Hillgrove Lacrosse Community, it is with great sadness that we all received the news several days ago of the suspension of the remainder of the school year and obviously the resulting cancellation of the remainder of the Spring season.  I apologize for taking several days to reach out and appreciate your patience.  As a program we have numerous loose strings we are working to tie up in the best manner possible.

The first item on the tops of everyone’s minds is the ongoing raffle as we know everyone was out there selling tickets and the original plan for the raffle was to be held this week.  Well, all plans obviously went out the window.  I am happy to report we do still plan to hold the raffle this Spring or potentially as late as the early Summer.  We must continue to comply with all social distancing recommendations so are internally discussing alternative methods of collecting tickets and monies to allow for an online remote raffle.  We will provide an update as soon as possible but we will hold the raffle so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE sell your tickets.  If you need more tickets please reach out to me at or Michelle Vance at and we will arrange to logistically deliver them to your porch or the like.

Unfortunately the harsh reality is that even though we are doing everything possible to reduce expenses with the shortened season the ability to control most expenses is simply uncontrollable so we still need the fundraiser to be as successful as possible in these very difficult circumstances as the funding for our entire year in large part rests on this fundraiser.  We all have a little extra time on our hands so selling through Facebook or cooler modes of social media that I don’t even know of and collecting money through venmo or other electronic means can still work great. 

Keep in mind we will still collect the raffle stubs to acually hold the physical raffle so keep up with your sales and remotely write out the stubs with your buyers to turn in once we get clearance from the school administration on a proposed collection methodology.  Also keep in mind the top two HS sellers and top three Youth sellers will still get a $100.00 gift card so GAME ON!

Next, we have numerous families who have rented their gear.  As of now we cannot safely arrange for a return date so we ask that you safeguard the gear and we will be in touch about return dates when all this crazieness has passed.  To the extent you plan to play again in the Fall we will simply collect then.

The last thing I would like to touch on is a message to all of the Seniors of our High School team.  You have heard me talk about it before, but it cannot be overstated. 

PRESTON HOWERTON #3, ZACH LAHTI #4, AIDAN BYBEL #6, CARTER MAURICE #7, JOSH CARGILE #8, RYAN JARDIN #9, ZACK VANCE #10, TRENT BRUCE #14, ROBERT MARTIN #17, RYAN MURPHY #22, JACOB STOVER #24, JAKE BOND #32, AUSTIN FRITTS #33, JOEY BLANKENSHIP #34, PHILIP BELL #40, and ZACH SPRENKLE #48. 

These young men represent the largest and most decorated Senior class in the history of Hillgrove lacrosse.  Their season did not end the way any of us could have imagined.  They obviously deserved so much more – Senior Night, the Team Banquet, the Senior Family Dinner, and the chance to vanquish Harrison for the Area Championship.  The program grieves for the Seniors and their families.  Thanks VERY much for everything you have done and given to Hillgrove Lacrosse. You will be missed!

Hello lacrosse families.  We hope everyone is managing with this shelter in place existence without too much difficulty.  It is obviously an odd time in all of our lives.  Since it has been some time since we reached out we wanted to provide what little update we had.  As of now, neither the High School nor the Youth seasons have been cancelled.  We await word from GHSA as to High School and MAYLA as to Youth who each continue to extend the suspension on an ongoing weekly or biweekly basis.  We also continue to follow the guidance of our school’s administration and the County such that all school facilities remain closed for private or organized practice. 

As of this moment the plan for the program remains the same as that personally in that we will continue to shelter in place and await further word from our governing bodies.  We still hope that school will be coming back and we will be holding the raffle and back cheering at the fields.  We will report back when anything further develops.  Thanks to all for your patience and continued support of Hillgrove Lacrosse – Go Hawks!

I hope this message finds everyone safe and adjusted to this temporary pause button our community has been placed.  This obviously is an unprecedented event in all of our lifetimes.  For now as you know all practices and games have been suspended but are not cancelled.  It is our fervent hope that after this social distancing for a period of time that the world will start normalizing allowing for a return to normal life activities.  In the meantime we as a program will follow the leads of our community leaders and school administration.

For now what this means is that we ask you to remain patient and we will report news regarding ramping back up and the like once school comes back in session.  As for our raffle our plans are to continue on with the raffle but on a different timetable.  The program has already purchased all of the items being auctioned off and we do need to fundraise to fund the program expenditures already made and committed for the year.  We will report back the timing of the auction but it will be following Spring Break at a minimum in hopes it can still be centered around lacrosse games but even if not we will hold in our community at a local restaurant once we can all safely gather together.  Please be patient during these difficult times (and you should keep selling as well).

As a reminder we still have a community fundraiser with Otter's Chicken on Monday night from 5:00pm - 9:00pm.  Our original plan was for our whole HS team to be there and welcome everyone but we now ask that each family who loves Otter's like we do to support them by eating dinner there or picking up instead.  As with all of our local community restaurants they need our support during these difficult times so pick up some chicken and help Hillgrove lacrosse in the process. 

Thanks for your patience and understanding and we hope to be communicating brighter news in the weeks to come.

With the school closures announced this afternoon we will be suspending all Youth lacrosse practices and games until further notice.  We obviously will follow the lead of our school's and county's administration but everyone's efforts are geared towards protecting the more vulnerable members of our society. 

Good luck as we meander through this new world and look forward to our more familiar world returning as quickly as possible.  Thanks for your undertanding and continued support to our program!

100% VOLUNTEER DRIVEN - We want your help!

Volunteers...that is what makes Hillgrove Youth Lacrosse happen...100% of the time.  We are only as successful as our volunteers. 

We do not mandate that you volunteer like many other youth sports, but we do ask if possible that you find some time to contribute at some point during the season. We will work around your schedule and your area of volunteer interest.

Please reach out if you would like to volunteer, we will be sending our a Sign-up genius for conscession stand volunteers once the sping schedule comes out.   Email: 

Volunteer Opportunities:

Concession Stand – This is an area we ALWAYS need help.  The best way to do this is pick a game and volunteer to work and hour before or after your child’s game that day (Or two hours if you are feeling generous )

Team Parent – assist coaches with administrative duties for team, as needed.  May include weekly communications, assigning scorer’s table timer keeper for home games, or acting as point of contact for Hillgrove Lacrosse activities.  

Game Day Crew – for fields used for home games, set up and break down equipment, including cones, scorers’ tables, and balls, and clean up bench area and sidelines.  Done by teams with first and last games of the day.  Will take about 15-20 minutes with 2-3 people signed up for each category. These duties must be done on game days and cannot be left for the coaches each week.

Scorers table - We need volunteers to run the scoring table on the field and keep time for penalties.  This is a simple task, but a critical task

Press Box and Scoreboard - We need volunteers to operate the scoreboard and announce the PA system (This is the fun part)

Team Photographer - Take photos/videos during games

Field Line Painter – paint lines on the fields at Lovinggood. Training provided!  We would be looking for just a couple of volunteers this would be done most likely on a bi-weekly basis.

Rental Equipment Handout and Return - We need volunteers to help handout rental equipment and returns at the end of the season.  3-4 Volunteers would be plenty.   There are usually two pick up and return days each season. We could use volunteers for any session.

Fund-Raiser – assist Board Member in charge of fund-raising, as needed.