VIRGINIA BEACH — Last month, the Virginia Beach School Board voted unanimously to add lacrosse as a varsity sport, with a target start date of spring 2023. It is the first school district in Virginia's Hampton Roads region to approve varsity lacrosse status.
The teams will compete under the Virginia High School League (VHSL), the state’s sanctioning organization for interscholastic athletic competition among public high schools.
Virginia Beach is one of 10 independent cities that comprise the well-populated Hampton Roads region, and its high schools have offered club lacrosse through the Hampton Roads Lacrosse League (HRLL) since 2000. The school board’s debate about varsity sanctioning has lasted nearly that long as well.
“This has been a 20-year journey,” said Jim Old, former president and longtime volunteer for USA Lacrosse’s Tidewater Chapter. “It feels like we dug the Grand Canyon. It didn’t just happen overnight.”
Concerns over schools’ field capacities, availability of coaches, insurance, officials’ fees and other costs have all been debated in recent years and served as roadblocks to varsity status. But steady and persistent efforts by local supporters to help school board members and school principals understand how the benefits outweigh the costs finally added up.
Students, coaches, parents, and other advocates have spoken at board meetings in support of varsity status. By some accounts, Virginia Beach was close to approving the measure prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Keeping the momentum over the past 18 months was a priority.
“Once all the school principals came on board, we knew that there was a chance that this could happen,” said Sandi Dittig, past president and current board member of the HRLL. She also credits some of the high school players who spoke before the school board as being pivotal in the process.
“There have been hundreds of people involved in this effort through the years, but in the end, I think it was the kids who made the difference,” Dittig said. “They were amazing.”
Five players -- four girls and one boy -- spoke about the life lessons that they have gained through their lacrosse participation and the opportunities that the game has created for them. They asked the school board to expand those opportunities for other students by making lacrosse a sanctioned sport.
“The up-front cost and recurring cost every year really did concern me,” board member Jennifer Franklin told the Daily Press. “But I have to say that all the discussion, particularly by the students, really swayed my opinion.”
The accessibility of lacrosse served as one of the strongest appeals.
“Diversity in the sport has been a big push for me and for the chapter for quite some time,” said Dan Neumann, current president of the Tidewater Chapter. “The sport offers a great opportunity for students from any type of background to get involved. I think the board members began to see that too.”
Hana Hagag, 17, a member of Bayside High School’s club team, was among the players that spoke before the school board. She shared details from her personal journey with the sport and expressed the need to provide more opportunities to other minority students.
“I started out not knowing how to hold the stick,” said Hagag. “Now, I’m looking to play at the collegiate level. This just goes to show how much the HRLL program helped me and helped so many other girls and boys.”
Originally created by USA Lacrosse’s Tidewater Chapter, the HRLL became an independent entity in 2012, overseeing the boys and girls high school divisions. The fact that most of Virginia Beach’s 11 high schools currently have club teams in the HRLL eases the start-up challenges. Goals, equipment, and coaches are already in place at many schools, although the school district will begin to assume the financial responsibility for the teams.
“So much of the needed infrastructure is there,” Dittig said. “Year after year, the administrators saw that the high school clubs were being run similar to varsity programs. We had become a proven commodity.”
While the transition from club to sanctioned varsity status still requires some operational logistics ahead by the school district, the Tidewater Chapter, for one, stands ready to help.
“We realize we may need to help prop up some of the schools more than others, but our goal is to do what we can to support the cause,” Neumann said.
Dittig is quick to note that the HRLL will not be going away anytime soon. The league will continue to offer playing opportunities for high school club teams across the region and for players who don’t play varsity.
The Virginia Beach school board’s decision is being heralded as a win-win situation, and a possible catalyst that helps other school districts in the region to make similar decisions. Advocates are hoping that Virginia Beach is just the first step.
“I think this region is getting ready to pop,” Old said. “Where is it going to go next? Lacrosse could snowball from here.”
