’t have him to coach us anymore,” said Falcon.

Students and previous team members Naomi Falcon and Jenna Quackenbush are staging a comeback. Special education teacher Kathrine Dal Cerro has confidence that these girls can do the job.

“I believe that they can accomplish this if they break it down piece by piece. I remember the middle school girls were all strong, pro-social and inclusive people,” said Dalcerro.

Dal Cerro was also very active during the time that there was a middle school lacrosse team. She was always there at the games, and even at some practices. According to Falcon, she made sure that everyone always had enough water, made sure that they worked hard, but not too hard to the point where they may get hurt. She showed the original team the need to work hard not only on the field but also in everyday life.

“The girls, when they were in middle school, showed that you have to be a spontaneous, flexible person to be great at lacrosse. Not so much physically flexible, but to be reasonable and compassionate,” said Dal Cerro.

Respect, trust and most importantly fun, are all important components to have within a team. This year, veterans of the original team hope to bring all of that into the new team that they are creating. If there is a teacher out there who would be willing to supervise or even help these girls run the team, please contact Naomi Falcon.

“I am always in favor of student-led organizations, but I think if they can find an adult willing to lead the team, that is a good thing also,” said Dal Cerro.