‘It takes a village.’ Lacrosse continues slow march toward KHSAA sponsorship.
Most anticipated a competitive bout between Henry Clay and Sayre in the Commonwealth Lacrosse League girls’ state semifinals. The host Spartans had other intentions.
Sayre rolled, 20-6, on Wednesday night to earn a berth in the championship game for the first time in program history. It met Bowling Green, a winner over Central Hardin in its semifinal, at Henry Clay High School on Saturday.
Lauren Mullikin, a senior midfielder who last summer was named a U.S. Lacrosse High School All-American, scored five goals for the Spartans, who improved to 15-3 overall and remained unbeaten against Kentucky competition.
“It’s always been a strong team, but particularly her class, getting to watch them grow these last four years, leading this group and these girls has been exciting,” said head coach Anna Cook.
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association does not sponsor a state championship in lacrosse for boys or girls. That’s why, in Kentucky, there are actually two lacrosse governing bodies: the Commonwealth Lacrosse League and the Kentucky Scholastic Lacrosse League. The former features from Lexington and surrounding counties as well as the Bowling Green area, while the latter is predominantly made up of teams from Louisville. The KSLL, typically, produces higher-level teams; a program of Sayre’s stature in CLL, for example, usually might be the third or fourth best finisher in the KSLL.
Sanctioning by the state’s preeminent organization has been discussed at length over the past decade, and seemed on the horizon in the lead-up to a Board of Control meeting last fall, but both the number of boys’ and girls’ teams failed to reach the KHSAA threshold — 50 — to prompt sponsorship of a championship. As of its most recent meeting this week, those totals stood at 45 (boys) and 46 (girls).
“COVID definitely put a bit of a pause and you can see that, but younger girls are getting really into it,” said Cook. “Freshmen and sophomores, that age group is growing. The JV circuit around the team has grown. And this year’s the first year that the middle school league has had five teams. Lots of growth to still have there, but we’re excited for what it could look like in Lexington.”
Growing lacrosse
Henry Clay is the defending boys’ champion in the CLL. The Blue Devils will start their title defense Friday.
While the KHSAA does not sponsor lacrosse, Fayette County Public Schools recently began recognizing its teams as varsity programs rather than clubs. It’s a small but meaningful change: before, clubs had to pay to rent field space from their own schools and coaches were considered volunteers. Now, participants in Fayette County’s lacrosse programs are treated no differently from, say, the soccer teams.
Henry Clay has been supportive of its lacrosse programs for a long time. Boys’ head coach William “Sport” Richmond says programs at other schools in the city were treated poorly before the varsity recognition.
“Now everybody’s treated the same,” Richmond said. “The school system is paying for uniforms and stuff like that and giving you turf time. It’s helping out on the cost.”
The costs associated with lacrosse — it requires a fair amount of equipment, especially on the boys’ side (they wear helmets and other padding; girls don’t) — are often cited as the biggest barrier to entry when starting a program. It’s a popular sport in the northeast but kids don’t get exposed to it as much in a state like Kentucky. Mullikin, for example, spent her childhood in Maryland. “I grew up with a stick in my hand,” she says.
Experienced coaches and officials are few, too. Richmond had no prior history with the sport before his boys started playing in Knoxville and moved back to Kentucky. They lived in Madison County but drove to Woodford County — at the time, it was the nearest club that accepted out-of-county players — to play. He started helping the head coach of that club and eventually assumed the head job. This is his second season at Henry Clay, which has won six of the last eight CLL titles.
Richmond is confident that KHSAA sanctioning will come, and that the sport will eventually grow beyond its mostly urban confines. It just boils down to raising awareness about and, more importantly, giving young kids the opportunity to run around with sticks.
“It takes a village,” Richmond said. “It really does.”
Commonwealth Lacrosse League playoffs
(All times local to site)
GIRLS
Championship: Sayre vs. Bowling Green, 1 p.m. Saturday at Henry Clay
BOYS
(Games listed in bracket order)
Second round, Friday
Henry Clay 20, Ryle 5
Sayre 9, Walton-Verona 7
Covington Catholic 17, Madison County 5
Frederick Douglass 6, Dixie Heights 5
Paul Laurence Dunbar 9, Scott County 8
Woodford County 10, Bowling Green 9
Lexington Catholic 12, Lafayette 0
South Warren 7, Lexington Christian 5
Quarterfinals, May 17
Sayre at Henry Clay, time TBD
Frederick Douglass at Covington Catholic, TBD
Woodford County at Paul Laurence Dunbar, TBD
South Warren at Lexington Catholic, TBD
Semifinals, May 19
Played at higher seeds, TBD
Championship, May 21
At Great Crossing High School, 7:30 p.m. (Live stream available via WBON TV)
This story was originally published May 13, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
