LaGrange College to debut lacrosse in 2010
Oct. 17, 2008

LAGRANGE, Ga.—The LaGrange College Board of Trustees gave the go-ahead Friday for plans to add women's lacrosse to the school's athletic mix in the spring of 2010, according to Linda Buchanan, vice president and dean for student life and retention.

 "This will give us an even number of men's and women's sports teams and offer us an additional recruitment tool," Buchanan said. "Lacrosse is a rapidly rising sport that should prove attractive to prospective student-athletes, and we believe it will enhance student life here at the college."

With the addition of lacrosse, LaGrange will now field 16 teams—eight men's and eight women's—in 12 different sports.

The college has already tapped Julie Moses as its first lacrosse coach. Moses came to the college in the summer of 2008 as head volleyball coach, a position she will continue to hold.

  "I am very happy about the opportunity given me by the college's administration and trustees to help start the lacrosse program." Moses said. "I look forward to the challenge of building a program and will continue to recruit quality female athletes to LaGrange College."

LaGrange will compete as an independent in NCAA Division III, which oversees the more than 180 schools currently fielding women's lacrosse teams at that level.

A potential rival for the Panthers in Georgia will be Agnes Scott College, which will add a team in 2010. In bordering states, The University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., has recently adopted the sport, and Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, Ala., will begin play in the spring of 2009.

LaGrange also will draw opponents from Division III schools in North Carolina, Virginia and possibly other states along the East Coast. The Panthers will play a 15 to16 game schedule, which will be released at a later date.

Lacrosse is one of the fastest growing team sports in the United States. Youth participation has increased more than 500 percent since 1999 to nearly 250,000. It also is the fastest-growing sport over the last six years at the NCAA level, boasting more than 500 college club programs and nearly 200 women's teams that compete at the U.S. Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates level.

LaGrange will play its home games at Panther Field, located on the southern portion of campus. The field is used by the college's soccer teams in the fall and will be configured for lacrosse in the spring.

A four-year liberal arts and sciences college affiliated with the United Methodist Church, LaGrange College is ranked in the top 10 and as a "best value" among 95 Southern baccalaureate colleges by U.S. News & World Report. The college is the oldest private institution of higher learning in Georgia and has an enrollment of about 1000 students.