BANGOR, Maine — Interscholastic athletics typically comprise about 2 percent of an average school budget.
But the competing interests for such scarce resources can be as intense as a Duke-North Carolina basketball game.
Not only does the cost of existing offerings usually increase from year to year, but other sporting interests often evolve from individual passions to formal requests for a school to stretch its athletic budget in the interest of broadening the competitive menu.
Ask a handful of Maine high school athletic administrators for a wish list, and they’ll invariably suggest adding the likes of volleyball and girls ice hockey to their athletic programs — if they don’t already offer those sports and with the benefit of an unlimited checking account.
Another popular item for such wish lists is lacrosse.
Participation in boys and girls lacrosse increased nationally by 9,744 athletes during the 2013-14 school year to 188,689, ranking it the 10th most popular sport for girls and 11th for boys, according to the annual High School Athletic Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations.
A similar pattern of gradual growth has emerged in Maine, where three new boys varsity lacrosse teams and three new girls squads will make their varsity debuts this spring.
Teams at Erskine Academy of South China, Lawrence of Fairfield and Winslow will increase the state’s boys lacrosse ranks to 44 schools since its inception as a Maine Principals’ Association-sanctioned activity in 1998. The additions of Erskine, Winslow and Lake Region of Naples will increase the number of girls varsity lacrosse programs statewide to 43 schools.
“There is no question that lacrosse is the fastest-growing sport in the state right now,” said Mike Burnham, Maine Principals’ Association assistant executive director. “And it is moving northward rapidly.”
But just how rapidly the sport continues to expand its northern exposure is uncertain, dependent in great part on tight school budgets and taxpayer wishes along with having a sufficient base of players in local communities capable of sustaining any new high school program for the long term.
“In an ideal world probably we would have [a lacrosse team],” said Brewer High School athletic administrator Dave Utterback. “But with the way our budgets are, I don’t foresee that happening.
“It’s not the end of the world, but we’re certainly not in a position to add. I just don’t see us taking on $35,000 to $40,000 in lacrosse expenses right now.”
Bangor High School has a self-funded lacrosse club that last spring played its first match against a team from another school. That Bangor team had 15 to 20 boys and a small number of girls on the squad.
“We’ve got dedicated kids, and we’ve got a great adviser who’s helped grow the club,” said Paul Butler, Bangor High School principal.
If and when the club achieves varsity status, Butler said, depends on factors both physical and fiscal.
“It’s about sustainability, not only sustainability in terms of participation numbers but also financial sustainability,” said Butler. “It’s really a question of how we maintain the program, how do we expand, and sometimes what do we need to cut back from the core program to propose a responsible budget.”
“I see lacrosse as a great opportunity, currently on the club level, that I would love to see expand,” he added, “but I couldn’t, in collaboration with [athletic director Steve Vanidestine] and understanding the financial picture, justify it at this time.”
Among other considerations school officials might face related to starting a varsity lacrosse program is that if there is sufficient interest two separate teams (girls and boys) might have to be created simultaneously to address Title IX gender-equity issues.
“That would definitely be in our thinking,” said Butler. “Any opportunities we expand for male student-athletes we’d want to be comparably expanding for the female student-athletes.”
Adding and maintaining two new varsity teams would come with a significant financial outlay.
“Certainly if we were to add lacrosse at the high school for the males, we’d do an intra-survey to see where the interest lies with the females,” Utterback said. “If there’s the interest there we’d certainly want to avoid anything with Title IX, and we’d also want to provide the opportunities that the kids want. If that’s something they say they want, now you’re talking $80,000 between the two teams.
“And if you’re going to add that on, what’s going? There’s got to be a tradeoff somewhere because I just think in the climate we’re in right now that you’re not adding without cutting,” he said.
Lacrosse players in grades 3-12 from the Bangor area do have a competitive outlet through Eastern Maine Youth Lacrosse, a program offered through the Bangor Parks and Recreation Department. Last spring, about 30 high school-age boys from 10 communities participated in that program, which competed against similar teams from other regions.
That number included 10 to 12 Bangor High students, as well as players from neighboring schools such as Brewer, John Bapst of Bangor and Hampden Academy.
“I think there is some momentum for lacrosse here,” said Mike Bisson, Hampden Academy athletic administrator. “I know I have kids playing over with Brewer and Bangor, but we haven’t had any formal requests yet.”
Rick Sinclair, John Bapst athletic administrator, has had a similar experience involving lacrosse-related discussions.
“It’s talked about, but it’s a ways away from coming to fruition here,” he said. “We have some kids who are interested in it, for sure, and I think for a couple of years they’re going to try to get kids from Bapst and play in Eastern Maine Youth Lacrosse.
“After a couple of years if the numbers have sustained themselves and there seems to be interest among the younger kids coming up, then maybe we can talk about going into a club mode,” he said.
