Chelsea Robinson scored a milestone goal (her 200th) and then added the winner (with 29 seconds left) as Lakeland/Panas defeated Greeley 14-13 yesterday. Alex Myers was there “with the details”:http://lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080429/SPORTS02/804290348/1110. Jess Curran scored the first four goals and Caitlin Collins assisted on the final goal.
In the other big game played yesterday, two defensive-minded teams battled, and Mahopac ended up with a 5-4 win over John Jay. It’s great to see so many competitive games in the power league after what happened last year to the bottom teams.
The Lakeland/Panas game bring up another issue. This was sent to me by former Pearl River AD Tom Doherty. You can tell how new he is to blogging because he signed his name at the end (just kidding).
I’ll hold off on offering my own opinion because I want to generate discussion, but here are some facts about the issue. Panas contributes three girls to the Lakeland/Panas girls team (the same number as last year), and Section 1 has never denied a merger. I’m definitely interested to hear your thoughts.
“It puzzles me that Lakeland-Panas is still allowed to be merged in these high profile sports. Can someone please explain to me why this is allowed to be “rubber-stampedâ€
year after year?
When the New York State Public High School Athletic Association first allowed schools to combine teams in the early 80’s it was really earmarked for “emerging†programs in the smaller schools (Class C & D). The concept was for these schools to get together for a few short years in a new sport like lacrosse to provide an opportunity for these students to participate. Once the foundation was built, each school would then go off to form their own team. It was never the intention for school districts with two large high schools to regularly merge their programs into a district-wide team of all the elite athletes.
According to the NYSPHSAA classification numbers for the 2007-2008 school year, Lakeland has 947 students in grades 10 through 12 and Panas has 669. Of the 79 high schools in Section One, Lakeland is the 27th largest and Panas is 38th. Another factor that must be considered is that they both lie in Upper Westchester County, one of the top “hotbeds†in the entire country for lacrosse. Both the boys and girls teams are almost always ranked in the weekly state “Top 25†poll and perennially in contention for the Section One championships. If the true purpose of scholastic sports is to provide opportunities for youngsters to participate, I can not understand why each school has not developed their own teams?
To me this is not just a lacrosse issue; another example of a current “dynasty†is Clarkstown having one girls’ gymnastics team. Using the same state classification numbers as above, Clarkstown North has 1173 students and Clarkstown South has 1061 students. They are the 14th and 19th largest high schools in Section One.
I would welcome your readers’ thoughts on these merged teams.”
Tom Doherty
Former Athletic Director
Pearl River High School
1982-1992
13 Comments
i agree with mr. doherty. although when initially implemented the combination of schools probably gave both schools the opportunity to form one team when neither had enough girls to form a team on its own, today it is most likely preventing panas from having its own team. i’m sure many panas girls don’t even try out because the Lakeland kids are so good. separating the schools won’t make the lakeland team any less potent…they will still be great…and panas will have the opportunity to let many more girls play. separating is a win/win.
Grow the programs. Provide opportunities for girls (and boys) to play a sport. Take L/P apart and give each school the opportunity to field a team that will grow in time. There are new programs starting in the area like Hen Hud & Edgemont. This is not about winning and not about taking a strong team apart. It’s about doing what is best for the kids, the school and women’s lacrosse overall.
Individual swimmers, gymnasts and skiers combine practices regularly, and the athletes compete under their own school name at combined meets. This gives opportunities to the smaller percentage of athletes whose schools don’t fund their sport. I see a big difference between the two.
The “emerging†team sport theory was a good one but has been abused or maybe just ignored in upper Westchester. Who is responsible now for making the correction? Is it NYSPHSAA or is it Lakeland or is it Panas? Anyone know?
on vacation & allLax,
Thank you for your support on this issue. To answer allLax’s
question on who is responsible for future changes—It would
need to start initially with Lakeland & Panas. Then, all
merger requests yearly need to be approved by the Conference
Athletic Directors, then Section One, and lastly by the NYSPHSAA. The state association will almost never deny a merger approved by a section.
I’m certain the L/P coach has fought very hard to maintain the status quo, the combined team gives an advantage in getting players from a larger pool. The school district saves a great deal of money by only having one team (travel, coaches, insurance, etc.)
The current situation certainly seems to be more about winning than developing opportunities for student athletes to participate. Girls lacrosse continues to grow and many communities over the past five years have added youth programs to bring girls in at a earlier age. It is important that they see opportunity in the future. Since the league is still divided based upon power rankings, Lakeland and Panas can each have teams playing opponents of equal strength rather than only schools of equal size. I question why it is not already underway.
What happens when you de-merge and one season there isn’t enough of students out for your team. Do you not play a Varsity schedule? What happens if you have Senior’s who are left without a team to play for? I don’t think they can play with the team they were merged with before, because it does change their status with numbers. I don’t know if other schools have experience that problem.
To all the bloggers above, I’ve often wondered to myself and outloud why is it that Lakeland/Panas was able to pull this off for so long. At this point, it’s almost laughable. As for Lakeland being so loaded with talent, I would imagine that the Lakeland coach would embrace and give her blessings to a newly created Panas High school’s womens lacrosse team. After all, this is about the kids and an opportunity to be a part of something great. {high school athletics}
Dozens of smaller schools are fielding lacrosse teams in Sect. 1, why do think Panas HS would have a problem fielding a team?
Dear Fan,
You raised a very interesting point on teams de-merging
in your May 1st posting.
All reasonable people involved in administring Section
One sports would allow a “phase-in” period of one year.
This would enable the few seniors an opportunity to play.
It all comes down to Lakeland-Panas having the will to have two separate teams in the future.
Very good points have been brought up. But I wonder, is it fair to the girls on the L/P program to lower the field of competition for these girls. Lakeland would be dropped to Class B (yes still very competitive), and Panas would be in Class C. No offense to Class C, but most of those teams—with a rare exception—are not very competitive when playing Class A/B teams.
So what if you let just the seniors play during the “phase in year.” What about the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors on the teams.
Also, the two schools are in the SAME SCHOOL DISTRICT. These girls play lacrosse together in middle school (there is only one middle school for the district). If the district fed into one high school, with the same numbers and same talent, would this question still emerge? Numbers are not the only thing that equates success. Anyways, the numbers for the two schools are not THAT much larger than other Class A teams. L/P has 1616 in enrollment grades 10-12(Lakeland 947 + Panas 669). Mahopac has 1352 whereas Suffern has 1135. Now, take a look at North Rockland with a whopping 2108! New Rochelle, 2449. Arlington, 2596. With North Rockland being an exception, how come these other highly populated schools are not lacrosse powerhouses. I am sure there is a lot of possible talent in those enrollment numbers. When it comes down to it, talent and success comes from coaching, feeder programs, and a athlete’s dedication to win… not from how many kids your school has (while this does sometimes help).
Hoenstly, I think the demerging of the teams is an idea from some ungruntled parents from rival schools mad that their team lost to L/P.
If L/P had one merged team for each sport then your argument would be stronger. As far as I know Girls Lacrosse is the only merged team, if the bballers can play against their former teamates why not the laxers?
to sect1fan, you are one hundred percent correct! all their other athletic teams have no issue with the separation.
sect1fan- Girls Lax is not the only merged team for LP. Wrestling, Boys Lax, Swimming and Diving, Track and Field, Winter Track and Ice Hockey are all merged teams.