100 Years of Scholastic Lacrosse

January 1, 2022 - Sometime back in 2021, while researching the history of lacrosse in the area, I was reminded that 2022 would mark the 100^th anniversary of the start of scholastic lacrosse in Geneva. My good friend Dave Moore was probably more prepared when he wrote to point out the same thing and ask if there would be a recognition of the accomplishment. Dave and others will be contributing stories throughout the season.

Next to join the “committee” was boys Section V coordinator, Mike Simon, who, as fate would have it, had just come out of retirement to substitute as the Athletic Director at Geneva. Naturally, he and Geneva Head Coach Jeff Dunham are putting together a bunch of exciting events for the season. we have also received help from others including new Aquinas Head Coach Terry Corcoran.

Now, before we start getting email from lacrosse historians, we need to point out that Geneva has not played one hundred seasons. A rule change by scholastic administrators in the early 1940s put an end to high school teams playing against college freshmen teams which diluted the schedules to the point that Geneva stopped playing after the 1940 season. World War II came along and later, in 1957, Geneva alumnus Joe Corcoran started an intramural program which led to a few scholastic games in 1958 and a regular season in 1959 with Bob Manners at the helm.

That said, BLaxFive.NET will be celebrating the start of scholastic lacrosse in 1922 with the posting of stories starting in January and continuing through the spring season.  To allow readers to reminisce, we will also post stories on our Lax Lines website.

To start things off, we have prepared a timeline showing when teams started playing scholastic lacrosse. In our research, we are aware that there were some club scholastic teams as early as 1909, when Rochester’s West High School played some games against Syracuse as part of the Rochester Lacrosse Club program. We are starting, however, with Geneva as the first school-sponsored program.

There are only a few places in the country that can match our history in scholastic lacrosse, so with the start of the new year, let’s celebrate.

Paul Wilson