The parents of several local club lacrosse team players have formed a committee to create a lacrosse team at the school.

The efforts by parents are being led by Andy Cohen, the chair of the parent organizing committee. Cohen believes lacrosse would be a great addition to the sports program at the school.

“The benefits of adding a lacrosse team are that it’s a great sport that allows a lot of kids to play,” Cohen said. “There are typically 24 [players] on a team, and they all rotate in throughout the game. It’s a spring sport, so it’s great off-season conditioning for football, soccer and basketball, and because it’s more about quick movement than hitting, you don’t have to be big to be good.”

Parents aren’t the only ones involved. Several students have joined in the efforts trying to make a school lacrosse team a reality.

“My friend Ken Anderson thought of making an LAHS lacrosse team, and I usually play lacrosse with him,” senior Dusty Kash said. “I was one of the first people he asked to join the team.”

The committee met with Athletic Director Kim Cave on Monday, August 10 to discuss the possibility of a school lacrosse team. Cave responded by saying that the school did not have the funds or space to host a school lacrosse team during the spring season. The parents asked if she would consider having a team if the committee could provide funding and work out a practice schedule with the other spring season teams, and Cave consented.

The parents returned to Cave on Thursday, September 10 to present their proposal. In the proposal, the parents outlined students who would be interested in playing, startup costs, field availability, the coach hiring process and fundraising plans.

The lacrosse team must be recognized by both the school and the district to start. In order for the team to compete in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) this spring, they need to be approved and put in a formal request to Ken Perrotti, the lacrosse coordinator for SCVAL, by the end of October.

Despite the proposal, several problems still need to be worked out. While the parents of current lacrosse players have pledged about half of the money required to fund the team’s startup costs, which is estimated at $18,000 for equipment and 4 years of coach’s pay, the other half still needs to be raised.

There would only be a varsity boys team if the proposal passes. With only 10 players on the field at a time, it would be easy for the varsity team to be overloaded with both varsity and JV players of both sexes. Without enough funding to split the team into at least a varsity and JV team, many players may receive little playing time.

The efforts to create a lacrosse team have received support. There is a Los Altos Lacrosse Facebook group with 70 members, all of whom are advocates or potential players. The LAHS Athletic Boosters Club also expressed its support.

“Having a lacrosse team would encourage more two-sport and three-sport athletes, and would be a strong positive for LAHS athletics,” co-Presidents of the LAHS Athletic Booster Club Mary Donahue and Donna Vieratis said in the proposal.

As of press time, the team’s proposal has been approved by the school and is awaiting approval at the district level. According to Cave, if the district approves the team, it will “absolutely” be accepted into SCVAL.