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Conference accepts lacrosse as sanctioned sport

Thursday, June 29, 2006

DON DELCO
ThisWeek Staff Writer

Eventually, lacrosse wants to be recognized by the OHSAA.

According to proponents of the sport, a step closer to the idea was taken at the OCC summer meeting June 20 as the executive committee voted to accept lacrosse as a sanctioned sport.

"As Ohio lacrosse grows, ultimately the goal is to be sponsored by the OHSAA," said Upper Arlington athletics director Chris Potts, who spearheaded the campaign. "This helps give lacrosse some stability that it is sponsored by a reputable league in central Ohio. I think that gives it more credibility because it's a very popular sport not just in central Ohio but in Ohio."

While it worked in lacrosse's favor in the end, the journey was rocky.

"There was some very lively discussion," OCC president Ed Palmer said. "Gahanna was not school-sponsored at all. They were sponsored by the recreation department in Gahanna. It has never been the intent of the OCC to have the league approve club sports."

Inconsistencies were found in the OCC bylaws which added to the debate.

According to Palmer, one section in the constitution said 10 schools are needed to apply for league sponsorship while four other references say it has to be school-sponsored.

"Some schools give varsity letters, but don't fund it," Potts said. "So we tried to work through that issue and ultimately we did have enough teams to have the board consider the sport."