Overview…

This past year was one of the most successful in the school’s history! And energy around the program is at an all-time high. Now, our goal is to make the Ann Arbor Pioneer Men's Lacrosse program an all-inclusive program open to ALL student-athletes who want to participate. Unfortunately, right now, it is almost impossible to reach that goal. Most athletes who come from disadvantaged socio-economic households are not able to play, even if they want to. Students of all backgrounds want to come out and play for the Pioneers, which is usually a great problem to have. However, many of them will not be able to participate because they cannot afford the dues or the equipment required.

Why Lacrosse?

Lacrosse is a rapidly growing sport in the state of Michigan because of its appeal to a whole new generation of student-athletes. It combines speed, agility, mental toughness, and a willingness to work as a team. For many students today, it is hard to gain a feeling of belonging. Our program promotes inclusion and acceptance. It promotes the team aspect and moves towards bettering the athletes as individuals and students before fostering their growth as athletes.

The Issue…

Lacrosse at Pioneer High School is considered a club sport. Therefore, we do not receive school funding. That means players and their families are charged a fee to participate. This fee has to cover everything from scorebooks and jerseys to referees and buses to travel. Coaches, assistant coaches, tournament fees, and even lacrosse balls total thousands of dollars. These are just a small sampling of the costs incurred to effectively run a Division 1 high school athletics program. The budget of the Men’s lacrosse program is roughly $22,000-$25,000 annually. In order to obtain that amount we would need around 45-50 players all paying full fees.

Currently, two dozen players would like to come out and try the sport. They want to play and participate, which is amazing. It shows how popular the sport is becoming and how much it appeals to students. However, most of these students cannot afford equipment, let alone the dues/fees needed to participate. So, most of these players will be turned away. If they can’t play, it would hamper our ability to field a Junior Varsity and Varsity team. This would decimate the entire program as younger players would not gain the experience needed to progress without a JV. It would also discourage interested players from even trying the sport, and the energy currently surrounding the program would fade.

The need…

We are asking for your help to raise funds to sustain and grow the program. We would like to outfit players who cannot afford the sport with equipment they could borrow for the season. We'd also like to cover fees for those who cannot afford it. Fees are currently $500 per player. Outfitting a new player with proper equipment would likely be around $600-$800. We realize that this is a significant amount of money, which is why we are reaching out for help. If we can raise enough funds, we can make this sport accessible to everyone who wants to participate in it, regardless of their background or income.

Please help if you can. Every penny counts and is needed to provide opportunities to student-athletes who deserve it. Go Pioneers!