Women's Team

      The Waverly Lacrosse Club fielded its first women’s team in 2000.  Sibiski said they had talked for several years about starting a woman’s program, but they were unsure who they could get to spearhead it.  In 2000 Erin Kelly was the first woman’s varsity coach.  She had played lacrosse at MSU. 

      “What we had hoped for is that if we established ourselves, we would become varsity,” Prahler said of the woman’s program.  “So we formed a boosters group and put in women’s lacrosse.” 

      Sibiski said they wanted to make sure that both teams had equal use of the same facilities and that the program catered to both teams.  “We wanted to keep it as a fraternity-sorority type of thing,” he said.  By adding a woman’s team, Sibiski said it met the goals of growing the program. 

      To help the woman’s program grow quickly, a high school women’s tournament began in 2000, with 16 teams initially gathering for a one-day tournament.  The Waverly women met with quick success, winning the Class C state championship in 2001. 

      Also in 2000, the Waverly School District recognized the accomplishment of the lacrosse program, with its emerging gender parity and the large number of players (now over 100) by funding a Waverly Lacrosse Advisor’s position to oversee and manage the program at all levels. 

      In 2003 the high school lacrosse programs were elevated to varsity status.  In 2004 a sixth- through eighth-grade middle school girl’s team was formed, coached by Richard O’Boyle.  A field was added to the high school women’s tournament for middle school girl’s teams. 

      One of the keys to having the high school program grow was starting a middle school lacrosse program.  Sibiski began the middle school program in 1998, with seventh- and eighth-grade boys and girls playing on the same team. 

      “It was in those years that we decided that if we’re going to be a significant team in the state (at the high school level), we need our own feeder program,” Sibiski said.  In 1999 almost 40 boys and girls were involved, so two middle school teams were created.  Also in 1999 the middle school boy’s tournament began.  Every year over 50 middle school boys teams gather at Waverly for a two-day tournament. 

      The middle school program also helped the high school program achieve more success.  “There was a time when it just frustrated Bill and I that Detroit had such a stranglehold on the state,” Sibiski said.  “We were always good, but not good enough.  We started having our successes (in high school) because of the middle school program.” 

      The Waverly Lacrosse Club was the genesis for all other mid-Michigan teams in beginning their lacrosse teams.  The Waverly middle school teams consisted of players who went on to play at East Lansing, Holt and Okemos.  Prahler helped Holt organize its program, and he did several developmental clinics to help the East Lansing program.  Many of the coaches at other Lansing-area lacrosse teams are former Waverly players. 

      “We saw in the fall of 1991 that we weren’t going to make this without more mid-Michigan teams,” Prahler said. 

Continue reading about the recent history of the team...