Sophomore Mary Cate Buchert was recently denied the opportunity to form a field hockey team here at LHS. Many other area schools have instituted teams, and Buchert’s hope was to start one at LHS before the fall 2016 season started.
Upon discussing the potential idea with her counselor, Mrs. Kelly Angelos, she was told to bring it up with Mr. Briant Kelly, the school’s athletic director. She initially approached him with a list of her lacrosse teammates who would be interested in joining the new team.
“I know people from Lake Forest who play [field hockey], and they said it was really fun,” said Buchert. “I talked about the idea with some of my teammates and they all thought it was a good idea.”
Mr. Kelly claimed that ultimately the decision will rest with principal Dr. Marina Scott, but because field hockey is neither an Illinois High School Association (IHSA)-regulated sport nor a North Suburban Conference sport, LHS will most likely not sponsor it.
“We look at the feasibility of adding the sport; is this something we can do in our budget that the district has set forth, and do we have space for it?” explained Mr. Kelly.
With the limited field space at LHS, the likelihood of the sport being initiated is slim. However, Mr. Kelly did promise Buchert that he would reach out to Lakes Community High School and Antioch High School to inquire about the process they went through to start their own teams. In the meantime, he will look into the interest level of starting an intramural field hockey program at LHS.
