Plans for an official Paly lacrosse team are on hold due to financial restrictions placed by the school’s budget, despite a previously established and solid plan for running the team, parent and student organizers said.

For several years, students have been fighting for a lacrosse team, and until this year have not gained much ground. However, the organizing team, a mix of all grades, succeeded in obtaining permission from principal Sandra Pearson in November, as well as gaining approval from athletic director Earl Hansen to form a team in December, according to lacrosse player Arianna Gianola, a sophomore.

While originally hoping for both girls’ and boys’ teams, organizers say next year’s budget cuts will only allow for one team. At this point, it is most likely that the team will be for girls. "There was an 80 percent chance that the girls would get a team before the budget issues, and because of Title IX, we are allowed to have a team," Gianola said. The Title IX restrictions declare that the number of girls’ and boys’ sports offered should be equal. At Paly, the girls are currently lacking one sport in comparison to the boys, which lacrosse would compensate for.

Besides Title IX qualifications, the Paly organizing team argues that Gunn was recently allowed to recognize one girls’ lacrosse team as a spring sport. Paly is now one of the few schools in the Palo Alto/Menlo Park area that does not have a team.

Cost however, is the main concern in developing the team. "It will cost approximately between $10,000 and $15,000 to get one JV girls’ lacrosse team depending on the number of girls on the team and how experienced the coach is," Gianola said.
"Obviously coaching, equipment, and transportation are the main budget issues. 50 percent of the cost is for equipment, and the other 50 percent is for coaching, team transportation, tournament fees, and referees."

To help fund the team, organizers have suggested Paly students and families go to uslacrosse.org, which sponsors new school teams. In addition to uslacrosse.org, organizers have considered hiring a company sponsor to help reduce expenses.

While the girls may still have a reasonable chance of getting a team, the boys have been somewhat left in the dark. The costs of one boys’ team would be considerably more due mainly to extra padding needed for the "contact version" of the sport. The boys’ team organizers argued along-side the girls’, but due to the combination of next years’ budget cuts and the added cost for a boys’ team, the plan has, in effect, been dropped.

"The boys’ and girls’ games are so different that a coed team isn’t an option. It would be too complicated with rules and ref-ing," Gianola said.

Because the budget is the main issue holding back the team plan, the possibility of a new sport next year is still undecided as it is still unclear how budget cuts will effect the school, let alone sports.