Telluride Lax goes legit

27 Oct Telluride Lax goes legit

After eight years in the field, Lacrosse in Telluride is going legit: This will be the first year that the boys and girls teams will be entering the CHSAA (Colorado High School Activities Association) Mountain Division. New players are welcome, and there will be an informational meeting Thursday, Oct. 28 (today!) at 5:30 p.m. at the high school cafeteria. Pizza will be served.

Lacrosse in Telluride started out eight years ago with just 15-18 high school boys and has grown into a girls and boys program with high school and middle school teams, and TYLA (Telluride Youth Lacrosse Association) anticipates more than 80 athletes will play this season. In the last few years the boys team has had a number of second and third place finishes in tournament play, and the girls (which started just four years ago) took second place at the Edwards LAX Jam in their first season. Playing for CHSAA is bound to help the players improve. “This will test our skills against much bigger schools with more established programs,” says Frank Hensen, president of the TYLA board.

This will also be the first year that TYLA is putting together a girls middle school team, and the board is hoping that they’ll have a strong turnout at the informational meeting today. “This will be the inaugural season for the girls middle school,” says Hensen. “We need to get the word out to all young girls (grades 6-8) so we have a strong team this first year.

TYLA raises all the funds for the teams, through registration fees, community grants and community sponsorship. The school, says Hensen, doesn’t have money to help offset the costs of transportation, lodging, coaching, etc. that go along with being part of the CHSAA. “We are in need of sponsorship from within and outside our community,” says Hensen. “The costs of the program have increased 55 percent but we are still trying to keep registration fees reasonable.”