Lacrosse at Wiregrass Ranch High School (WRHS) is considered a club, but some believe it should be a school sport.

The issue at large here, it that there is a difference in the benefits between school sports and school clubs. As a club, the team can not use the official school logo, the name “Wiregrass Ranch,” or the abbreviation WRHS when making apparel. This is because the lacrosse club is not an official FHSAA sanctioned sport, meaning the club is not legally affiliated with the school and are technically an independent group.

The lacrosse club will officially change their status to a sport for the next school year. However, many students feel this is still penalizing current athletes.

Wiregrass Ranch High School sophomore Cole Blazek speaks about how he feels,”I believe that it is unfair to the students that play lacrosse. It is just as much a sport as any of the other sports at Wiregrass. This is also not the first year that the lacrosse team has been a club so they have had ample time to deal with the issue.”

As Blazek mentioned, this really is not fair to the students on the lacrosse team this school year. Particularly for those students that could potentially go to college on a scholarship for lacrosse. This means that the 2017 seniors in the club are going to lose the opportunity to earn a scholarship. Although it is not impossible to get a scholarship from a club, it is highly unlikely since colleges take them less seriously.

Although next year the club is going to be made an official sport at Wiregrass it still is unfair to current players. Next year this issue is going to be rectified and should not cause any more issues for future lacrosse players at Wiregrass.