Club History

2004

In 2004 a group of primarily "hockey" girls asked their friends about trying the sport of lacrosse. Previously, their friends from Madison West HS had approached Ginny Kester, a teacher from Madison West HS who had played on the East Coast, about teaching them lacrosse. Those girls had fun and loved the sport. The boys were playing, and so by word of mouth they garnered more interest. That year, "Madlax" was born under the guidance of Ginny Kester and Mari White (a Verona boys lax Mom with a daughter) and support from the UW Madison Lacrosse Team. They practiced all together at a Wildwood Park in Fitchburg. At the end of the session, the girls were given a choice to break into individual school teams or stay together. The girls chose to split up and try to form a conference.

Somewhere between 2004-2005, Verona parent reps Jody Spencer and Lucy Russell were part of a small group who petitioned the MALA Board for recognition and oversight for the girls side of lacrosse in the state. It was approved without hesitation.

2005

This was the first year of organized lacrosse games and the first organized girls HS games played in Wisconsin. There were four teams in the conference: Middleton, Westside, Lady Lancers, and Verona (co-op with some Oregon and McFarland players). While Verona had a full team, other schools were just getting their programs started. In those early games we loaned players to teams who did not have enough, played short-sided, or scrambled who we had just to get the girls playing and on the field. Jon Pflaum had been some of the players' hockey coach, and they recruited him to coach lacrosse. The girls' program operated largely outside of the VLC, which was focused on getting the boys' started. The VLC provided some guidance and included the girls in the annual end of year picnic.

During the annual Verona Bullrush Tournament (boys) the girls played an exhibition game against conference rival Lady Lancers. For some, this is viewed as the first conference championship in Wisconsin.

Youth girls played boys lacrosse on the boys youth team as Verona worked to cultivate more interest at the youth level.

2006

Two teams were added to the conference with Sun Prairie and Arrowhead joining Verona, Westside, Middleton and the Lady Lancers.

Verona participated in the Windy City Tournament at New Trier. It was an exciting experience to see such high level lacrosse being played. It gave the team determination and goals!

In June, 2006, Verona, coached by Jody Spencer, won the Gold medal in the first ever appearance of girls' lacrosse at the Badger State Games.

2007

First ever state championship was played between Arrowhead and Verona at Reddan Soccer Park. Arrowhead triumphed and Verona was the State Runner Up.

Verona added a Girls Junior Varsity Team

We played the first All Star Game with players from teams throughout the state.