Park City lacrosse teams have seen good success for a while now, although recent developments have Miners’ boys lacrosse coach Michael Persky particularly excited for what’s in store.
A little less than three years ago, the Utah High School Activities Association voted to sanction lacrosse, beginning with the 2019-2020 academic year. Games begin this week for most programs, with Persky and a whole host of others thrilled with the prospect.
“It really is an exciting time for lacrosse within the state, and it’s just great for all the great kids involved with the sport,” he said. “We’ve had a great tradition here at Park City with lacrosse for a while now, so it’s great for us, but also for all the other great programs in the state.”
The Miners have been playing lacrosse since 1994, according to Persky, and having won three of the last four state titles, it’s logical to assume they’ll be at or at least near the top this season.
“We’ve had some good success and have a strong group of 12 returning players, which includes three senior captains who are all committed to Division I colleges,” Persky said. “But there sure are a lot of other great teams out there, and we believe the entire sport is only going to get better and better, which is truly exciting.”
Helping out Park City’s cause considerably has been the rising success of the school’s other athletic programs, according to Persky.
“Lacrosse isn’t the primary sport for several of our kids, so them playing for a successful football program, and some of our other great programs, has been a real benefit for us,” he said. “A lot of credit goes to just everyone involved and I’m just fortunate to be able to coach the great kids we have here.”
Top boys lacrosse programs across the state include programs like Lone Peak, Herriman, American Fork, Corner Canyon, Brighton, and Judge Memorial, among several others. Altogether, 39 high school programs have been sanctioned to compete during the coming year, with most of that number coming from well-established programs.
Top girls programs include Herriman, Park City, Juan Diego, Riverton, Lehi, Corner Canyon and Waterford.
Helping the cause for lacrosse considerably, according to Persky, is the University of Utah, which began its own NCAA-sanctioned lacrosse program around the same time the UHSAA went forward to sanction the sport among in-state high school programs.
“Coach (Brian) Holman has been tremendous,” Persky said of Utah’s lacrosse coach. “He’s really reached out around the state to promote our great sport and is really helping with the recognition and a lot of the increasing interest. The quality of the sport has already gone up a lot, and we expect it to get just better and better.”
The lacrosse regular season begins this week and will run until the middle of May, with the postseason concluding on May 22.