By KAREN LAGRANGE COX
Parents and Acadiana Hurricanes lacrosse players have been working on launching a Lacrosse Program at Southside High School (SHS) in Youngsville, Louisiana.
Over the past eighteen months, the group has met multiple times with SHS Lacrosse players and their parents, SHS administrators, and the athletic director to discuss the possibilities of a Lacrosse Program at SHS. Ultimately, the decision to approve the program was made in favor of the program.
Area Lacrosse players are welcoming the Lacrosse program at SHS.
Brendan Mitchell of Youngsville graduated from Southside High School in 2023 and now plays Lacrosse in college at Quincy University. Mitchell sees the SHS Lacrosse program as something huge. He said, “Lacrosse has had a small presence in Louisiana and has struggled to gain traction. Lacrosse is already in private schools in the area, so it is great there will be a program at SHS”.
Sawyer Solet of Youngsville, an upcoming junior at SHS, is very excited about going to SHS for Lacrosse and said he will definitely join the team. Solet, a Houma Native American, loves that Lacrosse has Native American roots. He added, “Lacrosse is a great sport, and having it at SHS will open up opportunities, especially for better chances for scholarships”.
Collin Thibodeaux of Youngsville is an upcoming sophomore at SHS. He has played Lacrosse for half of his life and is very excited about the sport introduced to SHS. Even before he started playing, he was actively involved with Lacrosse. Along with his father, Casey McDonald, he played a major role in getting Lacrosse to SHS by engaging in discussions with others about establishing the SHS team. He is “excited to finally get to play the game under his school colors with school recognition & support”.
The SHS Lacrosse Program will involve both boys and girls in team creation and participation. Southside girls will be permitted to play on the boys’ team until there is enough student interest for an all-girls team. The girls would then compete against other Louisiana teams, as well as South Texas and the Gulf South area of Mississippi and Alabama girls teams, etc.
Southside Lacrosse will play its home games at the new Southside High School turf field/future stadium. Practices will be on either the grass practice field or turf (as scheduling allows). Away games will be at Louisiana High School Lacrosse League (LHSLL) opponent schools/fields/stadiums.
Program organizers plan to host several Summer “Open Invite/Participation Sessions” for new players to practice passing, catching, and shooting. The dates and times have yet to be determined but will be announced soon on their Facebook and Instagram accounts.
The program will need to raise at least $25,000 to $30,000 in program funding/seed money to establish regular season play in the Louisiana High School Lacrosse League (LHSLL) Division 2 level as soon as the Spring 2025 season. Since the program is a Lafayette Parish School System (LPSS) Club Team, the program needs to be able to provide the needed equipment for the players/team: helmets, shoulder pads, arm pads, gloves, sticks, uniforms, team bags, game and practice goals, balls, and travel expenses for team school bus travel to away games in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Shreveport, etc.
The program organizers are formalizing its first Booster Club/Members so that they may begin to reach out to the community to find donors interested in becoming the program’s founding supporters.
Individual player-team dues will be collected. However, LPSS allows a cap of varsity or club teams per player per year. Fundraising can cover the remaining amounts needed.
Aside from players, SHS students can support the program in various roles: team managers, statisticians, cheer/dance/pep, band, choir (National Anthem and Alma Mater), video and/or photography for team social media content, highlight videos, and game film for coaches and players to use for game-to-game evaluation and scouting.
Those interested in participating in any way in the SHS Lacrosse program should email southsidehslacrosse@gmail.com or visit its Facebook page or Instagram page.
