BlueJackets lacrosse team off to a good start
Did you know that high school lacrosse players have the highest probability rate to receive a scholarship and compete in college? According to a recent report by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, 11.9 percent of male participants (12,682 out of 106,720) and 12.6 percent of female participants (10,330 out of 81,969) continue the sport on the next level.
“I think it’s amazing,” said James Sands ’18, who is in his third year playing on the Farragut lacrosse team. “It makes me want to work even harder and improve that much more.”
Besides ice hockey, which has an 11.2 percent rate out of 35,393 high school players, the next closest sport on the male side is swimming at 7.0 percent and baseball at 6.9 percent. For women, ice hockey ranks first with 23.9 percent and swimming is ranked third behind lacrosse at 7.4 percent.
For the Farragut lacrosse team, things are beginning to look positive as third-year coach Adam Deisley tries to secure his best season, getting off to a solid start to the 2016 campaign with two wins in the first five games. With one more victory, the BlueJackets will set a record for the most wins by the program since it was reinstated a few years ago.
“Things are a lot better this year with more people coming out to play and a bit more enthusiasm,” said Deisley, who played in college at Kean University. “If we can continue this momentum, then we might be able to generate even more interest for next year.”
The BlueJackets play seven of their last nine contests at home so it will give students and the Farragut community a good chance to see the team in action.
“For people who have never been to a game, it’s a lot of fun with a lot of action,” said Deisley, who grew up playing with some of the best scholastic lacrosse athletes in New Jersey. “Up north, the sport is like a big get-together whenever there’s a game. You can see the northerners influence starting to take effect in Florida because of the quality of play at places like Tampa Prep, Out-of-Door Academy, Tampa Catholic, Berkeley Prep. A lot of those kids are going to eventually be able to play in college. Hopefully, we can turn the corner and have a program where the student athlete will want to call Farragut home.”
Here is the remaining schedule for the lacrosse team:
03/14 St Stephen’s Episcopal 6:30 HOME
03/15 Calvary Christian 6:30 AWAY
03/18 IMG (JV) 6:30 HOME
03/22 Sarasota Best Boarding School in US Academy 5:00 HOME
04/06 Riverview High 7:00 HOME
04/08 Manatee 6:30 HOME
