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A new ball game 'Crosse town
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Mooney Pat McGlone 31 high sticks Orange Tom Newnas 88 during scrimmage, Friday March 20, 2009
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Cardinal Mooney Joe Illencik warms up for scrimmage, Friday March 20, 2009
By Jon Moffett
Organizers hope to generate interest at other schools in the Valley.
Justin McCarty wasn’t SURE what to expect out of his first school lacrosse experience. The 15-year-old Cardinal Mooney sophomore was used to dressing for soccer and suiting up for swimming.
He had played the game before, when he spent time in the summer with a cousin from Georgia, who taught him how to play. But scrimmaging a high school lacrosse program was a little different than a pickup game with a relative.
“It felt new,” McCarty said. “I was a little nervous, but I think we all were.”
But lacrosse feels new to many Mooney students.
The school will field a lacrosse team this spring for the first time. Tom Trefethern, who will coach the fledgling squad, approached Mooney principal Sister Jane Marie Kudlacz last fall about fielding a lacrosse team. Though skeptical, Kudlacz expressed her support.
“One of the advantages we have here at Mooney is parent involvement,” said assistant coach Terry Reardon. “Because of that, Sister Jane Marie has been very supportive and had a lot of faith in us that we would be able to pull this off.”
Trefethern and Reardon, along with Dr. John Boniface, organized the team. The trio had gone to school together since kindergarten and were teammates on the Mooney football team. Trefethern recruited his friends because he knew they’d be on board to help out. Reardon thought otherwise.
“He knew who to pick on and who wouldn’t say no,” Reardon said laughing.
Trefethern helped coach a new team at Stow last year in the hopes of bringing lacrosse to Mooney. One of the biggest reasons, he said, was to give students as many athletic options as possible.
“My son doesn’t play baseball, neither do John’s or Terry’s, and the Mooney experience, at least in my mind, is maximum participation in both academics and sports,” he said. “So that is kind of what planted the seed. But before we did anything, we talked to Sister and [athletic director] Don Bucci and they were totally positive about it.”
There was some concern about the number of boys who would participate. Trefethern said the school only has about 250 boys, many of whom are already involved in other sports. At the start, things didn’t look so good for starting a team.
“When we started conditioning [in the fall], we only had about 10 kids because everybody was spread out among so many other sports,” Trefethern said. “So the only question was whether or not we’d get enough kids to do it.”
But Trefethern’s concerns were soon alleviated when about 30 students showed up for early spring practices.
“We were shooting for a roster of 25-35 and we have 30 kids,” Boniface said. “That number is just what we wanted, because any more than that for a first-year program would have been difficult for us to handle.”
Bucci, who has been the athletic director at Mooney for more than 50 years, said having the team compete in the spring is beneficial because it gives students another option.
“It works out real well because it is a spring sport,” he said. “If it had been a fall sport, it would have been difficult because we already have nine fall sports. But these lacrosse kids don’t seem to be baseball players ... so they don’t really thin out our track program or our baseball program.”
While the team is partially made up of football players, Boniface said the game is for everyone.
“It’s a very physical sport. For kids who might not have the size to play football, but still have a desire to play a more physical sport, this is perfect for them.”
McCarty said he felt comfortable on the lacrosse field and even enjoyed getting hit.
The lacrosse team is currently a club sport and is funded primarily by the students. The hope is to make it a varsity sport as early as next season. The coaches said there is a noticeable increase in the interest level for lacrosse.
“It’s one of the fastest growing sports in the country right now,” Reardon said. “I wish we had it when we were in high school; it looks like a lot of fun.”
Trefethern agreed, saying, “Hopefully other schools in the area will start programs up, and we will do anything we can to help them do that.”
Bucci said the team has already created a buzz at the school.
“We have a lot of kids participating and they seem to enjoy it and we’re proud of the fact that no one else in the area has started a lacrosse program,” he said.
McCarty said he will make the best of his time on the lacrosse field, no matter how long it is.
“I hope for us to improve, that’s all I want to do and then next year do even better,” he said. “Maybe one year we’ll win a state championship. I’d love to come back here and be able to watch the program as an alumni.”
jmoffett@vindy.com