Lacrosse club team no longer allowed to rent Pinnacle High School’s football stadium
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - The Paradise Valley Unified School District is telling all lacrosse club teams to keep off their turf. The district said it recently installed turf fields at each high school and no longer allows lacrosse club teams to rent the fields to avoid wear and tear.
“We’re Pioneer Nation, right? We’re one nation. We just want to be treated like everybody else. Like I said, we’re not asking for any special treatment. The field’s empty. If nobody is using it, it’s a public facility, and we should be able to use an empty field when nobody else is using it,” said Max Fleischman, the Head Coach for Pinnacle Boys Lacrosse.
Fleischman said Pinnacle Boys Lacrosse is a club team and has been renting Pinnacle High School’s football field for its games since the school opened in 2000. Now that the district has replaced the grass with turf, it doesn’t want the sport to damage the green.
“It makes us wonder why? Especially when we feel we’re the exact same as Pinnacle. We’re just asking to be treated the exact same, as you know, fellow students and teammates,” said Cam Conti.
Conti is the team’s captain and a senior at Pinnacle High School. He explained that the school’s resources help players move on to the next level in the sport: college lacrosse.
Steven Kaiser, a parent, said he has two kids. One plays for a club tackle football team, and the other with Pinnacle Boys Lacrosse. Kaiser explained the club tackle team is still allowed to use the field, unlike club lacrosse. “I think that’s completely irresponsible and wrong for the school, and it makes the student-athletes feel like second-class athletes. They should be able to use that field just like any other sport,” said Kaiser.
The coach said most of his athletes go to Pinnacle High and live in the district, so their tax money went into the new turf as well. He said the team wants to rent the field only for games, not practice.
Fleischman said he spoke with a turf company representative, who told him lacrosse does not damage turf more than tackle football. He said the team is also no longer allowed to use the weight training room at Pinnacle High.
He doesn’t believe 25 hours of total game time will damage the turf. “Our kids are part of Pioneer Nation. We have a saying here, ‘One Nation’. We just want to be part of that one nation. We just want the school to believe in us the way these kids believe in the school,” said Fleischman.
The Paradise Unified School District sent Arizona’s Family a statement.
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