A petition was started on Jan. 15 of this year by Nebraska Lacrosse Connection to get lacrosse a sanctioned sport by the Nebraska School Activities Association, and it is still open to sign until Fall 2024. 

Currently, the petition has just over 700 signatures and the goal is to get 5,000 signatures by Fall 2024 which is the next opportunity for the sport to be recognized by the NSAA. The petition’s main purpose is to show how many people would support their sport being recognized and sanctioned in Nebraska. 

The petition was started by a club association to first get recognition from the High Schools in Nebraska, then it can get up to the NSAA level. According to Jeff Johnson, interim associate director of NSAA, they are not currently aware of the petition to sanction lacrosse, which is why the petition first needs to be seen by the schools. It needs to be seen by the schools first because any proposal for the sport to be sanctioned has to come directly from a school, not from any club team or association. 

 For years, athletes have advocated for equal opportunities in sports and getting lacrosse sanctioned in Nebraska would be a huge step towards this. Lacrosse is already a school sanctioned sport in 26 other states and is growing in popularity with over 800,000 players at various age levels.  

Right now, the only way students are able to play high school lacrosse in Nebraska is through seven different club sports teams through Midwest Girls Lacrosse League or Nebraska High School Lacrosse Association. These allow for very few people to participate because to play it costs anywhere from $100 to $500 to get in a session as well as gear and equipment needed for the season. 

If lacrosse gets sanctioned in Nebraska this would allow for players here at Central to get the chance to play as part of a school team, which has many benefits as an athlete but also as a student. “We would get more support from the school, we would get easier access to field times, and just more convenient things overall,” said Genevieve Ormond, a senior at Central and Omaha Eagles lacrosse goalie. 

Lacrosse being available through high schools would allow so many more students to have access to doing a sport they might not have even considered before. “I think that it’s just going to be way more known to people at this school, so that’s so many more opportunities that kids have to participate in sports,” Ormond said. 

 Student athletes have been bringing awareness to this by starting social media accounts on apps like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok for their teams. They have also made efforts to be involved in school activities like yearbooks and school papers to get their sport recognized.