Byline: P. Brady Fish
Twitter: @pbradyfish
Chalk the men’s lacrosse club up on the board of fallen UVU clubs. Struggling to overcome a debt from a year ago, the club has been engaged in a “he said, she said” battle with the university since September. The amount levied against the lacrosse team is $3000, an amount the players and coaches say is an unjust, and an issue the team feels that the school has been unwilling to work with.
Volunteering as an assistant coach, former lacrosse player Lawrence Sullivan shed some light on the situation.
“There is not going to be any ball this fall, and right now the team is trying to put together some last minute fundraising,” Sullivan said. “If they are able to do it, maybe there will be lacrosse in the spring. The situation is difficult.”
Hanging with uncertainty, raising the $3000 is not the only problem the club is facing. The team is – once again – without their head coach, Kevin Perkins. Perkins, already frustrated the way the lacrosse team has been under-appreciated over the better part of a decade, has left the team’s head coaching position. Perkins left the team in October 2011 for a personal family matter. Perkins was unavailable for comment.
“He will coach again, but it will not be with UVU,” Sullivan said. “He is done with this school. This is a coach who led the club to five national championship runs in eight years, with two national championship game appearances. We played on national television, had games hosted on the Internet and made a name for ourselves. We had teams from the east coast calling us and wanting to schedule games.”
In an attempt to plead their case, the club wrote individual letters to the Office of the Vice President, petitioning for help, as well as expressing their desires for the club to continue to operate and represent UVU. The club’s former head coach was even able to secure a face-to-face meeting, but in the end the unresolved debt was left to the club.
“It’s a messed up situation,” Sullivan said. “Our taste from all of this is that the school only cares about money.”
According to the Clubs and Organizations department at UVU, the club is still recognized as full member at UVU and informed the UVU Review that the club is in the process of applying for an extension until spring from the National Lacrosse Organization.
Students interested in volunteering to help the club with their fundraising efforts can contact the club’s president, Kyle Olsen, or their faculty advisor, Axel Ramirez, in the McKay Education building, room 112.
I came to UVU from Texas to play for Coach Perkins. I had tried out on many different lacrosse teams around my home in Texas as well as a few schools in the east coast. With out trying out or playing with any of the UVU lacrosse players I phoned Coach Perkins to talk, immediately I knew this was the right decision. I loved what I heard from him, and I knew that this man would take the program in the right direction. It is unfortunate that the organization (UVU) has deemed otherwise. Wether or not the school recognizes it as a sport is irrelevant. Kids from all over the Wasatch front and afar came to UVU to play for Perkins. Sully who was mentioned and quoted in this article himself is from north Idaho. It’s a shame UVU didnt know a good thing when it had it.
I wish UVU would really take a hard look at the program. What we have accomplished in the past couple of years is amazing. The club lacrosse team has had more success than the basketball program there. I transferred form Utah State to play for Perkins, he drew a lot of players from across the United States to come to a institution who could care less. So sad…