QUICK READ: Lacrosse to gain exposure

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Chicagoland lacrosse coaches paint a picture of their underdog sport as an underground community, unknown to the masses.

News this week of the IHSA’s adoption of boys and girls lacrosse state series beginning in the spring of 2011 spread accordingly. St. Charles boys co-op coach Andy Thompson learned of the development via e-mail two days after it became official.

Expect plenty more lacrosse mainstreaming in the next 18 months, including new opportunities for students and new rhymes for cheerleaders to memorize. Who knows, maybe entire lacrosse sections at local libraries won’t be far behind.

“I think it’s going to take off big time because of this,” Thompson said. “It does add to the legitimacy of the sport and makes the barrier to enter a whole lot easier.”

Sue Wade, former president of the St. Charles girls co-op, thinks it also should temper some of the occasionally over-the-top parental involvement that often goes with the territory of club sports.

Wade remembers sighing and biting her lip when water polo gained the IHSA’s sanction years ago.
Bass fishing followed suit this past spring, and now comes lacrosse, which coaches and players often note as the fastest growing sport in America.

“I’m glad they’re going in this direction,” Wade said. “This is something I had been pushing for for awhile.”

The change triggers a need for more development down the road. Athletic directors must decide how to devote school funds for player equipment while schools that don’t offer the sport explore that possibility.

The St. Charles boys co-op, which finished second to New Trier at last year’s IHSLA state final, will split on the varsity level beginning in 2011. The freshman team split last season and the JV will break up into East and North teams for 2010.  

Thompson, a St. Charles High School alum who lives near North, presumes he will have to choose sides before long. Then again, he said he can’t be certain which schools will retain club lacrosse coaches and which won’t.

“There’s going to be expansion with this, there’s no doubt about it,” Thompson said. “For us, we’re excited about it, but there’s also the fear of the unknown.”

Break in tradition: Tri-Cities football fans might want to bottle the looming Week 9 buzz while they can. One regular season ending rivalry is about to slide up the schedule.

Batavia and Geneva will meet in Week 6 or 7 for at least the next two seasons when the schools shift from the Western Sun Conference to the Upstate Eight beginning next fall. Batavia athletic director Mike Gaspari, also the Bulldogs’ coach, said the team will close the 2010 regular season with Streamwood rather than the Vikings.

“There wasn’t a way to do that, unfortunately, and still be able to keep a rotation,” Gaspari said. “[Geneva] will be a Week 9 game for two years once those rotations switch, but that won’t be for a few years yet.”

Gaspari and other UEC athletic directors have met in recent weeks to schedule 2010-11 contests for all sports.

“It’s pretty much hammered out,” Gaspari said. “It’s not completely finalized yet, but it’s pretty close.”

The addition of Batavia and Geneva along with Metea Valley, a new school playing a junior varsity schedule in most sports this season, will push the total of UEC teams from 11 to 14. League athletic directors have said Batavia, Geneva and both St. Charles schools will be part of the same seven-team division.

• Kevin Druley is a sportswriter for The Chronicle. He can be reached at 630-845-5347 or kdruley@kcchronicle.com.