Mercer Athletics to Add Lacrosse to its Division I Program

Mercer University will add men’s NCAA Division I lacrosse to its intercollegiate athletic program during the 2010-2011 academic year and will add a Division I women’s team in 2011-2012, Athletic Director Bobby Pope announced today. Mercer is the first NCAA Division I institution in the state to announce the addition of lacrosse to its athletic program.

The sport, which originated among Native American tribes in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic before the United States was colonized, has long been popular in those regions and is now the fastest-growing high school sport in Georgia and one of the fastest growing in the country. According to the latest participation survey by U.S. Lacrosse, the sport’s governing body, lacrosse is the fastest-growing high school sport for girls over the last 10 years and the second-fastest growing sport among boys. At the collegiate level, men’s lacrosse has been the fastest-growing sport over the past decade, while women’s has been the second-fastest-growing sport.

“Lacrosse is becoming a very popular sport in the Southeast,” Pope said. “We will be the first NCAA Division I program in Georgia, so this will be a great opportunity for Mercer to set the bar high for this sport in our state.”

The University added men’s lacrosse as a club sport in 2007-2008 and plans to add women’s club lacrosse for 2010-2011. The teams will then make the transition to Division I status in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, respectively. The men’s club lacrosse team has participated as a probationary member of the Southeastern Lacrosse Conference, a club league. The team has played games against the University of Alabama, Southern Virginia University, Emory University, Palm Beach Atlantic and Kennesaw State University.

Mercer will also be one of the few programs in the Southeast, joining Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and newly established programs at Presbyterian College and fellow Atlantic Sun Conference member Jacksonville University. Currently, there are 64 NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse programs and 89 Division I women’s programs in the nation.

Pope said that the University plans to hire its first full-time lacrosse coach later this year to begin recruiting student-athletes for the teams.

Mercer is the only private NCAA Division I institution in Georgia and currently fields 14 intercollegiate teams, including men’s baseball, basketball, cross-country, golf, soccer and tennis, and women’s basketball, cross-country, golf, soccer, tennis, volleyball and softball. The University also fields a co-ed rifle team.

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Agnes Scott Names Williams to Coach Georgia's First Collegiate Lacrosse Team

Agnes Scott College has named veteran lacrosse coach and player Nicolle Williams to build its varsity college program for the sport -- the first in Georgia.

“We hired Coach Williams for her outstanding depth of experience, not only as a coach, but as a player with tremendous success on the national level,” said Joeleen Akin, athletic director at Agnes Scott. “We believe she has the insight, talent and vision necessary to establish and build a strong, new Lacrosse program for Agnes Scott.”

Agnes Scott College is recruiting team members and will field its first lacrosse team in fall 2009.

“The timing is perfect for Agnes Scott College to begin a lacrosse program,” Akin said. “The sport is gaining such a wide following around the country, particularly in Georgia and the Southeast. The addition of the lacrosse program will allow high school athletes to continue their playing careers as Scotties.”

Decatur resident Williams has served over the past five years as lead coach for two local lacrosse clubs, Dixie Chix Lacrosse Academy and most recently, Hotlanta Lacrosse Company. A member of the Georgia Lacrosse Umpire Board, Williams is vice president of the Women’s Division of the Georgia Lacrosse Foundation Regional Chapter of U.S. Lacrosse.

“The growth of lacrosse in the state of Georgia is remarkable,” Williams said. “We have doubled the number of high school, middle school and recreational programs in the past five years. The skill level continues to improve as lacrosse is played year round and newcomers are picking up the sticks at younger ages. I believe the sky is the limit for our new team here at Agnes Scott.”

In October, Williams received the U.S. Lacrosse Youth Excellence Award for Girls’ Coach of the Year. Prior to her arrival to Georgia, Williams was the varsity lacrosse coach at The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn. for five years. There she amassed a 67-10-2 record as a coach, including a perfect 17-0 season in 1996, when her team won the New England Championship.

“The first step towards building a program is getting the word out to talented, student-athletes that Agnes Scott lacrosse is here,” Williams said. “Attending games and tournaments, meeting club and high school coaches and using the contacts I have established over my time as both a player and coach will all be a part of it.”

As a player, Williams was a goalie for St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., where her teams reached the Division III, NCAA National Tournament three times. The Saints appeared in the semifinals in 1989 and finals in 1990. Williams set school records for single-season goals-against average (5.01), career saves (583), career-goals against average (5.69) and was inducted into the St. Lawrence University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002.

“Success is about learning, improving and desire,” Williams said. “It is my plan to develop a team that wants to truly comprehend the skills and game of lacrosse, a team that is willing to be better tomorrow than they were today, and a team that is prepared to put forth their greatest effort every time they step on the field. If we do all of those things, we will be successful here at Agnes Scott.”

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