A Groundbreaking Day For Montville Lacrosse

Wednesday, the Montville girls’ lacrosse team lost to The Williams School on Montville High School's turf field, 15-3. But after the game, it certainly didn’t have the feel of a loss. 

“Just by playing on the field, they won,” Montville Lacrosse Vice President Michael Doherty said. “A year ago we were just a dream, now we are 170 kids strong in Montville.” 

Wednesday was the first ever lacrosse game on Montville High School’s turf field. This is the first full year of Montville lacrosse, a club sport that is completely self-funded, besides rides to some of the games. 

Montville Lacrosse doesn’t just cover high school kids either. For the first time in history, there is a complete lacrosse program in Montville, serving first-graders to high school seniors. 

“It feels awesome,” said Montville Lacrosse Treasurer Jon Ventresca. “It feels absolutely awesome. I can’t describe how good it feels to be here (in Montville) and to have this first game on the turf was just awesome.” 

How It Began 

The idea for Montville Lacrosse began a year ago, Doherty said. Last July, the group held a weeklong lacrosse clinic, and 110 Montville kids participated, Ventresca said.  

“That really sparked the interest,” he said. 

Since, the group has been trying to raise money and recruit kids, and they’ve been successful at both. They’ve raised $15,000 – some from grants from US Lacrosse and Connecticut Lacrosse, some from donations and fundraisers – and recruited 170 kids to be part of the program. 

Doherty said the high school just agreed to have some games at the turf field, which had to be lined for lacrosse. He hopes that two years from now, it becomes a high school sport and is paid for out of the athletic department’s budget. 

In the interim, the boys’ high school team will play 10 games this year and the girls’ team will play 12. They will play junior varsity teams from other schools, as the vast majority of kids in Montville Lacrosse have never played before. 

The president of Montville Lacrosse is Kristin Ventresca. Carolyn Olczak is the head coach of the girls’ high school team and Kirk Dodson is the head coach of the boys’ team.