November 14, 2003

PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE TO ADD LACROSSE TO BLUE HOSE ATHLETIC PROGRAM

CLINTON, S.C. — Presbyterian College has announced plans to add men’s and women’s lacrosse to its athletic program beginning with the 2004-05 academic year. The plan received the endorsement of the college’s board of trustees, which met Tuesday and Wednesday on campus.  The addition of the two lacrosse teams will give PC 15 total varsity teams in 10 sports.

“Lacrosse is a fast-paced sport that is rapidly growing in popularity in the South,” PC director of athletics Bee Carlton said.  “As we investigated expanding the Blue Hose program, lacrosse was a natural fit for our program and our existing facilities.  Through recruiting and competition, it also will increase the college’s exposure in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states where lacrosse is widely played.”

Carlton said the college expects to hire head coaches for the teams by February. Both teams will compete at the club level during the 2004-05 season and will become varsity sports for the 2005-06 season. Limestone College in Gaffney is the only South Carolina college or university that currently offers lacrosse as an NCAA varsity sport.

Both teams likely will compete initially in old Bailey Memorial Stadium, which was home to the Blue Hose football team until the 2002 season.  Carlton said the current plan is for both teams to play an independent schedule while examining the possibility of conference affiliation.  Three colleges from the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Conference, in which PC is a member, compete in men’s lacrosse in the Deep South Conference.  Although no SAC school currently offers women’s lacrosse as a varsity sport, several regional NCAA Division II women’s lacrosse teams compete in the Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference.

“I expect to see the number of programs offering lacrosse grow dramatically during the next decade, which would offer more scheduling opportunities and likely new conferences.  For PC, the time is right to put a team on the field that will put the college on the leading edge of offering lacrosse as a varsity sport.  It is a new chapter in the rich Blue Hose athletic tradition.”

Considered to be America’s first sport, lacrosse was played by Native Americans.  It also is one of the fastest growing team sports in the United States. According to the U.S. Lacrosse Foundation, varsity collegiate participation has grown by one-third since 1995, the year in which only the men’s NCAA basketball championship game outdrew lacrosse as the largest attended NCAA championship.