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OHSAA to
Sponsor Boys and Girls Lacrosse Beginning in 2016-17
First Statewide Tournament Series Will Begin in Spring 2017
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA)
Board of Directors approved a recommendation from an OHSAA subcommittee
that boys and girls lacrosse become sports sponsored by the OHSAA
beginning with the 2016-17 school year, Commissioner Daniel B. Ross,
Ph.D., has announced. Lacrosse will be a spring sport with the first
OHSAA statewide tournament series beginning in 2017. The Board
unanimously (8-0) approved the recommendation during its regularly
scheduled meeting today at the OHSAA Office in Columbus.
“The members of the subcommittee did an outstanding job studying
lacrosse in Ohio and researching the sport both statewide and
nationally,” Ross said. “I know they also received tremendous
assistance from Paul Balcerzak, commissioner of both the Ohio High
School Lacrosse Association (OHSLA) and the Ohio Schoolgirls Lacrosse
Association (OSLA). Lacrosse is definitely growing in our state at both
the youth and high school levels, and it's exciting when schools want
their sport to be part of our association and also exciting that more
students will be able to complement their high school experience with
another participation opportunity.
“It also should be pointed out that the both the boys and girls
lacrosse associations have required their membership to adhere to OHSAA
Bylaws and Sports Regulations for several years now, so the transition
to the OHSAA should be smooth.”
Lacrosse will become the first sport in the OHSAA’s newly developed
category called “emerging” sports, since lacrosse currently does not
have the required 150 schools to become an OHSAA “recognized” sport per
OHSAA bylaws. Currently organized by the OHSLA and OSLA, there were 122
boys schools and 118 girls schools that sponsored lacrosse in 2015,
with an additional 18 boys club teams sponsored.
As an emerging sport, lacrosse will be handled very similarly as all
OHSAA “recognized” sports, with the major exception being that the
Board of Directors will conduct an annual assessment of lacrosse to
review items such as growth and financial solvency to determine if it
will continue as an “emerging” sport; be elevated to a “recognized”
sport, or be suspended or discontinued as an “emerging” sport.
The Ohio High School Lacrosse Association has been conducting a
statewide tournament series since the 1988-89 school year, and the Ohio
Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association has had a statewide tournament series
since 1999-2000. While both the boys and girls currently have two
tournament divisions, the Board of Directors did not take action to
determine how many tournament divisions there will be in lacrosse when
the OHSAA begins oversight in 2016-17.
“On behalf of the Ohio High School Lacrosse Association and the Ohio
Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association, I would like to express sincere
gratitude and excitement with the decision of the OHSAA Board of
Directors to adopt boys and girls lacrosse as the newest OHSAA sports,”
Balcerzak said. “It was quite a learning experience to work with the
subcommittee, but I’m glad all of our efforts have paid off. Our
associations are committed to making the transition to the OHSAA as
smooth as possible, and we can’t wait to get started.”
The addition of boys and girls lacrosse increases the number of
“recognized” and “emerging” sports sponsored by the OHSAA to 26, which
includes 13 for boys and 13 for girls. The OHSAA last added sports in
2006-07 when boys and girls bowling were adopted.
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