KIMBERLY, Wis. — Lacrosse is now officially a Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) sport and thousands across the state are excited about the new edition.
Longtime lacrosse player Jax Luedke said he dreams about playing lacrosse in college. The high school junior has been playing lacrosse as a club sport for many years. Now, Luedke is on the varsity high school team. He said he takes pride in that accomplishment.
“It’s just good to have name recognition,” said Luedke. “People always ask, ‘Oh, isn’t that a club sport?’ and it was kind of just pushed aside. So, it’s nice to get… more field time.”
Luedke plays attacker for the Kimberly Papermakers. That means he’s trying to score. He said his goals revolve around the overall team success, which includes trusting some new faces on the roster.
Cody Obermann is a rookie to the sport. He picked up a stick for the first time this past year. The football star said he turned to lacrosse after a friend suggested he try it out. Obermann said it’s a close favorite between lacrosse and football.
“I feel like football has actually helped a lot with the physicality… like lifting and all that stuff has actually helped,” said Obermann. “I don’t think there has been a tough part of transitioning other than learning the skill of the game.”
Papermakers lacrosse head coach Roger Hornberger said having the support of the school is great for the team and new players to the game. He said it makes it easier to overcome barriers the sport is facing.
“We do have a youth feeder program, but I would say about 60% of our kids come from the youth feeder program,” said Hornberger. “40% are starting new in high school, which is really good.”
Both Luedke and Obermann said they went into their first game with high expectations. They did not disappoint — both either scored or assisted on eight goals in their season opening win.
“I think we just wanted to play competitive,” said Luedke. “We practiced the offense and then our defensive goal was communicate. I think we’ve been doing a good job.”
Luedke said it is good for him and his teammates to get the first win under their belt. Luedke said he hopes to get better each day and wants to keep working hard to reach his personal goal of playing in college.
