Holler at Your Hollow: OVU Repping West Virginia
by Jac Coyne | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Coyne Archive | Twitter
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| Ohio Valley will have 18 players on its inaugural
roster this spring, including seven from West Virginia. Coach Carl
Anderson is hoping that will be a solid building block for his
program. © Ohio Valley Athletics |
Lacrosse in West Virginia.
It's a phrase you just don't hear that much, which is somewhat
surprising. West Virginia clings to the western borders of three
prime feeder states in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, but for
a long time now the Mountain State has had just one collegiate
lacrosse program.
Wheeling Jesuit, located in the state's northern arm that massages
the back of Pennsylvania, has been around for decades, but it
wasn't built by prep players from the 14 high schools that sponsor
the sport in West Virginia. In fact, Wheeling Jesuit has more
players from both Nebraska and Wisconsin than it does from its home
state, which is zilch.
Another presence is about to emerge in Appalachia this spring,
however; one that has a goal of giving West Virginians a spot at
the collegiate lacrosse table.
Ohio Valley University, a small, Christian school with an
enrollment of 501 students located in Vienna – right on the
Ohio border – will be playing its first varsity season in
2011. One of its missions will be to significantly boost the
stature of lacrosse in West Virginia.
"A lot of the kids from West Virginia want to keep playing and
love the sport, and they'll have that opportunity here," said Carl Anderson, the Fighting Scots coach. "We'll
find a couple of kids that want to do well and have the talent, but
are just a little rough around the edges."
Not to say that OVU will be solely comprised of players from the
hollows. Anderson is not putting any boundaries on his recruiting
arena, and is already in discussions with a pair of California
players for 2012.
"We're pretty much just looking to get anybody from anywhere if we
can get some people who are coachable and have experience," said
Anderson, who founded the club team at OVU in 2006 after playing
prep ball in Connecticut. "We're recruiting for the situation we're
in now and it's easier to get kids from West Virginia, Ohio and
Pennsylvania because we are close to home for them."
Anderson's recruiting efforts will be helped by some financial
incentives. While he doesn't have the full complement of
scholarships – the plan is to gradually build toward the
maximum – they do have enough to make OVU an attractive
destination in Division II.
Ohio Valley, which will be joined by Division III Bethany as West
Virginia start-ups this spring, had the opportunity to make a huge
splash in its first year and potentially lure name recruits, but
opted for a more gradual evolution.
The East Coast Conference, the premier men's Division II
conference boasting teams such as two-time defending champion C.W.
Post, extended an invitation to the Fighting Scots to join its
ranks – which already features two of OVU's natural West
Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rivals in Seton Hill
and Wheeling Jesuit – but Anderson demurred.
"For us to jump into that conference right away would be like
staring down the barrel of a gun," he said.
While Anderson envisions a day when OVU can revisit the
possibility of joining the ECC, he and the school have opted for
the independent route at this point. The schedule has games against newer Division
II programs such as Shorter, Lake Erie, Grand Canyon and
Lenoir-Rhyne, but also includes more established programs, most
notably a February home date with Mercyhurst, which should be in
the national title hunt.
The schedule is consistent with Anderson's vision of this
inaugural season, which is about creating a foundation for the
program.
"This first year is about laying the groundwork and getting things
established, like getting our university used to having a lacrosse
program and getting people to understand what it is," said
Anderson, who has a link on his website entitled 'What is lacrosse?' "I'd like to go out and win a
couple of games for sure, but it is not our No. 1 priority. I think
if we can just get a couple of key guys to build a program around,
I think we'll advance at a pretty rapid pace and that will lead to
us putting checks into the win column."
The wins will come eventually. Right now, Ohio Valley is all about
putting a new name with West Virginia lacrosse.
