Lacrosse program building state reputation
By Kyle LoJacono
The Tampa Tribe lacrosse club is growing in strength and numbers, much like the sport itself in Florida.
The Tribe, based out of Wesley Chapel District Park, had 13 players just last season. That number has exploded to 30 this summer, enough for to field two teams at some tournaments.
The club has also become more competitive.
The Tribe (13-2), part of the Wesley Chapel Athletic Association (WCAA), has claimed three Sunshine State Games (SSG) series tournament championships this summer after winning none during the program’s first five years. The club is also the first in Florida to ever take three SSG titles in one year.
“This is the best team we’ve had,” said fifth-year Tribe coach Michael Diaz, who leads the program with Corri Smeak.
The improvement is welcome by second-year midfielder Nicole Sarginger, a Sunlake High junior.
“I wasn’t expecting that at all,” Sarginger said. “This organization is really growing a lot. We’ve gotten more girls, we started winning and it’s been a lot of fun.”
Sarginger played hockey and tried lacrosse on the suggestion of her coach. She knew little about the sport when she attended her first game. The story is the same for goalie Arianna Diaz, who picked it up five years ago because the WCAA didn’t have a girls soccer team in her age group.
“I didn’t even know what it was,” said Arianna, a senior at Wesley Chapel High and Michael’s daughter. “I thought I’d be really bored. It’s just something that when you play it, you kind of fall in love with it. At first it’s not really an appealing sport. When I tell people to come out and play they don’t really want to, but when they play it, there’s something that clicks with them. I have no clue what it is, but it’s the best sport.”
Arianna added that being at the forefront of the growing sport is exciting.
“Everywhere I hear about colleges starting new lacrosse programs,” Arianna said. “When I was younger, we were lucky to have a girls youth team. Now we have girls youth teams feeding in to middle school teams feeding in to high school teams and new colleges everywhere. Up north it was already there, and the fact that it’s coming into Florida is really cool.”
Even though lacrosse is far from entrenched in the local sports scene, in fact it isn’t even a sanctioned high school sport in Pasco or Hillsborough, the Tribe has managed to attract players from five counties: Pasco, Hillsborough, Hernando, Pinellas and Marion. Some of the local high schools represented are Wharton, Freedom, Sunlake and Wesley Chapel.
“We’ve grown so much,” Arianna said. “Last year we had hardly enough to have one team. We’d have like two subs. Now we’ve got 30-something girls. I mean we’ve got girls from Ocala coming here.”
Michael said the added numbers lets them do more as a team while keeping kids fresh in games.
“To have just two subs, that’s tough to play,” Michael said. “Lacrosse is the fastest game on two feet. It’s constant motion at 100 miles per hour. … The thing is they’re a really good bunch of girls. They came together early in the season. They realize they all have a lot of talent, and everybody can trust everybody. We don’t have ball hogs, and they all work the plays. It’s paid off for them, and they’re really eager to learn at each practice.”
Smeak said they don’t put unrealistic expectations on the players, such as winning at all cost.
“We really push the girls to encourage them to do better,” Smeak said. “We’re not expecting them to always win, but we’re pushing for them to do their best. As long as they’re doing their best and giving effort for the whole game, then we don’t look at wins and losses. They’re skill level has improved each practice and each game because they’re working really hard.”
Effort and team unity was apparent early this summer, but wins also built the Tribe’s confidence.
Its first championship was won at the Broward Sunshine State Games in Parkland May 18 to 20 when the Tribe beat the Vero Beach StickBenders for the title.
“We came out and won our first game, and we usually don’t have good luck down there,” Michael said. “We usually get beat down on the east coast. Before the second game I said to them that we can do this. We got through the second game and played with a lot of energy the rest of the way. They controlled the field and played well.”
Next up in the SSG series was at the University of Florida June 9 to 10, where the Tribe defeated Tampa Elite in overtime for the crown. The third championship was claimed at Wesley Chapel District Park June 16 to 17, again beating Tampa Elite for the gold.
For more information on the Tribe, visit www.tampatribe.org or call (813) 994-6633.
