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November 2006
Lacrosse Takes Off
Pomona-Pitzer women's lacrosse moves from club to varsity status this
year as the sport surges in popularity. |
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Story and photo by Jen Huang '07
The fast-moving – and fast-growing – sport of women’s lacrosse has a new
status at Pomona College. The longtime club team is now a varsity sport,
and players are preparing for a challenging season come spring.
Lacrosse combines elements of
hockey, basketball and soccer. |
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Athearn field, usually a space for afternoon picnics and impromptu
Frisbee games, has recently been allocated as a practice field for this
new Pomona-Pitzer varsity team, coached on an interim basis by Michael
Wood and captained by seniors Emily Ferrell, Erin Bradley and Melissa Lockhart.
“Long and short!” shouts Bradley, as the players quickly run into
position and start their exercises at a recent practice.
The sport combines elements of basketball, hockey and soccer, according to
U.S. Lacrosse, the sport’s governing body. Players scoop, catch and
throw the ball with a stick called a “crosse” in this game with Native
American roots and French Canadian influences.
Lacrosse has been the fastest-growing high-school sport over the last 10
years, and, at the college level, it is one of the fastest-growing
sports in the NCAA, according to U.S. Lacrosse. Long centered on the
East Coast, the game is gaining fans and players in other regions of the
country. “The revolution is now in the West,’’ says Pomona Athletics
Director Charles Katsiaficas.
In Claremont, about five years ago, the 5-C women’s lacrosse club was
split into two clubs – Pomona-Pitzer and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps –
because of strong participation on the team and strong play. According
to Katsificas, the idea was that the Pomona-Pitzer club team would
eventually go varsity, but first the department needed to make sure the
team would remain sustainable and competitive after splitting away from
the larger 5-C squad.
It did.
Ferrell, one of the senior co-captains, remembers that the team has been
trying to achieve varsity status since her freshman year. When the
e-mail bearing good news went out to team members this summer, “it was
an enormous but great surprise” Ferrell says. The team will be composed
of about 25 women, though the final number may vary depending on who
comes out for the team in the spring. “Girls who are more serious about
playing lacrosse at a D-III college level are considering Pomona among
other schools that offer varsity programs,” says Ferrell.
Matches already have been scheduled with other varsity teams such as
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Redlands and Whittier. Katsiaficas notes that
the women’s lacrosse is in a state of transition within the Southern
California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, with some schools
elevating lacrosse to varsity, which others such as University of La
Verne and Cal Lutheran remain club teams. As for Pomona-Pitzer, “this year will be a
transition and learning year for the team,” says Ferrell.
Learn more
about lacrosse
Athletics Web
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