Henry Daily Herald

A meeting of lacrosse players, parents and coaches has been convened Thursday to discuss steps toward getting a high school team sanctioned by Henry County as early as the 2012-13 school year.

The meeting, scheduled for 6:45 p.m., at East Lake Elementary School, is pegged as a “State of the Sport” address to local lacrosse enthusiasts and marks a significant moment in the sport’s brief history in the county.

Organizers of the event said they will make the first public admition of their intention to have Union Grove High School add lacrosse as a varsity sport, most likely for girls. In doing so, the door would then be open for other high schools to start lacrosse programs.

“It’s exciting times around here,” said Ken Loach, a teacher at Union Grove Middle School and a coach with the Henry County Lacrosse Association.

Henry County would be the latest in a growing number of metro Atlanta counties to embrace lacrosse. The Georgia High School Association sanctioned lacrosse as a championship sport before the 2005 school year. As of 2011, there were 143 boys and girls high school lacrosse teams in Georgia divided into two classifications.

“We’re one of the few areas in metro Atlanta that doesn’t have a [lacrosse] program at the high school level,” said Jeremy Porter, who coaches with the Henry County Lacrosse Association.