By Jordon Lawrenz
Contributing Writer
For the first time since 1982-83, a new sport for both genders will be sanctioned by the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA).
Starting in the 2023-24 school year, lacrosse will be a sport that will be governed by the state association. Lacrosse has been played throughout a select number of Wisconsin high schools as a club sport, but now teams will be able to compete for a state title.
Even though it’s taken years to gain popularity and expand throughout the United States, lacrosse is the oldest organized sport in North America. The sport was in the Olympics five times before 1950, and most recently in the 2022 World Games.
The National Lacrosse League (NLL) had its first season in 1987 and currently has a total of 15 teams — five from Canada and 10 from the United States. While it may be hard to believe, the NLL ranks third in average attendance for pro indoor sports, only behind the NHL and NBA. With the average attendance increasing by nearly 2,000 spectators since 2004, the NLL continues to gain momentum, and now high school athletes in Wisconsin have a chance to play on a bigger stage.
Currently, there are more Division I female lacrosse programs in college than male. There are a total of 74 Division I male teams in comparison to 120 women’s. Similar to the likes of football and basketball, lacrosse is offered in Divisions I, II and III. An astonishing 247 colleges are in Division III for lacrosse, with an even higher number, 291, on the female side. Other than the NCAA-sanctioned programs, certain colleges participate in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) or the Women’s Collegiate Lacrosse Associates (WCLA). The MCLA and WCLA offer athletes the chance to continue playing in college, just not at the highest level.
In Wisconsin, there is only one university that finds itself in Division I — Marquette has that honor with its male and female teams. Wisconsin doesn’t have any programs in Division II, but does have a handful of squads in Division III.
Focusing back on high school, there are a number of lacrosse clubs in the Green Bay area. Both John Uhl, coach of the De Pere Central girls’ lacrosse team, and Max Salscheider, the Bay Port boys’ lacrosse coach, are both thrilled that the WIAA sanctioned lacrosse.
“We are excited to be recognized as a sanctioned sport,” Uhl said. “Lacrosse is growing so quickly, that it was inevitable.”
Salscheider added: “I think it’s great. This is an opportunity to get more eyes on the sport and help it grow. This will help us create more opportunities to grow the youth game in the state and get more team across the state.”
Now that lacrosse will be sanctioned next year, Salscheider touched on a few things that will change.
“From a day-to-day standpoint, I don’t think it will change much,” he said. “I think we will see the change be more noticeable in the behind-the-scenes part of running a high school program. We have been lucky to have a ton of support from our administration that some schools just don’t get. This is a chance for programs to get some more help financially that will help support their players.”
Uhl touched on the advantage of having a co-op for lacrosse,
“The De Pere and West De Pere school districts have been partners with us in our program already, so I don’t think that there will be a lot of changes for our team,” Uhl said, “But I think that a lot of the other teams in the state will begin to receive a lot more support. The biggest change might be the reduction or complete removal of team fees. Hopefully this will help lacrosse to grow even more quickly.”
Uhl is in an interesting situation as he never played lacrosse.
“I volunteered to help the team search for a new coach and we did not find one, so I filled in,” Uhl said.
As for Salscheider, he found great success on the field,
“I played four years at Bay Port as a defenseman and was a two-time captain and two-time all-conference award winner for the BVLA. I then went on to play a short stint at Marian University before coming back to Green Bay to coach at Bay Port.”
When Salscheider made his way back to Bay Port, he enjoyed four years as the varsity assistant. This naturally led him to being Bay Port’s newest coach.
“I was made aware of this role potentially opening last year,” Salscheider said. “Our former head coach Jason Chaplin talked to me last year about 2022 being his last season potentially and how he wanted to show me the ropes because he saw how much I loved coaching and thought I’d be a good fit for the program.”
While he helped out with various high schools, all of this experience at Bay Port has been Salscheider’s only official coaching experience. The timing certainly works out as he’ll get to enjoy coaching for the opportunity to win a state title sooner rather than later.
Salscheider offered some great advice on his mindset going into his first season as head coach.
“The goal each year as a coach is to give these guys the tools and the guidance to go on after high school and be great men,” he said. “As a team, our goal is to first win conference and then go on to the state championship.
“Myself, I just want to give these players the opportunity to achieve the things most players in this area have been told is not possible like playing NCAA D-I lacrosse, winning state championships and just getting the respect from everyone in the state. All of that is not possible without putting in the work, though. I feel this team has worked extremely hard to do that already and I just can’t wait for March 6 (the official start of the lacrosse season).”
Even though lacrosse is still considered a club sport, there is a set schedule for the season that included a conference.
“We play 16 games throughout April and May,” Uhl said. “Typically, we play our conference teams, which include Bay Port, Notre Dame Academy, Neenah, Appleton, Kimberly, Central Wisconsin (Wausau area), Hudson and now Pulaski. Prior to last season, our conference consisted of Neenah, Appleton, Central Wisconsin and Green Bay United. We have seen a lot of growth in the last two seasons. For the rest of our games, we travel to the Madison and Milwaukee areas for our games.”
When asked if lacrosse becoming a sanctioned sport will drastically impact the girls’ schedule, Uhl offered his thoughts,
“The biggest change is the growth of our conference,” he said. “More conference teams cut down on the amount of travel for our team.”
All in all, the athletes are excited that the WIAA will recognize lacrosse as a sport, but nerves come along with that as well for the players.
“Our athletes are excited to be considered a school sport and are a little anxious to see what else being a WIAA sport really means,” Uhl said.
“The boys are excited,” Salscheider added. “They are happy because our program now gets the recognition they have worked so hard for. All the work they have put in to grow this game is finally showing. They are just excited to be officially part of Bay Port Athletics.”
Athletic programs across the state will be growing come the 2023-24 season, an addition that’ll be here before coaches know it.
Salscheider feels grateful for the position he’s in.
“I just want to thank everyone that has helped me get the opportunity to be the head coach at Bay Port — Jason Chaplin for the guidance, alumni for the support and my players for giving me a reason to keep working hard each day,” Salscheider said.
Uhl wanted to share a message to sports fans,
“Lacrosse is a great game and this will help it grow in Wisconsin,” Uhl said. “I’m excited for the future of the game. If you’ve never seen a lacrosse game, you should come and check it out.”