One year ago, Kelsey Reardon and Kellyn Carpenter of Clarkston were forced to choose between playing lacrosse on a Waterford-based club team or not play at all.
The decision to play was an easy one, but both girls have worked diligently to start a girls lacrosse club team at Clarkston High School to avert a similar situation this year.
Reardon and Carpenter, now ninth graders at Clarkston Junior High School, would not be eligible to play on a school team outside of the district.
Determined to bring girls lacrosse to Clarkston, the girls and their parents took a major step by putting on a clinic at Clarkston Junior High School on Dec. 10.
‘We wanted to make our own team last year, but we didn’t get enough support,? said Carpenter.
According to Kellyn’s mother, Valerie, the girls simply started too late in the game last year and were unaware of rules and regulations implicit in starting a club sport.
For example, efforts last year lacked a teacher sponsor. This year, CJHS ninth grade biology teacher Nicole Boguszewski has filled the faculty liaison role.
‘I just make sure the school is here for whatever they need,? said Boguszewski.
With a sponsor in place, two important issues still need addressing before the Wolves field a girls lacrosse team: players and a coach.
The girls have done their part to ensure participation, Kelsey and Kellyn posted flyers at CJHS while Brooke Reardon, a junior and Kellyn’s sister, took care of CHS.
Approximately 55 girls showed up to an interest meeting. Twenty-five participated in the clinic at CJHS on Dec. 10.
‘I think the clinic went great. Twenty-five girls came, which is more than was expected,? Kelsey Reardon said.
The clinic was overseen by Detroit Lacrosse and there is already talk of either having another seminar in Clarkston or possibly using Oakland Yard as a staging ground.
‘A lot of girls don’t know how to play,? Kellyn Carpenter said, speaking to the clinic’s importance.
Other than the turnout, another positive at the recent clinic was, in Kelsey and her mother Robin Reardon’s estimation, most of the girls in attendance purchased lacrosse sticks.
Unlike boys lacrosse, the girls version of the sport only requires eye and mouth guards in addition to the stick.
‘Since we only need an eye guard, a mouth guard and a stick, it’s a lot cheaper to play,? Kellyn Carpenter said.
The boys are required to wear helmets and padding to ensure safety, an issue not present in the girls version of the sport.
‘A lot of people think lacrosse is a violent sport for girls. That’s a misconception,? Valerie Carpenter said.
While the children scurried about at school handing out flyers and spreading the word about the start-up efforts, the parents tried equally hard to find the team a coach.
‘We are hoping that by March it could all be in place,? Robin Reardon said.
Flyers were disseminated around Oakland University in hopes of finding a girl with playing experience from high school. The MHSAA season begins on March 13, until that date a coach could only work with players in groups of three or less.
The nightmare scenario rolling around the parents minds was that enough girls to support a team would come out, like they did at the Dec. 10 clinic, a coach secured and then the girls would have nowhere to play. But Clarkston Athletic Director Dan Fife quickly put to rest any thoughts the girls club would be orphaned by the school district.
‘If (girls lacrosse is) a club sport, we’ll treat them just like the boys. Their program is in the infancy stage,? Fife said.
Though they are on track as of right now for fielding a team in the spring of 2006, girls lacrosse is still coming late to the scheduling fray of spring sports.
‘We would accommodate them as best we can. They are going to have to take a leftover schedule. There is going to be a lot of odd days … We’ll do the best we can,? Fife said.
Anyone interested in becoming the girls lacrosse team’s coach or who might know someone interested in the position should call the Reardon’s at 248-625-2572.