Sanctioned!

 The Washoe County School District Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to support the sanctioning of boys’ and girls’ lacrosse, clearing the way for the sport to become an officially sanctioned Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) sport in Northern Nevada beginning with the 2027 season. 

For the roughly 600 high school players who took the field in Northern Nevada in 2026, sanctioning brings the things that have been out of reach for more than two decades of club play, among them free access to school fields and athletic facilities, district transportation to games, compensated coaching positions, and an official NIAA Nevada state championship. Players will now fully represent their schools, rather than clubs affiliated with them.

High school lacrosse has been played in Northern Nevada since 2005, when Galena fielded the region’s first team. The game itself arrived earlier, with a post-collegiate men’s club tournament at Lake Tahoe in 1991, an event that continues today as the Lake Tahoe Lacrosse Tournament and still funds the sport locally.

In conjunction with the Board’s action, the High Sierra Lacrosse Foundation (the nonprofit that raises funds for lacrosse across Northern Nevada and the Tahoe-Truckee region) has committed $90,000 to support a strong start for the game throughout the region.

• $40,000 to Washoe County School District Athletics to help offset district-wide lacrosse officiating expenses during the inaugural sanctioned season.
• $40,000 in direct support for the region’s ten existing high school lacrosse programs, $4,000 per program, to assist athletic departments with transition-related costs.
• $10,000 reserved for future school programs as additional campuses add lacrosse, so new teams start with the foundational equipment they need.

The commitment brings the Foundation’s total investment in lacrosse across the region to nearly $900,000 since 2007.

“This investment reflects our confidence in the future of high school lacrosse in Northern Nevada,” said Jason Kuntz, President of the High Sierra Lacrosse Foundation. “Our goal is a sustainable model that lets every current program succeed while making it possible for more schools to join in the years ahead.”

The practical transition is already underway. School-affiliated lacrosse clubs are working with their schools to transfer uniforms and equipment into district ownership, a process the High Sierra Lacrosse League is coordinating along with the development of foundational regulations, procedures and schedules.

“We’re grateful to the Board of Trustees and District staff for today’s action,” said Justin Cutler, President of the High Sierra Lacrosse League, which has run high school lacrosse in the region since 2007. “Sanctioning changes who administers the sport, but it doesn’t change the community that built it. Today belongs to every player, coach, parent, official, volunteer, and school administrator who believed lacrosse deserved a permanent place alongside Nevada’s other interscholastic sports.”

Volunteers, families, and local supporters will continue to play a central role as the sport grows under district administration.