April 7, 2005

Opening Up Texas' Private Club

It's a longstanding division, one that exists in every state in just about every sport: private prep schools versus public high schools. The gap between the two institutions is particularly noticeable across the lacrosse landscape, with many private leagues getting the jump on their public brethren in developing the sport.

Such was, and to some degree still is, the case in the Lone Star state. The top teams for nearly the last decade have come out of Texas' prep school league, the Southwest Preparatory Conference, with the last public school state champion raising the trophy in 1996.

But now there is a chink in the armor of the private school dominance over lacrosse in Texas, and if the chink turns into a hole, it may change the sport forever in the state.

The challenge to the prep hegemony comes in the form of Highland Park, a public school in the leafy suburbs of Dallas. Coached by former Duke standout Derek Thomson, Highland Park became the first public school to not only come out of the North district of the Texas High School Lacrosse League, but also broke the eight-year reign of the private-school stranglehold on the state chalice.

Thomson has a good perspective on the dynamic between the two types of schools, as he was the head coach at St. Mark's, one of the top private programs in Big D.

"I want us to be the model on which public schools build their program," said Thomson, who works in the finance world when not on the lax fields. "We built our program though the youth programs."

Thomson and his players are extremely proud of breaking through the barrier, one that drew one coach in the state to write a 10-page treatise pushing for a separation of the public and private programs to allow equal competition. Last year, it appeared that the author might have been on to something as, per usual, three of the four teams in the state semifinals were private institutions with Highland Park being the lone public rep.

"I used that as motivation for my guys," said Thomson, proudly. "I read all of it one day and it ticked my kids off. When we won the championship, I had all the kids sign the article with the message, `Don't ever say never' and we mailed it to him. I never did hear back."

While they have certainly set the bar for public programs, others see Highland Park as a bit of an anomaly. "They are in affluent areas of Dallas," said Sam Chambers, the head coach at St. John's, a private school in Houston and one of the traditional contenders for the state and SPC crown. "They have the best of both worlds."

"I would tend to agree with that," said Kevin Barnicle, the head man at Episcopal Dallas, a big private school rival of Highland Park in the Dallas area. "They have three or four times as many kids and a majority of the kids are starting to crossover to lacrosse."

But for the time being, most of the public school programs will wear the tag of sleeping giants, held back by the fact the sport is not sanctioned by the Texas High School Athletic Association and, as a result, is not sponsored as a varsity sport at the various high schools that actually have programs.

"There are many more obstacles for a public school to overcome," said Thomson. "We have to pay for our fields, we have to go to a parent's house if we want to watch game film, and we have to pay to use the weight room."

But even with these obstacles, things have progressed for the sport in the public ranks, especially with the youth leagues developing. "Our middle school is playing at the level our high school was five years ago," said Thomson.

Regardless of the internal machinations, lacrosse in Texas - both public and private - is drawing the notice of high school programs from outside the state, as well college coaches from all over the country.

Not too long ago Texas teams would travel to the East Coast and be treated as the runts of the lacrosse world. "Ten years ago we were literally laughed at when I took our team to New Jersey and North Carolina," said Chambers. "They would `moo' at us and call us hicks. But people are starting to wake up."

Several teams went to the Disney tournament earlier this spring and Thomson estimates that the Texas teams won 90 percent of the games they played. Barnicle's Episcopal Dallas team traveled to Baltimore earlier this spring, giving MIAA bully St. Paul's a test, eventually losing, 14-12. Just last year, St. John's lost to St. Paul's, 23-1, so the improvement is evident.

Collegiate programs, big and small, are starting to make Texas a frequent stop on their recruiting visits. During his stint with St. Mark's, Thomson sent one of his players, Brian Pryor, to perennial Division III power Gettysburg, and Pryor is now the top points man for the Bullets. "Coach Janczyk called me recently and told me that if I had anymore kids from Texas he would definitely be interested," laughed Thomson.

St. John's defenseman Andy Gagel is drawing interest from Dartmouth, Harvard and Notre Dame, according to Chambers, while standout attackman Austin Jeter from Episcopal Dallas is taking a long look at Denver. Attackman Matthew Fritz (Villanova) and long pole Tim Shuey (Hofstra) are Highland Park players heading Division I.

Quality players are not the question in Texas. They are playing right now and the potential for a whole lot more is out there, as well. When -- not if -- the public schools get rolling with the sport, and approve its sanction, will determine at what pointlacrosse will explode in Texas.

While enjoying a private school Golden Age right now, both Chambers and Barnicle both agree when the public schools organize themselves, it will be just a matter of time before the private schools will be the ones trying to crack the upper echelon of lacrosse in Texas.

Lone Star Notes
The St. John's boy's lacrosse team is playing the season with heavy hearts after losing a midfielder from last year's team, Scotty Craven, in a car accident. Coach Sam Chambers and the rest of the team will be dedicated the lacrosse field at St. John's in Craven's memory when they play Highland Park on Saturday...the playoff structure for the Texas Division I high school is similar to the one in place for Major League Baseball. One team from the South (Houston area), Central (Austin/San Antonio) and North (Dallas) earns a trip to the state semifinals along with a `Wild Card' team taken from the pool of regional semifinalists...it's not terribly surprising, but both Barnicle from Episcopal Dallas and Thomson from Highland Park feel the North is the strongest district this year. The argument is strengthened by Highland Park's 19-0 victory over St. Mary's Hall, the top team out of the South and '04 state finalist, earlier this year...St. John's laid claim to the title of best team in the South with a thrilling, 11-10 victory over Episcopal Houston on Tuesday evening. St. John's tied it up with one second left and won it in overtime...much like Florida lacrosse programs, Texas teams must deal with the "Friday Night Lights" syndrome, ending their regular season on Apr. 15 -- the start of spring football practice. This is no small fact, as Thomson estimates that 65-70 percent of his players also `moonlight' on the gridiron.

Past High School Notebooks:

Life In The MIAA
Rocky Mountain High (School Action)
Cali Shows Its Stuff at First 4
Noting The Northeast
Living Well In The Sunshine State

Have an idea or comment for the Thursday High School Notebook? Email Jac Coyne.