Men's lacrosse suffers growing pains

As the Richmond men's club lacrosse team moves closer to varsity status, several team members said they were becoming a stronger team, despite players recently quitting after realizing they could not commit to a varsity schedule.

The team, started in 2010 with 37 members, and has lost six players during the last two weeks. Some of these players said they enjoyed playing for the team, but the schedule was too intense and they wanted to be involved with other campus activities.

Sophomore Jon Poole, who was one of the team's midfielders, said he had quit because it had taken up a huge portion of his time. Poole is on the executive board of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity and is a campus tour guide, and he said he wanted to be committed to those organizations.

Although the roster has recently become smaller, freshman Harrison Wallace said he thought the team was becoming closer and stronger. Wallace said the decrease in team members had united the remaining members, who knew that the men still playing were extremely dedicated.

Wallace is a long-stick midfielder, a player who specializes in defense. He admitted that the majority of his week was spent practicing and playing in games.

Glenn Carter, the team's coach, has the men on a weekly schedule that comprises three two-hour practices and at least one weekend game. Several team members said Carter had the team on a successful path, and he was perfect for the coaching position because of his knowledge and background in the sport.

Sophomore John Hagy, also a long-stick midfielder, said the time commitment was the hardest part of club lacrosse. "You throw away one day each weekend to play games," he said.

Hagy said intense practice transferred to intense play, which could be seen in any varsity team, despite the team's club status. "We play all out," Hagy said. "The intensity is the same, but the loss isn't."

Clay Palmer, junior midfielder and team captain, said whether the team would go varsity within the next five years was "the million dollar question," but that he had no doubt it could.

"I think it will [go varsity]," Palmer said. "But the mindset of the team will have to change. The varsity team will be developed through recruits."

Palmer said of the people who quit the team, it felt as though he lost teammates, but club lacrosse was an involved organization that not all the people could fit into their schedules. "The team, as it stands now, is still very tight because of our passion for the sport," he said.

The team had two victories last weekend, beating Virginia Commonwealth University 6-2 and the College of William and Mary 12-10. The men will compete at Mary Washington University Thursday, April 7.

Contact staff writer Markie Martin at markie.martin@richmond.edu