Oak Forest Girls Lacrosse Season off to a Great Start

Well, it's official. the Oak Forest Park District's inaugural girls lacrosse season is under way and I must say, it's about time! Many of you may recognize my name but for those of you who don't, I'm one of your elected park district commissioners. I'm also probably the most excited guy in Oak Forest to see girls lacrosse finally get under way in our community.

Before I explain that last sentence, let me tell you a bit about this new program. The park district has partnered with the Illinois Girls Lacrosse Association (IGLA) to provide an all-girls lacrosse program to grammar school girls grades 3rd through 8th.

We have two teams: 3-4-5th grade and 6-7-8th grade with a total of twenty four girls playing. The younger team played away Sunday in Hinsdale against Hinsdale and even though no official score was kept, they outscored Hinsdale 7-3! The older team played away in Western Springs against Elmhurst and tied 6-6. Sunday was a great day with all the girls having fun and excited to have finally played their first game which by the way, was the first lacrosse game ever for the majority of the girls.

Now my explanation to that earlier sentence. My excitement comes from knowing what I am building here in Oak Forest. My goal is to build a grammar school (and eventually a high school) girls lacrosse program here in Oak Forest as well as our surrounding communities.

Lacrosse is the fastest-growing sport in the Midwest right now and I don't want our young girls to be left behind without an opportunity to play this sport. My motivation comes from my daughter Hannah who just completed her freshman season as a division 2 collegiate athlete who is attending college on a lacrosse athletic scholarship. Unlike these young girls who are now learning this sport in grammar school, my daughter never played this sport until her freshman year at Marian Catholic High School. She herself wonders how much better she might be if she had played before high school and is extremely happy to see this program start in our community. By the way, there are over one hundred IGLA teams playing throughout the Chicago area but only six in the south suburbs.

I'll keep you posted as this program grows and yes, I welcome all the help I can get from anyone who wants to be part of this exciting and new adventure here in Oak Forest!