District 99 OKs Lacrosse Programs at Downers Grove High Schools

Downers Grove high schools will offer boys and girls lacrosse next year after Community High School District 99 agreed to add the teams to its spring sports lineup.

District 99 board members voted unanimously last Monday to add both boys and girls lacrosse as non-funded programs during the 2013-14 school year. The two teams will operate as co-op teams for students at both North and South high schools.

Monday's vote was met with a loud applause from more than a dozen players and coaches in attendance, many of whom have been petitioning the district to add the program since last fall.

"I just wanted thank you very much for taking us through the appropriate process and working with us for the past six months," said Jon Gargiulo, varsity head coach and director of the Downers Grove Lacrosse Club. "You made a whole bunch of kids happy, a whole bunch of future lacrosse players happy—boys and girls. We look forward to making you proud of us."

There are currently 53 boys from District 99 who play on the Downers Grove Lacrosse Club's varsity and JV teams. Although there is not a high school club team for girls, a local age group club currently boasts 30 players, and there were 29 high school age students who signed up at an open house.

At a workshop meeting earlier this month, Downers Grove South Athletic Director Randy Konstans said parents have agreed to cover 100 percent of the program's costs—about $46,500 annually for each team.

With the board's approval, district officials will sign an emerging sports agreement with the Illinois High School Association, which has yet to officially sanction lacrosse. Instead, all high school lacrosse programs that sign agreements with the IHSA compete in the Illinois High School Lacrosse Association, a non-profit organization that provides a league structure and state championship series for participating teams.

All IHSLA teams must be compliant with IHSA guidelines, meaning players are subject to grade checks.

As of this spring, 84 high schools were part of the IHSLA, including Downers Grove North's West Suburban conference rivals York, Hinsdale Central, Glendbard West, Lyons and Oak Park.

Because IHSLA rules prohibit member schools from playing teams outside of the league, the Downers Grove Lacrosse Club has missed out on conference play for the past several years. The club was previously a member of the NILAX league, which lost a considerable number of teams as more and more high schools signed emerging sports agreements.

"The league had about 25 teams when it started five years ago, but there's been a huge migration over to the IHSLA," Gargiulo said. "Essentially what that's meant for us is that we've had fewer and fewer teams to play.

"The situation hit a head last October, when NILAX organizers—left with only four teams—decided to fold.

Without a formal league, Gargiulo and the Downers Grove coaching staff decided it was the right time to go to District 99 about the possibility of adding lacrosse as an emerging sport. The matter was first brought to the board in November, resulting in the creation of a formal process for adding athletic programs.

In February, the district administered a survey to determine student interest in three programs that had petitioned the district—boys and girls lacrosse and boys bowling. Results showed strong enough interest in lacrosse to elicit a positive recommendation from the administration at a board workshop meeting earlier this month.

"This has been a viable program with two levels for a number of years and we believe the interest level is on the rise," Konstans said.

The dozen or so players in attendance could be heard just outside the District 99 meeting room last Monday as they celebrated and shouted their team cheer.

"We're appreciative of all the effort (the team) has put forth in educating us about lacrosse, the many meetings they attending and the great patience they've shown throughout the process," District 99 Superintendent Mark McDonald said.

Gargiulo, a lifetime lacrosse player himself, said the district's approval means more to his teams than administrators realize.

"For us as coaches, we just want to give these kids the same opportunities that we had," Gargiulo said. "Having lacrosse as an athletic program in District 99 legitimizes the sport beyond the club level. We really want to build a successful program that this district can be proud of."