Parkview Lacrosse Program Taking Shape

Parkview girls lacrosse coach Melissa Smith recalls the near exhilaration of lopsidedly losing -- yes, losing -- that first game against Chattahoochee a season ago.

"When the buzzer went off, my girls ran to the goalie and celebrated like they'd won," she said. "Even though we lost 20-0 to a defending state champion, my girls finished that game like they were the winners."

So was the inauspicious start for Parkview's boys and girls lacrosse program, now in its second season with designs on rivaling the state's most experienced programs.

Made an official sport by the Georgia High School Association in 2005, lacrosse remains relatively new, particularly in Gwinnett, with 10 schools listing teams and all but Wesleyan and Greater Atlanta Christian in just their first few years. Parkview began its program last season with Norcross, Grayson and Duluth, a season after Collins Hill and Peachtree Ridge jumped into the fray.

Yet on-field struggles weren't all Parkview had to overcome. Some criticized the sport's mere existence, particularly in an economically difficult time for schools. Even before Parkview boys' 18-0 shellacking by Wesleyan in the inaugural Gwinnett County Tournament six games into last season, one blogger questioned, "Given tight [school] budgets, I don't understand why schools are funding additional sports, especially a sport that appeals to such a small subset of non-native students."

But nay-sayers perhaps only heightened Parkview players' resolve to burst on the scene and quickly learn lacrosse, with dreams of some day rivaling the Parkview' football and wrestling team's four state championships and its swim teams' 10.

"The school bought some of the big items to get us started, but the start-up costs were self sufficient," Smith said. "Parkview is a high-quality athletic school, and these players were proud of being brand new. In 20 years they could look back and say, 'Hey, I was part of that first team.' I'm sure [long] ago our football team didn't have that winning reputation."

There has been discombobulation from the start and growing pains throughout, though. Of the 30 or so boys who began, only Connor King and Clayton Williams had experience, which made initial practices comedic.

"I kept throwing the ball into the ground. It was real awkward at first," confessed senior midfielder Gentry Harrington, who has scored one goal. "Most all of us had no idea at first what we were doing."

Parkview's girls attended Georgia Tech's club game against Georgia, and maybe learned as much there as anywhere.

"The girls were enthralled, taking it all in," said player Caitlin Pardus' mother, Tammy, a booster mom in charge of spirit wear. "They were like, 'Wow'. It was fast and furious, quite an eye opener."

Boys coach Dave Erwin and Smith said their teams have been largely self sufficient financially, but have benefited some from school funding. Everybody needs cleats, sticks and balls, while the boys play with helmets, shoulder and elbow pads and the girls with goggles. There's also the cost of goals, backstops and referees each match, too.

Erwin estimated the cost at about $400 per boy, but Harrington said his gear was more than twice that.

Understandably, wins have been few, but the Panthers' competitiveness might not be apparent in scores. Parkview's boys lost their first-ever game to Chattahoochee 13-0 and finished last season 2-11. They were shut out four times and outscored 15-3 on average. The Panther girls wound up 2-12-1, still chomping at the bit to play a final game that was rained out.

"It's been frustrating, sure. You want to win," Erwin said. "We're not in it to lose. Losing can be painful sometimes, but we've got a good group of kids who understand where we are talent-wise and what it takes to get better."

And there have been the lumps still. Parkview's boys began this week 0-5, despite Paul Vance's four goals and Connor King three in a 10-9 shortfall Thursday to North Gwinnett. Parkview's girls have fared only slightly better at 1-4, having beaten only North Gwinnett (9-5) and having lost Thursday to the Bulldogs (8-7), despite coming from 6-0 down at halftime and barely missing a shot in the final seconds.

"That's the type of effort, sportsmanship and leadership we've had," Smith said of coming so near a second victory over North. "Once we got behind, we still didn't give up."

For cynics who might ask in the hallways why the Panthers haven't won more, Smith challenges them to come out and watch the sport only some have heard of and few understand. Then, she expects, they'll appreciate the challenge of launching a new sport, made more difficult by splashing immediately into varsity.

"It's great to have the will to go outside the box and do something different and be different," Smith said. "We didn't start with a club team like a lot of schools in Gwinnett did. We jumped the gun and got in with a varsity team.

"If we're going to do something," she added, "we're going to do it all the way."