Lacrosse becomes CIF Sport

After years of parent petitions and student requests, it was finally announced on Sept. 12 that Samo will officially be administrating lacrosse as a CIF sport. This means that the high school administration has agreed to add Varsity Lacrosse for the current school year and lacrosse athletes will be able to compete in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) games in the spring of 2014.For years the Vikings School Lacrosse program ran the only high school lacrosse organization in Santa Monica which practiced with high school students every Tuesday and Thursday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Although practices were held on the Samohi football field, the team was not a part of Samo and could only compete in the Pacific Lacrosse League and primarily indoor games in Torrence, 20 miles away.With the change, the team will now be able practice in the spring every day after school on campus and represent Samo lacrosse in both the Bay and Ocean Leagues. They will be able to compete against high schools with lacrosse teams, such as Culver City, Beverly Hills and Downey, and play any other CIF teams in California, such as Palos Verdes, Peninsula, Redondo, Harvard-Westlake and Mira Costa among others.Nevertheless there is still much to be done in order to fully integrate the team. Lacrosse is a fast-paced contact sport, where physical contact is needed in offense and defense, but also where a stick and ball are needed in order to make goals in the net.“Lacrosse is a combination of between hockey, football and soccer,” Offense player Erik Lind (‘14) said. “It’s both a hands-on physical activity that involves really good coordination in both footwork and speed. We have to wear gloves, elbow pads, shoulder pads, helmets and cleats [in order to play.]”With this in mind, parents of the Santa Monica Vikings Lacrosse team made tax-deductible donations through the website imATHLETE and raised the team’s overall goal of $50,000 to support the expenses of operating an entirely new team. This money went not only to the equipment Lind described as essential for the sport, (basic gloves, sticks and helmets priced around a hundred dollars a piece) but also to pay for the field space and coaches in the upcoming season.All technicalities and logistics aside, athlete Ian Ferrara (’15) said that the anticipation for incorporating of lacrosse into the Samo athletic community will be well worth the wait.“I am very excited that I will be playing in the spring. I have wanted this ever since I started high school,” Ferrara said. “We are working hard and I’m happy I get to represent Samohi with the lacrosse team.”Athletic Director Marisa Silvestri who oversaw this approval and agrees that this change will be in the best interest of the student body.“Lacrosse is one of the fastest growing sports, especially here in Santa Monica,” Silvestri said. “We have a very strong youth level entering our campus every year, and any time we can offer things to students [at Samo] we want to, so they can have it as part of their high school experience.”According to Silvestri, administration had to be sure that the amount of shared field space within Samo’s facilities was available for not only practices but also games before they could have admitted lacrosse on as a sport. Although it may have taken some adjustment and although a lot is still up in the air, Silvestri remains confident looking towards the future.“There is going to be some compromise, that’s the only concern that I have, just that there will be a compromise in the way that everything’s been done before,” Silvestri said. “I think it’s going to be a lot of work, but I’m willing to take it on just because it’s going to be worth it. There’s a positive energy coming from the community and I think from the kids as well; they’ll be able to play the sport that they really enjoy.”