Girls H.S. lacrosse coming to Plattsburgh

PLATTSBURGH | A new team will take to the field this spring at Plattsburgh High School, as girls lacrosse will make its debut in April. "I am very thrilled to be coaching this team," said coach Shannon Brown. "Of all the sporting highlights in my life being part of, this team with these girls is by far the most meaningful. I played with some great athletes in my day but some of my all time favorite athletes are on this team. I couldn't be more proud to be a part of it." The team will be made up of student-athletes from several local districts, much like the current PHS boys lacrosse team. "Right now we have girls from PHS Saranac, Beekmantown and Peru," said Brown. "We are hoping to have more girls coming from AuSable, Seton and Chazy. We have 32 names so far interested in the team." Their schedule will see them play teams from the Section X lacrosse league, including SLP, a merged program of Lake Placid and Saranac Lake. "We approached Section X and asked if their teams would be willing to play against us on their bye dates, and the majority were open to it," said Ken Knelly, who helped organize the push to bring a girls lacrosse team to PHS. "We have 11 games scheduled right now and five of them are at home. We still have some we are reaching out to, as well." Building the program The Lady Hornets Lacrosse team will be mostly made up of players from the Plattsburgh Lacrosse Club, which Knelly has been working with over the past four years. "We had a few games and small numbers of players for the first couple years," Knelly said. "Two years ago we took it up a notch and last year we had an older and younger team with 30 players on each team." The club played at a recreational level in Vermont, but found players were starting to age out of the program who still wanted to play the sport. "It was time to go to the next level," Knelly said. "Plattsburgh had the majority of the older players and the experience of a merged program like this so it made since to start the conversations there. The girls wore 'we are the seeds' t-shirts to the first school board meeting on the matter and got a chance to see what this process entailed. "Our hope is this will be the beginning of something and we want the players to understand they are a part of starting something for those who will play after," Knelly added. Then came brining on Brown as the head coach of the team, stepping into a new role as a girls lacrosse coach. "I have learned a lot about the game, every day watching the game and learning about the sport so I give the girls the best chance I can to help them succeed," Brown said. "We owe a lot of thanks to the school district because this is something they didn't have to do." To support the program, the team has held a number of fundraisers, including a popular "wall ball" event which was very beneficial. Growing with new college program Along with the introduction of the new PHS girls team, local girls lacrosse got another shot in the arm from last year's announcement that Plattsburgh State would have a women's lacrosse team taking to the field, as well. "Julie Decker (PSUC head coach) has been terrific in working with the program in terms of helping with clinics and adding their input," said Knelly. "We have a growing program and to have a university team here now so in terms of growing the game in the area, it is the right time." "Julia has already told some players she looks forward to seeing them play for Plattsburgh State, and that makes these girls' day," added Brown.

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Girls H.S. lacrosse coming to Plattsburgh

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