Evergreen School District to Offer Girls Lax

By PAUL VALENCIA Columbian staff writer. From The Columbian

This spring, a new sport will be offered to athletes in the Evergreen School District. Girls lacrosse will be played at Heritage High School, and athletes from Evergreen and Mountain View can join the team, as well.

Officially, the sport is not sanctioned by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. However, according to Jim Hudson, the school district's director of athletics and activities, lacrosse will be a varsity sport for these schools, with athletes awarded varsity letters.

The team will begin play at the varsity club level, facing squads mostly from the Portland area, but perhaps some matches will be played in the Puget Sound area.

Hudson said information from interest surveys led to the decision to add another girls sport.

For now, the team will practice at Heritage and be called Heritage, but Hudson hopes that within a few years, the schools will field their own teams.

That's the plan for coach Brian Wilde, too.

"We're looking at three years to be competitive at the varsity (club) level with the other programs in Washington and Oregon," Wilde said. "This year, we will find out a lot about the initial interest in the game."

Wilde, who is a teacher at Heritage, said 20 girls at his school have expressed interest. He has talked to a handful of athletes from the other two schools and had plans to make promotion trips to those schools to attract more players.

Lacrosse, according to Wilde, is a combination of hockey, basketball, and soccer, played with baskets attached to sticks

Wilde discovered lacrosse while attending ac  Western Washington University. He played on the school's club team for two years.

The girls game, however, is different. It is considered a non-contact sport, but it can be physical, as well, such as basketball.

There is no checking in girls lacrosse, though, and there is more of an emphasis on passing and team play, not as much on individual glory.

He said there is a general ignorance of the sport in this region just because it is relatively new to the area.

The Northeastern part of the United States is huge lacrosse country.

The coach hopes the sport's fan base will continue to grow.

Eventually, the coach and district officials hope one day the sport will become sanctioned by the WIAA.