2018 marks a monumental moment LTHS athletics. For the first time in the school’s history, there will be an official girls lacrosse team. The team will be coached by Mr. David Smietanski. This is his first year coaching lacrosse, but he has prior experience as a former member of the boys lacrosse team. Coincidentally, he was a member of the first LTHS lacrosse team 7 years ago.

What began the formation of the girls lacrosse team was genuine interest. Lacrosse’s popularity had gradually increased throughout the years, and once the boy’s team had been established at Lockport, the girls who were interested wanted a team too. With the approval of the athletic director, Mr. James Prunty, the process for a girls lacrosse team began.

“It’s a new sport, you get to be on the ground floor of a new team. I got to do that, and it’s really something special. You’ll be on the first team ever at Lockport. [Lacrosse] is combination of soccer, basketball, and hockey. It takes the best aspects of these sports and puts them into one sport. It’s fun,” Mr. Smietanski responded when asked why lacrosse is a great sport to join.

The first tryouts for the team starts on Monday, February 26th. The tryouts are open to all girls at LTHS. They are currently expecting 30 to 40 girls to tryout.

“Come out and give it a try. You’ll be surprised. It’s a lot more fun than you’d think,” Mr. Smietanski said about trying out. “The more the merrier. We’ll try to get as many participants as we can. It’s going to be a learning experience. Don’t be afraid to tryout.”

The girls lacrosse team will offer an intriguing and new experience to students. It will be very exciting to see how the team does in its first year.