Central Kitsap School District is home to two multi-school lacrosse teams: One for girls and one for boys. Both teams have players from Central Kitsap High School, Olympic High School, and Klahowya Secondary School. Anyone in the Central Kitsap School District can join and play for one of the Klahowya district lacrosse teams.

“We need more players, so absolutely join,” Lacrosse Captain Trinity Ranes said. “We’re here to welcome you, and I’ll be your best friend forever and ever.”

What makes these teams unique is their composition of athletes from three different schools. These athletes must collaborate with teammates they don’t often see outside of practices or games. In some cases, they have even competed against these players who are now their teammates.

“It’s a very unique experience,” Midfielder Ellie Shoemaker said. “It’s very different from all the other sports I’ve done, because I also do swimming as well as lacrosse, and that’s just our high school. I think it’s really nice to have all the experiences of other schools as well as our school.”

Olympic and Central Kitsap High School have been rivals for quite some time. In every other sport, especially football, they are forced to go head-to-head in heated games. Despite this rivalry, there is not as much tension as one may expect on the lacrosse field.

“While there is tension between games like if we’re having a really rough game and we’re really just getting beaten down on then you can definitely feel tension,” Shoemaker said. “But I don’t really think it’s due to school rivalry, because when we’re on that team together, it just honestly feels like we’re one team, and it’s not multiple different schools. We’re all just together.”

Klahowya’s Lacrosse teams strive for a positive atmosphere. They take pride in making sure everyone feels welcomed and excited to play. A welcoming and positive environment helps immensely with team communication and cooperation.

“Our strong suits are definitely just positive communication,” Ranes said. “I feel we’ve done pretty good with communication so far.”

The teams have nailed positive communication but still are far from perfect and face many challenges. Like any normal team they have many different goals for the upcoming season.

“This season will be a season of growth, we lost a strong group of seniors as well as our starting goalie,” Girls Coach Kelly Brennan said. “But, we have a good amount of talented young players returning and new players adding to the program. I am very excited to see what our returning players bring to the field, including our leading scorer from last year as well as our strong midfield unit.”

The teams are determined to make the most of their season, with the coaches focusing heavily on developing strong teamwork within the group, acknowledging that every player needs to step up to contribute to the team’s success.

The coaches are not only focused on player development but also dedicated to expanding the lacrosse community in the Central Kitsap School District. By actively promoting the sport, they aim for more interest and players. Their efforts additionally aim to ensure the program longevity and success for years to come.

“I love the sport, and I want so many other people to love this sport,” Shoemaker said. “I want it to be something people want to see, want to experience, and want to play. As well I think it’d be really fun if we could win some more.”

Even with recruiting, the biggest problem the district lacrosse teams continue to face is a shortage of players. Both regularly compete against teams who have many extra and back-up players, while their teams only have 1 or 2 back-up players.

“I think not having enough players is definitely a big issue that we have,” Shoemaker said. “Lacrosse is a physical sport, and while girls’ lacrosse is more strategic, things can happen. Only coming into a game with one sub makes it really difficult for players, especially the ones who are on the field the entire game.”

Coaches and players have recognized the need for more people on the teams. They have worked hard this off season to recruit more athletes and to spread lacrosse around the schools.

“I’ve been talking to people about getting onto the announcements and on maze days, setting up a booth to show off lacrosse and just talking to people about it,” Ranes said. “I think that’s what’s great about having people from different schools, they can spread it around to all the different schools.”

The girls lacrosse team set up an information booth during Central Kitsap High Schools 2024-2025 maze day. Additionally, both teams came together after their 2023 season to hold an open field event, Inviting all middle schoolers in the Central Kitsap School District to try lacrosse free of charge.

Even with recruiting during the off season, the number of players from each school is not very even. The majority of players come from Central Kitsap High School and Klahowya Secondary School, with very few players from Olympic High School.

“For the last two seasons we have only had one player from Olympic High School and that is one of the areas that I hope to change,” Brennan said. “It is definitely tough being the lone representative from your school so I am extremely happy that they both were such strong individuals and great representatives from their school communities.”

Although they haven’t had much luck with recruiting people from Olympic High in the past, in recent years, they have had some success recruiting from Central Kitsap and Olympic High School. The fresh faces help add to the team’s welcoming and positive attitude.

“Having new players is such a great feeling, because it means we did our job, we recruited good and we made the sport look happy and made it look like a positive environment,” Shoemaker said. “And that’s just a really big thing for me is just keeping it really positive.”

It’s not too late for students to join one of the district lacrosse teams. Tryouts for both teams have not been announced but the information meetings have passed. Registration on Final Forms is open now until March 1st.

The girl’s first practice will be held on February 24th at Klahowya Secondary School. The boy’s team practices will start early March at Klahowya Secondary School as well.

For any questions reach out to Girls Coach Kelly Brennan at [email protected] and the boys’ coaches at [email protected].