By Lee Wilson
MaxPreps.com
Lacrosse has worked its way into suburban Atlanta high schools in recent years and starting this year, Gwinnett County will be added to the mix. That addition seems long overdue and came at a steep cost to those involved.
The reason that the county finally decided to support the sport on a varsity level is really quite incredible. It started, as most sports movements do, with a group of passionate people, including players, parents and coaches who essentially would not take no for an answer.
One of those people is former Peachtree Ridge High School club level coach and current Booster Club President Scott Hall.
"We are really, really excited," Hall told the Gwinnett Daily Post. "We know what we are sitting on here. We have a chance to be pretty good."
Hall and others were obviously excited, but also relieved. For a county that sports such top-notch athletics, this process has moved at a snail's pace. After numerous pleas for help and constant pressure on the county school board, the group prying for varsity status had its hands full.
The county considered not allowing the sport to gain status immediately for a host of reasons, including a lack of fields, a lack of officials, and also the fact that they wanted all of the schools to have the ability and desire to take on the sport before agreeing to it. While the former two are more than reasonable concerns, Hall thought that there will be no time in the foreseeable future where all of the schools will want to do it.
That is why Hall, along with a huge list of supporters from other schools, showed up to a board meeting. The board was astonished when they saw nearly 400 people, including uniformed players, as well as parents with picket signs, in their midst. At that point they knew exactly what they had on their hands.
After the board approved, a sigh of relief and sense of excitement set in.
"It is just such a great sport, and the real winner here is the kids," said Peachtree Ridge Community coach Bob Lombardo in an interview with the Daily Post. "They are getting an opportunity to be a part of this great sport on the highest level now."
Lombardo, like Hall and many at the forefront of the Gwinnett lacrosse movement, has a history with the sport. The former Hofstra University player from the Long Island area of New York has been involved with the sport practically his entire life. Even from a guy who once took the field against lacrosse powerhouse Johns Hopkins University in a club game, Lombardo, too, is excited to see the sport growing in Gwinnett and in the south.
Lombardo sees the sport spreading rapidly throughout the county so long as the county can afford it. If he is correct, then these teams can continue the tradition of Gwinnett athletics that has touted a number of champions in all prep sports, including the Atlanta Braves’ Jeff Francoeur of Parkview High and the Atlanta Falcons’ Jason Elam of Brookwood High.
In fact, Francoeur was part of the Parkview football dynasty that went a combined 45-0 over the course of three seasons, capturing three consecutive state titles. Just this past year the county tallied over 10 state titles in various sports.
Still, though, while the county is full of athletes, it is watching its expenses and looking frantically for fields.
"Field space and the wear and tear of our fields is definitely an issue," Gwinnett County athletic director Mike Emery told the Daily Post. "With the (droughts over) the past few years and the reduction in the amount that schools are able to spend on field care, it is certainly a challenge."
Yet even a hard-nosed official like Emery gets excited about the prospect of the sport in arguably the best sports county in Georgia.
"I anticipate that the year after this almost all of our schools will take part in lacrosse," Emery said. "Once we get things sorted out field-wise and give schools some time to get the proper personnel, Gwinnett County Schools, I believe, will compete for state championships in lacrosse, just like we do in every other sport."
What the results will be and how the teams will shape up remains to be seen, but no matter what, lacrosse has arrived in Gwinnett County.
Lee Wilson covers Georgia for MaxPreps.com. He may be reached at gsubeatwriter@gmail.com.
