Minnesota Boys High School Varsity Sanctioning Hearing

[LaxRef]

One point I found interesting is that a stumbling block is how few teams there are outside the Twin Cities. I can see that, I guess. I mean, why is some AD from Winona or Moorhead going to vote for it when there aren't even any teams in his area?

Some schools don't want it because they think they'll be "forced" to add lacrosse if it's approved. Do they currently sponsor every high school league sport? Probably not. So why would they be forced to add lacrosse.

I think the biggest problem is that there are a lot of ADs who are older and who are traditionalists. They have their image of what high school sports should be: football, basketball, baseball, wrestling, track, swimming, and maybe a few women's sports if you hold a Title 9mm to their heads.

I had an AD like that at the school where I used to coach. He had the attitude that the traditional sports needed to be maintained at all costs. Thankfully, he only lasted one year and they replaced him with a guy who said "We'll do whatever the kids want. If no one wants to play baseball this year and everyone wants to play lacrosse, or rugby, or whatevver, than that's what we'll do."

To me, that's what the AD should be advocating: the kids, not some misguided ideal of what high school sports mean to people whose athletic careers ended 40 years ago.

But I could be wrong.

[mnref]

Was the question ever answered: What are the advantages of state sanctioning?

"Legitimacy" aside, are there any real benefits? Is there money involved? Is state sanctioning even necessary for an individual school to carry the program as a "varsity" program (I don't think it's necessary in Illinois)? Is it even that important for individual programs to be called "varsity"?

A small number schools in Minnesota do treat club lacrosse teams nearly the same as varsity teams in other sports and for the teams at those schools there would be little difference with MSHSL sanctioning.

The fact is that most schools will not consider elevating a sport to "varsity" status unless it is first sanctioned by the MSHSL - whether this is a requirement or not I am not sure but it is the norm. Once the MSHSL adopts the sport, it is decided by each school district/school if they want to participate.

"Legitimacy" is a major issue. Legitimacy may include the fact that once a sport is "varsity" players can receive letters, teams have access to facilities, schools will even announce that a game has been played or cancelled in their regular in school announcements, newspapers will report scores, players are eligible for "athlete of the week" honors and the like, etc.

Simply having the school's athletic department manage the schedule, pay insurance, and take care of many "technical" details is a great advantage. Varsity teams get monetary subsidy even if it isn't direct through facilities, publicity, etc.

With sanctioning comes additional restrictions. Although the current league has plenty of rules and regulations for teams, for better or worse, the MSHSL is far more advanced with restrictions on squad size, practice start dates, etc.

I hope that answers some of your questions.

Matt