Funds netted for lacrosse program

Lacrosse is officially set to be a sport in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District next spring, as two high schools provided the needed funds to the district on Friday.

In February, the school board approved lacrosse as a California Interscholastic Federation sport after the booster clubs at Newport Harbor High School and Corona del Mar High School lobbied for official recognition. The board members voted 5-1 in favor of the proposal, but said the district would not adopt the sport unless the schools raised 75% of the first-year cost by March 31.

In the end, both schools gathered the funds ? around $61,000 ? that the district had required.

“We had basically a three-month time there, and we had a lot of generous people and people who worked very hard,” said Cindy Hanrahan, the lacrosse club president for Newport Harbor. “A lot of people really support this sport.”

The two schools took different paths toward raising money, as Newport Harbor garnered much of its money through fundraising events while Corona del Mar got by on donations from parents and its own booster club. Among Newport Harbor’s top moneymakers were a benefit sailing event and a brochure for the lacrosse team, for which the school sold advertisements to businesses.

Corona del Mar received $5,000 from its boosters club and amassed checks from others in the community ? some of them virtual strangers.

“We had donations from as far down as St. Margaret’s School,” said club president Alec Abbott. “People donated to help the women’s lacrosse program from down there.”

Abbott said he had figured that Corona del Mar could raise enough funds, but he was still relieved when the final check came through. Both schools were able to reduce their payments by providing lacrosse equipment.

“Asking for money is never easy,” he said. “We knew going in that we had some very generous parents, but you’re always nervous. We’re very fortunate we were able to raise funds.”

The next step, Abbott and Hanrahan said, was to work out an implementation plan with the district, including bus transportation and field use. Although lacrosse is now available as a CIF sport for all of Newport-Mesa, neither Costa Mesa High School nor Estancia High School has yet expressed an interest in forming a team.dpt.04-lacrosse-CPhotoInfo6H1PJKC520060404iqug5dkn(LA)Corona del Mar High School lacrosse player Michael Kidushim fights through the Northwood defense last spring.