A fast-paced, action-packed sport has been reborn on the Peninsula. Once a popular and championship sport at Point Loma High School (PLHS), lacrosse is back. And the contact sport is being played now by children as young as six years old. The local youth program, known for years as Adrenaline Lacrosse, is now using the Point Loma Pointers’ name with its first/second, third/fourth, fifth/sixth and seventh/eighth grade teams, according to enthusiast Carey Dawidzik. There are 100 kids enrolled in the youth program that uses Dusty Rhodes Park in Ocean Beach as its home turf, Dawidzik said. Younger players will be vying for PLHS roster spots in the future. “In fact, four eighth-grade girls were allowed to play on the women’s high school team already,” Dawidzik said. With a PLHS girls’ varsity team roster listing 20 names and 30 more on the boys’ side, lacrosse has burst back onto the school scene as it has in recent years at many other county campuses. Both Pointer teams are playing a varsity schedule, but program organizers hope junior varsity teams can be added next year. The records of both teams reflect their start-up status, with the boys currently 1-6 and the girls at 1-5. Both teams, however, are showing steady improvement, as evidenced by the girls’ 13-2 thrashing of Ramona last. The boys defeated Grossmont 3-1 and lost several matches by one goal. PLHS coaches are William Akie (boys) and Julie Spychalski (girls). Akie played lacrosse at Bates College, while Spychalski is a veteran of Indiana University. This is not the first time PLHS has fielded lacrosse teams. In the mid- to late 1980s, the sport enjoyed more than just a brief spell of popularity. In fact, the Pointers — one of just six lacrosse teams in the city at the time — won the local title in 1987 by beating Crawford High and moving on to win a state championship. With a lack of funding and other resources, the old lacrosse program drifted into oblivion before recent interest by students and others brought it back. Now, the revived teams are nearing the end of their first-season schedules. Future team events include a meeting of the new Parent Booster Club on May 12 from 5 to 6 p.m. at 3647 Kingsley Drive, where opportunities for off-season play and conditioning will be presented. On June 13, a barbecue banquet for the boys’ and girls’ teams will be held at Ski Beach on Mission Bay at 2 p.m.
