History of Lacrosse In West Virginia
1971 to 2011

1971 - West Virginia University Lacrosse Club formed in January and played the first game in the state March.24, 1971
1974 - Bethany College started their men's club team. They also had a women's team at one time. Dates unknown.
1977 - The first high school lacrosse team was at Martinsburg High School which played teams in western Maryland. Not much else is known about them.
1978 - Morgantown Lacrosse Club formed. a.k.a Redbeards. It lasted 11 seasons until the fall of 1987.
1979 - Wheeling College had a club team from 1979 to 1999 until they became an NCAA D2 Varsity in the fall of 1999


1980's - West Virginia University fielded a women's club team off and on in the 80's and 90's.


1990's - West Virginia Wesleyan attempted to start a men's varsity program in the early 90's, but ended up with a club team for a few years


1995 -  The Morgantown Cougars were formed and coached by Dr. David Myerberg. They played the 1995, 96 and 97 seasons in the Western Pennsylvania  Lacrosse Association (WPSLA). No other teams existed in West Virginia at the time to be able to play against each other. The Cougars were a combined team made up of mostly Morgantown High and University High students.

1998 - Dr. David Myerberg and Jake Mullett, Assistant Superintendant of Monongalia County Schools, worked to get  the Morgantown & University High boys and girls teams sanctioned by the Monongalia County Board of Education. They were approved as unfunded varsities and joined the WPSLA starting the 1998 season. The University boys team and the Morgantown girls team were the dominant West Virginia teams in the early years, but still had a lot of work to do get to the level of the Pennsylvania teams.


1999 - Wheeling Jesuit University began fieldeding an NCAA D2 Varsity in the fall of 1999
1999 - Shepherd College formed men's lacrosse club and joined the NCLL in the fall. They have had a team off and on to the present.


2002 - Concord College formed men's lacrosse club and joined the NCLL in December. They had a team for the 2003 season.
2003 - Marshall University formed men's lacrosse club and joined the NCLL in January. They continue to the present day.
2003 - Wheeling Jesuit's Varsity finished up the season ranked 10th in the nation in D2

2005 - Through the efforts of Melissa Nagowski, owner of the local specialty restaurants Wings Ole, Fairmont Senior boys and girls were the next teams to be approved by their county's school board. The Fairmont Senior girls team soon became the dominate girls team in the state.

2006 - Charleston YMCA awarded an equipment grant from US Lacrosse to establish a Charleston area youth lacrosse league sponsored by the YMCA.
2006 - Morgantown Area Middle School lacrosse programs started for both boys and girls.
2006 - Da Lazy Lizards men's team was formed in Morgantown and continued for a few years.
2006 - Linsly, Wheeling Central, and Wheeling Park were admitted to the Western Pennsylvania Scholastic Lacrosse Association (WPSLA) as associate members
2007 - Saint Albans High School started fielding boys team in the spring of 2007.
2007 - Morgantown Area MS boys team split into two teams feeding their respective high schools, Morgantown Middle and University Middle.
2007 - Morgantown Area girls middle school team began competing against western Pennsylvania programs.
2007 - Bridgeport,  Buckhannon-Upshur and George Washington High School started organizing to field boys teams for the 2008 season.

2007 - When the state of Pennsylvania sanctioned lacrosse, the West Virginia teams needed their own organization. In September of 2007, the charter team coaches met at the old University High to form the West Virginia Scholastic Lacrosse Association (WVSLA). They borrowed heavily from the WPSLA's Constitution and By-Laws, made a few changes and formed the WVSLA.

2008 - Wheeling Park High School started fielding a girls  team.
2008 - The WVSLA sponsored the first state championships in boys and girls lacrosse.
2008 - Shepherd University announced that they would add women's lacrosse as a varsity sport in the fall of 2009 to compete in 2010.
2008 - Herbert Hoover High School started organizing to field a boys  team in the spring of 2009
2009 - West Virginia Wesleyan College announced that they would add women's lacrosse as a varsity sport in the fall of 2010
2009 - George Washington High School started fielding a girls team.
2009 - Capital High School started organizing to field a boys team in the spring of 2010
2009 - Herbert Hoover High School started organizing to field a girls team for the spring of 2010
2009 - West Virginia Chapter of US Lacrosse incorporated in the state September 30
2009 - A Greenbrier East High School student tried to organize a boys team.


2011 - Huntington & Preston started organizing high school boys teams for the 2012 season.
2011 - Alderson-Broaddus College announced the formation of men's & women's varsity teams for the 2012-2013 school year.
2011 - Huntington awarded an equipment grant from US Lacrosse to establish a Huntington area high school team.


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