By Michael McDonald, UW News Lab student

With just two prior seasons of play, the Ballard High School Boys and Girls Lacrosse teams aren’t the most experienced of squads. But that isn’t stopping the teams from feeling confident heading into the upcoming season.

Last year, in its second year of existence, the Ballard Girls Lacrosse team managed a 6-4-1 record and made the playoffs, losing in the first round to Overlake. Head coach Suzanne Replinger believes her team can be a factor again this year.

“The team had no seniors last year, so we have a lot of strong returning players,” said Replinger, entering her first season as head coach.

“The team is fairly well mixed with regard to age, with seven seniors, five juniors, six sophomores and one freshman.”

Replinger named Kelsey Barta and Maddie Soukop as team captains. They were two of the top returning players.

As far as competition in league play is concerned, a shakeup in the structure of the league has left things a bit unsettled.

“The powerhouses in the league last year, Issaquah and Eastside Catholic, moved up a division, and Kennedy, who was in the state playoffs last year, graduated a bunch of seniors, so the league is a bit of an unknown at this point,” said Replinger.

Ballard will now play in the Northwest Division II League, alongside playoff teams from last season in Lakeside, Mercer Island, Overlake and Wenatchee. Other teams in the division are Bellevue East, Forest Ridge, Lake Sammamish, Mukilteo and Snohomish.

With Replinger and assistant coach Tanya Swarts in their first years with the team, they will be looking to take a successful team back to the playoffs, starting this week.

“We play in a pre-season jamboree on March 13 and then the regular season kicks off with an away game against Overlake on March 15 at 4:15 p.m.” said Replinger. “Our first home game is Friday, March 25 at 5:30 p.m. against Bellevue East.”

As for the Ballard Boys Lacrosse team, it has been a work in progress that will finally come to fruition this season. This will be the team’s inaugural season and there is some uncertainty as to what can be expected.

“With a new program, you don't really know what to expect,” said head coach Brian Main.

“Only three players return with substantial D2 varsity experience, so most of our guys are going to be former J.V. (Junior Varsity) players or athletes new to the sport.”

If not for the efforts of Sam Hanske, this team might not have been playing this season. A co-head coach of the Boys J.V. team and a 2009 graduate from BHS, Hanske has been trying for years to form a boys lacrosse team.

“It was going to be my senior project to get the Ballard boys team started back in 2009, but we didn't have enough player or parent interest to go forward with it,” said Hanske.

“(Team Manager) Dave Kirkendall and I agreed that we would shoot to have a team by his son's senior year, which it currently is.”

Joe Kirkendall is one of the team’s top players and one of the few players with previous experience playing at the high school level, being named an All-Metro Conference defender last season. Other returning starters of note are midfielder Ray McCormick, attacker Ray Gemme and midfielder and attacker Jacob Marks.

“We're lucky to have a group of seniors that were willing to take on a big challenge,” said Main.

“Had they stayed with the Roosevelt program, they could be a favorite to win the state title, but instead, they chose to sacrifice that to start something new at Ballard.”

The team’s first game will be at a pre-season tournament at Nathan Hale on March 12, with the first regular season game being a home game three days later against Franklin. Coaches pointed to leagues games against Roosevelt and games against Lakeside and Wenatchee as key match-ups this season.

No matter how the team does this year, it’s sure to be seen as a success by everyone involved.

“I want the public to know that these boys are putting their hearts into this team and are working their butts off to earn the respect and legitimacy they deserve,” said Hanske. “They love their school, love their community and love their sport, so come out and watch them play this spring and you won't be disappointed.”

Michael McDonald is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.