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History of Lacrosse In West Virginia |
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1971 - West Virginia University Lacrosse Club formed
in January and played the first game in the state March.24, 1971
1974 - Bethany College started their men's club team.
They also had a women's team at one time. Dates unknown.
1977 - The first
high school lacrosse team was at Martinsburg
High School which played teams in western Maryland. Not much else is
known about them.
1978 - Morgantown Lacrosse
Club formed. a.k.a Redbeards. It lasted 11 seasons until the fall of 1987.
1979 -
Wheeling College had a club team from 1979 to 1999 until
they became an NCAA D2 Varsity in the fall of 1999
1980's - West Virginia University fielded a women's club team off and on in the 80's and 90's.
1990's -
West Virginia Wesleyan attempted to start a men's varsity
program in the early 90's, but ended up with a club team for a few years
1995 - The
Morgantown
Cougars were formed and coached by Dr. David Myerberg. They played
the 1995, 96 and 97 seasons in the Western
Pennsylvania Lacrosse Association (WPSLA). No
other teams existed in West Virginia
at the time to be able to play against each other. The Cougars were a combined team made up of mostly Morgantown High and University High
students.
1998 - Dr. David Myerberg and Jake Mullett, Assistant Superintendant of Monongalia County Schools, worked to get the Morgantown &
University High boys and girls teams sanctioned by the Monongalia County Board of Education. They were approved as unfunded varsities and joined the WPSLA
starting the 1998 season. The University boys team and the Morgantown girls team were the dominant West Virginia teams in the early years, but still had
a lot of work to do get to the level of the Pennsylvania teams.
1999 -
Wheeling Jesuit University
began fieldeding an NCAA D2 Varsity in the fall of 1999
1999 -
Shepherd College formed men's lacrosse club and joined the
NCLL in the fall. They have had a team off and on to the present.
2002 -
Concord College formed men's lacrosse club and joined
the NCLL in December. They had a team for the 2003 season.
2003 -
Marshall University formed men's lacrosse club and
joined the NCLL in January. They continue to the present day.
2003 -
Wheeling Jesuit's Varsity finished up the season
ranked 10th in the nation in D2
2005 - Through the
efforts of Melissa Nagowski, owner of the local specialty restaurants Wings
Ole, Fairmont Senior
boys and girls were the next
teams to be approved by their county's school board. The Fairmont Senior girls team soon became
the dominate girls team in the state.
2006 - Charleston YMCA awarded an equipment grant from US
Lacrosse
to establish a Charleston area youth lacrosse league sponsored by the
YMCA.
2006 - Morgantown Area Middle School lacrosse programs started
for both boys and girls.
2006 -
Da Lazy Lizards men's team was formed in Morgantown and continued
for a few years.
2006 - Linsly,
Wheeling Central, and
Wheeling Park were admitted
to the Western Pennsylvania Scholastic Lacrosse Association (WPSLA) as
associate members
2007 -
Saint Albans High School started fielding boys team
in the spring of 2007.
2007 - Morgantown Area MS boys team split into two teams feeding
their respective high schools, Morgantown Middle and University Middle.
2007 -
Morgantown Area girls middle school team began competing against western
Pennsylvania programs.
2007 -
Bridgeport, Buckhannon-Upshur
and George Washington High School
started organizing to field boys teams for the
2008 season.
2007 - When the state of Pennsylvania sanctioned
lacrosse, the West Virginia teams needed their own organization. In
September of 2007, the charter
team coaches met at the old University High to form the West
Virginia Scholastic Lacrosse Association (WVSLA). They borrowed heavily
from the WPSLA's Constitution and By-Laws, made a few changes and formed
the WVSLA.
2008 - Wheeling Park High School started fielding a
girls
team.
2008 - The WVSLA sponsored the first state championships in
boys
and girls lacrosse.
2008 -
Shepherd University announced that they would add
women's
lacrosse as a varsity sport in the fall of 2009 to compete in 2010.
2008 - Herbert Hoover High School started
organizing to field a
boys team in the spring of 2009
2009 -
West Virginia Wesleyan College
announced that they would add
women's lacrosse as a varsity sport in the fall of 2010
2009 -
George Washington High School started fielding a
girls team.
2009 - Capital High School
started organizing to field a
boys team in the spring of 2010
2009 -
Herbert Hoover High School started
organizing to field a
girls team for the spring of 2010
2009 -
West Virginia Chapter of US
Lacrosse incorporated in the state September 30
2009 -
A
Greenbrier East High
School student tried to organize a boys team.
2011 -
Huntington &
Preston started organizing
high school boys teams for the 2012 season.
2011 -
Alderson-Broaddus College announced the formation of
men's &
women's varsity teams for the 2012-2013 school year.
2011 -
Huntington awarded an equipment grant from US
Lacrosse
to establish a Huntington area high school team.