Bulldogs become 3rd Osceola program to add the growing sport
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St. Cloud will be the 3rd high school to play varsity lacrosse in high school next year. PHOTO/COLLEGE CROSSE
St. Cloud will become the third high school in Osceola County to add lacrosse to its varsity sports roster, when they field boys and girls teams for the 2022-23 school year.
The Bulldogs will join Celebration and Tohopekaliga to offer the popular and rapidly growing sport. Zach Beaverson will coach both teams. Todd Schultz, who played lacrosse in college, will serve as his assistant for the sport played during the spring season.
“My predecessor (Eric Godfrey) really had a lot to do with getting the sport to varsity status for us,” St. Cloud Athletics Director Bryan Smart said. “When he was approached by Zach and some students last year, he was very supportive about getting a team started. When enough students showed an interest a club team was formed and we it was decided to make the leap to varsity this year.”
Many challenges exist to starting a new varsity team. In additional to making sure enough students are interested to actually field teams, hiring coaches, finding money for a budget and scheduling practice time are all considerations Smart and Beaverson will have to face.
“You need money for equipment and uniforms, we need to find budget to pay officials, when you only have so many fields on campus with multiple sports teams needing them, scheduling practices becomes more difficult that you would think,” Smart said. “But the bottom line is that St. Cloud High School has always put the needs of the kids first. There was a real interest in fielding both a boys and girls lacrosse team, so the only thing left was for administration to find out a way to make it a reality and that is what we are going to do.”
In addition to Godfrey, both Smart and Beaverson credit Tohopekaliga coach Robert Weilert for helping get the St. Cloud get their program off the ground.
“Coach Weilert has been an incredible resource. He has been helpful with tips, ideas, suggestions and protocols,” Beaverson said. “Tohopekaliga has only been playing lacrosse for three years and he has his own program to worry about but yet he has been totally unselfish in taking his valuable time to help us.”
Beaverson, who is also an assistant football coach, has always had an interest in the game and calls it a “great crossover” sport for athletes who want to improve their speed and conditioning.
In addition to those who participated on St. Cloud Club Lacrosse team last year, he said he has had 26 athletes show up on a regular basis for summer workouts. “We have 20 girls and 15 boys, mostly all rising sophomores, that show up almost every workout in 95 degree heat and their enthusiasm for the sport is off the chart.”
In lacrosse, ten players are on the field at one time, but like hockey, substitutions are made liberally and most high school rosters will average 18 to 30 players. Beaverson said he’s not concerned about finding enough players.
“The great thing about lacrosse is it is such a fun game to play, once school starts and word gets out, I know our numbers will increase,” Beaverson said. “By nature, kids are competitive and no one likes to get their brains beat in, and I hate to lose more than anyone. But I know we are going to take our lumps this year. Practically every player we have on both teams have been playing lacrosse less than a year and we’re going to play teams – especially from Orlando – where their kids have been playing lacrosse since grade and middle school. Our goals are going to be pretty simple -- have fun and try to get better during every practice and every game.”
As far as coaching both teams, Beaverson admits it will be a challenge. “As much as possible we are going to schedule doubleheaders with schools, so both teams can play on the same field on the same day” he said. “We either schedule practices back-to-back or maybe even have occasional joint practices. Hopefully we’ll be able to add another assistant coach or two. It’s going to be difficult, but we will make it work.”
The Celebration Girls team has been the most successful in the county, winning several district championships, including this past year when they posted a 13-4 record. The Storm boys (9-5), Tohopekaliga boys (11-8) and Tigers girls (9-8) also had winning records. “The sport is exploding on the national and state level,” Beaverson added. “Hopefully we get one or two more county schools to field teams in the coming years so we can get it added to the Orange Belt Conference schedule as an official championship.”
About 200 public and private high schools in Florida field varsity lacrosse teams in Class A and 2A.
