Currently, there are only five active HBCU varsity lacrosse teams in the nation.
They are the Delaware State women, Howard University women, Hampton University men, and the men’s and women’s teams at the University of the District of Columbia.
However, a group of women at Morgan State hopes to propel their lacrosse club team to the varsity ranks.
HBCU Sports reporter Brandon King spoke with Monae Williams, Jai Williams, and Aaliyah Ekani of the Morgan State Women’s Lacrosse Club about their efforts to transform their squad into a varsity sport.
How were you all exposed to lacrosse, and when did you fall in love with the game?
Jai Williams: Personally, for me, I was introduced by one of my teammates, Courtney Floyd. I was in a pretty bad spot, mentally, last year in February, so I really did need to get out a lot more. And she was like, “Why don’t you just, you know, come out with the girls? It could be interesting. Let’s do it together.” I started falling in love with it. … It’s been like that ever since, really.
Monae Willams: Aliyah really introduced it to me. And I thought it would be just something cool to take on, like a new challenge. And since I’ve been doing it, it’s been really fun.
Aaliyah Ekani: For me, I’ve been around [lacrosse] for most of my life. But I never decided to go through with it. Because of the area that I was in. There weren’t many girls that looked like me that played lacrosse. So I was just in my head. It was, to me, a white kid’s sport. So I didn’t really have much [of an] opening to it. But when I came here, there was more insight as to like how many people in the black community actually do lacrosse, and it’s pretty significant. Since COVID, basketball didn’t end up working out for me. I decided since the flyer was out, to join a lacrosse club to try it.
Since you brought that up, how was it with you being an athlete transitioning from basketball to lacrosse? How did that go, or is going, I should say?
AE: The main adjustment for me is the fact that the sport is outside. The only other sport that I did play that was outdoors was soccer. And that was when I was very young. But other than that, I was worried about how difficult it would be skill-wise, but it has aspects of different sports within it. So the defensive part of lacrosse is easier for me because of the similarities to basketball. It’s to me the way I think about it to make it easier for me, it’s just me playing basketball with a stick and having other skills to be able to do it instead of dribbling the ball and shooting it.
How did you know how the decision to form the lacrosse club come about?
MW: There was already a coach for the women’s lacrosse team. But he had an incident, and from there, we kind of had the ladies just take it over as their own and just kept growing with it, and practicing and helping each other better teach the sport to one another just and spread the word.
Did you reach out to the men’s lacrosse team for help or advice? If so, how helpful were they in helping you get rolling?
AE: If I’m not wrong, the girl that originally started the club, there were clubs before, but they haven’t been as consistent. But I think the boys may be indirectly encouraged her. I’m not exactly sure because I wasn’t there to start the club. Two to four of them have helped at practice a couple of times, but I will say that it’s just been us.
The person that started the club, are they still around campus, or have they moved on to do other things?
MW: The boys are still around campus, we started recently collabing with them. We have projects moving forward in the near future with them as both of our programs grow.
As you move forth and attempt to grow the program, how well-received have those efforts been in terms of people wanting to participate or help?
MW: The girls that want to join or are interested in learning and how to play sports are 100 percent on board. They’re all new to the sport, not fairly, not all new, but they all have some type of sports background. And also, it’s a new thing for me. So how do you really play it? How do you do this? So they all take on interest, and they’re always there.
JW: The idea of playing a sport and learning how to be committed to the sport in college can be different from going from the high school team or the club team. Personally, I played and ran track in high school, but I was on a club [team], and I was on school teams. The commitment is very different. But I do feel like the girls who are committed will show that with a lot of practice, they do improve. They do try their best as well. So that’s always a good thing for us as we try to grow the team.
How many young ladies are currently in the club and how many did you start with?
MW: So we currently have like 26 to 30 girls who are interested and want to play and show up to practice. Everybody has different set schedules. Due to classes and stuff, we are in college. So everybody has different schedules. But we have 26 to 30 Girls.
AE: Last year, we might have had towards the lower end, 15 to 24 … we don’t completely have all those same people [now] because a lot of people have graduated or went further into their majors, and a lot of us have pretty big majors have a pretty big responsibility with a lot of science majors and STEM majors.
With there only being five HBCU varsity lacrosse programs, do you want to see the sport spread not only to other MEAC schools but other HBCUs in general?
JW: We would love for it to become a team first because we are a club. Then as far as progression goes, we can only take it one day at a time.
MW: I would like it to be a long-term thing well after we’re gone. Where alumni would come back and watch the woman’s lacrosse go head-to-head to another team.
What would need to happen for the club to eventually transition to a varsity sport?
MW: Well, we definitely need support, [that] is the main thing. But the other things are funding and travel. We just need to be known. So people [can say], ‘Oh, Morgan has a woman’s lacrosse team? I never knew that.’ We just need to put it out there so that people already know, they don’t have to question.
AE: One of our things [is] not [to] just expand it towards like other African American players. One of our things is especially pushing lacrosse towards the female minority because, as a female athlete, support isn’t always there, no matter what the sport is, and it’s hard to get. So that’s something that we definitely take a lot of pride in working in and value, but it’s never something that we let like cloud our heads.
Are there plans for any type of outreach such as clinics going into some of the local high schools and middle schools and things of that nature, to try to build that pipeline through the next generation?
MW: Yes, we have connected to clinics that we are going to partake in this to get our name out. There are already parents who’ve shown interest in sending their daughters to Morgan just so they can play on the woman’s lacrosse team. Once we’ve made it a team, but since it’s a club, we have to get off the ground [first]. So when these new when the new students and freshmen come in, they have something to just go into. And they don’t have to worry about making it a team first.
AE: There’s still some we’ve had, like a couple of parents coming on the days where students are incoming and regardless of the fact that we are right now [a club team] and still encouraged their daughters possibly keep us an option. So there’s not really a recruiting thing going on. It’s just like other people besides us spreading the word.
Is it exciting to know that you’re, you’re helping with this initial wave of growth and awareness of lacrosse at an HBCU level?
MW: It is very exciting. And also, sometimes it’s a little frustrating, but more on the exciting part of us knowing that we have an opportunity to make something that wasn’t originally there. We’d be the first to do it and just keep passing it on, like leaving footprints in the sand.
You’ve got the fundraiser, and once you hit that goal, does that take you through an entire season? What are the economics of lacrosse?
MW: The GoFundMe is just the beginning of our funding and a way to get our name out there. So when the girls share it, and people donate, [people may say], “Oh, I’ll put some money in, I can go see them play when we start having games.” And no, it wouldn’t completely take us through a whole season.
Do some of those expenditures include officials and renting a field on which to play?
MW: Yeah, there are fees for every part of the game, honestly.
Is there a website or any other sources of information on the club for people to check out?
MW: We’re working on getting that. We really only have an Instagram page (@morganstatewlax) that people can just look at and see our practices [and] videos of our practices.
