In Kansas high schools, lacrosse is overlooked because the sport is not recognized by the Kansas State High School Activities Association, KSHSAA, at all schools. Although it is not considered a school sport at Mill Valley, lacrosse is offered as a sports club for athletes to participate and compete in.

According to several lacrosse players and head coach Chris Hammond, the lack of teams and the sport’s unpopularity among the student masses is the main cause for lacrosse not being recognized by KSHSAA; however, hopes for more recognition are in sight.

First-year head coach Chris Hammond has coached lacrosse for 10 years and hopes to bring the recognition the players deserve.

“Social Media is the best way for players and the team to get recognized,” Hammond said. “I do a lot of recruiting through twitter by reaching out to college coaches in order to help players have a chance to play at the next level. Also, our parent board does a great job marketing our players and team via our website.”

Using social media to grow their team is just one of the few ways the school’s lacrosse team combats the club’s lack of recognition. This lacrosse season started off with several matchups against several metro schools resulting in team’s current record of one and four. Team practice is Monday through Friday at Garrett Park and the season includes seven regularly-scheduled games with home games played on the soccer field.

Junior Lane Burson plays on the varsity team and feels as though people are missing the opportunity to appreciate lacrosse as a sport.

“I really wish we were a KSHSAA sport because I think a lot of people would enjoy playing it and watching it,” said Burson. “I think [lacrosse is less recognized] because not many people know about lacrosse and if they do know about it they don’t know how to get involved.”

Another varsity player, senior Jack Brackin, has similar feelings, as he wishes more people would be involved and provide more support for the sport.

“The main disadvantage to not being recognized is not having the same amount of funding,” Brackin said. “Also I feel we would have more people try out and play if it was recognized as a KSHSAA sport. I think the main way to grow the sport is to have more kids [and] schools playing in it. We are currently only big enough for one league. If more schools joined, we could have two.”

Hammond acknowledges his players’ viewpoints and plans to grow the lacrosse program and lead them to success and better recognition. 

“I strongly feel like the foundation has been set and the future of the Jaguar Lacrosse program is heading towards a bright future,” said Hammond. “I want to challenge the Mill Valley students and faculty to come out to some of our home lacrosse games.”