Pinnacle lacrosse given access to turf field after parents push back

It took weeks of push back from parents for the Paradise Valley Unified School District to cave and allow the boys club lacrosse team at Pinnacle to play its home games at the school's refurbished turf field in the football stadium.

On Thursday, the district reversed field on banning the team from playing on the turf field because it is not an Arizona Interscholastic Association-sanctioned sport and now will let the team play there with conditions.

"Moving forward, field use will be determined on a case-by-case basis with heavier weight being given to scheduling and availability as opposed to type of sport," said Mat Droge, spokesman for the district, in an email Friday. "Provided the lacrosse club uses rubber cleats, the wear and tear on turf fields should be similar to other sports and not negatively impact the field's warranty.

"In weighing the pros and cons of this decision, including the potential high cost of seam or crease repair, school and district leadership have approved the boys lacrosse club's request for home games based on availability, like any other request."

Droge said that in early January, district leadership began to research and discuss the field use for outside rentals "to best ensure the district is continuing to do what it can to support student success both on and off the field."

"Part of this research," he wrote in an email, "included discussions resulted in a decision that will allow more opportunities for the boys lacrosse team."

Pinnacle has been playing home games at the school's stadium field for 20 years, but was about to get shut out from playing there this season. The Arizona high school club lacrosse season starts with games next week.

Support from the Pinnacle community

Last week, Droge told The Republic in an email that the district recognizes and appreciates the Pinnacle community's interest and involvement with lacrosse and realized how many Pinnacle students enjoyed and benefited from participating in club sports, but "unfortunately, lacrosse is not a school-sponsored sport and the club team is not connected with Pinnacle High School."

He added, "In PVSchools, fields are prioritized to support district-recognized sports that are provided to our students. This club team has been provided access to the grass fields, and at times given preference over other organizations that also rent the grass fields at Pinnacle High School."

Droge said recently with installed turf fields at each of the district's high schools, factors are considered when renting field space, including availability and wear-and-tear on the field, among other variables, "in order to preserve the investment we have made with taxpayer funding."

"Decisions on field rentals at Pinnacle High School are consistent with similar club sports that have requested the use of other district fields," Droge wrote.

Droge later confirmed with The Republic that a youth flag football league was renting the Pinnacle stadium turf field to play games on Sundays.

Matt Lisk, whose son Cooper is a sophomore defenseman on the lacrosse team and also plays football, was among parents pushing back against the school and the district's decision to ban boys lacrosse from using the turf field.

Pinnacle parents taking issue with district leadership

"As a parent and taxpayer, I am frustrated that Pinnacle and PVUSD leadership do not live up to the mission and vision of serving all students," Lisk told The Republic last week. "They hide behind the AIA status and the fallacy that lacrosse is bad for turf.

"And, I should mention, we are a football family and a lacrosse family — my older son Mason played football for four years and Cooper has played for two. We believe in all student-athletes, regardless of the sport's AIA status, having a chance to compete and create opportunities for themselves beyond high school, on a field that is safe and worthy of high-level competition."

After the district's change of heart, Lisk commented on how lacrosse is a beautiful sport with pathways for both male and female athlete to play at the collegiate, Olympic and pro levels.

"We’re excited and thankful to be able to use Pinnacle’s facilities, one of the top facilities in the state," Lisk said. "And we are hopeful Pinnacle and PVUSD would embrace a leadership role and work with us to grow the game statewide and push to official AIA status. We want to continue to create new opportunities for all student-athletes to compete at the high school level and beyond."

Coach Max Fleichman said he is grateful that the district had a change of heart that will allow his team to play at "such a high-level facility."

"We have already had internal discussion about making sure we leave it better than we found it," Fleichman said in a text to The Republic. "We look forward to continuing being a part of Pioneer Nation, and we can't wait to get our season started at home against Brophy next Friday."

Brophy Prep, the two-time defending state champion, has given its lacrosse team full access of the turf field to practice and play games, for which its coach, Pat Haberson is grateful.

"When I heard the news regarding Pinnacle lacrosse, I was extremely disappointed that the district did not approve for them to play their home games at the direct high school that they are affiliated with," Haberson said. "I’m very fortunate that Brophy as a school and athletic department recognizes lacrosse as a varsity sport.

"At Brophy, our school allows our players to practice and play all of our games at our sports complex and players also receive varsity letters while getting credits on their transcript for participating in varsity competition.

"I hope that other high schools can look at Brophy and realize that by welcoming lacrosse and allowing players on non-sanctioned AIA sports to be treated as true student-athletes of the school only fosters a welcoming environment and builds up the school community and pride even more."

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Pinnacle parents fight for lacrosse team to have use of turf field