Lacrosse and boys volleyball introduced to sports program

Entering the upcoming spring season, the Aragon Dons will have two brand new sports teams: lacrosse and boys volleyball. Lacrosse will have boys and girls teams this year, while Aragon’s girls volleyball team plays in the fall season and now will have a boys team playing this spring. Both sports overcame many obstacles to obtain the district’s approval to exist at Aragon. The push for lacrosse began almost three years ago, with a group of students and parents leading the charge.

“We needed to get a lot of people interested in the sport,” says junior Theo Bernard. “Then we started moving towards the school district.”

They started to obtain signatures in eighth grade at Borel, and then got more when they arrived at Aragon.

“Theo, Colin Harrington [and I] grew up playing club lacrosse together. We really wanted to play our favorite sport when we arrived at Aragon,” junior Aaron Solomon says.

“Finally this past year, we really pushed hard to get lacrosse approved by the district. My dad pushed really hard for it, along with Bernard’s dad and Harrington’s mom, and collectively we shared this mindset that ‘we really want this to happen, we really want to make it happen,’ and ultimately we did.”

Solomon will never forget the day when he found out the news of the fate of lacrosse at Aragon. “On Jan. 17 of last year, which is my birthday, the district held the meeting to decide upon lacrosse and boys volleyball. They approved lacrosse as a sport, and funding for it and everything. It was so cool having our hard work pay off, and it being on my birthday. We also just got our new gear, and everyone who plays this year will have their own helmet, arm and shoulder pads, and their own sticks.”

The lacrosse teams will be independent teams in regards to league play and will play most of their games against non-elite teams for their first year. “Perhaps next year we could be put into PAL,” adds Solomon.

Bernard adds, “Personally, I want to help lots of new players at Aragon. We are all trying to really help out and we really want the players on the team to have a good time on the field and enjoy it. Lacrosse requires lots of dedication, and with only four or five players in tryouts who have actually played before, it’s very important that everyone really tries hard to learn.”

Bernard says that the future popularity of the sport at Aragon does not worry him. “When we go off to college, we still have juniors, sophomores, and freshmen trying out, and with more freshmen and younger players that keep coming out, I think it will still be living.”

Clearly, lacrosse had its fair share of obstacles to overcome. However, approval of the mens volleyball team proved to be smooth sailing. “Volleyball was a piece of cake,” says Aragon Athletic Director Steve Sell. “They have a place to practice—they can practice under the lights of our gym, and even with all of the sports that use the gym, they have until 8 to hold a practice. Volleyball was easy.”

Boys volleyball coach Diean Hala’ufia says, “I believe a few of the parents planned to get volleyball in as a sport. It was propelled last year, and it came fairly quickly as far as the process goes; the athletic directors proposed it to the board and the district approved it.”

“Volleyball had just been in the talks for about four years, but we thought it would be better to help move it along by starting volleyball at the middle school level. It also helped because Mills and San Mateo wanted a team as well,” says Hala’ufia.

Senior outside hitter Artem Kosikov—who has played at the club level for three years—brings a solid volleyball background. “Our team is doing [well]. We are improving a lot. I expect us to have fun and I think the guys will really enjoy trying this new sport,” he says.

Kosikov also tries to lead by example during practices as well. “I try to help my teammates with passing and technical stuff.”

As far as creating practice time goes, Hala’ufia claims that all is going well. “So far, practice has not been a problem. We knew we would run into basketball due to their success, but it’s been pretty good so far.”

With lacrosse, however, Sell has some concern about its future at Aragon. “With no lights at our school [for the practice facilities], sports in the spring like track and field will be going until 5:30 and then it gets dark, so I don’t know how kids will be interested when you don’t really practice. You can’t put a team in a league that can’t really practice for the first month.”

“Every athletic director from the other schools has told me that it’s crazy to have a team without lights,” Sell adds. “I mean, playing against teams a month later who have practiced five days a week and you have only practiced maybe five times a month as a team just isn’t good.”

“I’m excited to watch the sport and I really do enjoy it, but we made a huge mistake. We don’t even have time to administer the sports we currently have going at Aragon, so why are we adding another one?” Sell states. “However, it’s the [athletic directors’] fault. We should have been kicking and screaming. I don’t blame anybody else but the athletic directors. We should have made better clarifications on whether the infrastructure was in place or not.”

Although one sport was more difficult to pass through the district, both sports prove to be entering exciting inaugural seasons this spring.