Coach Change for Varsity Girls Lacrosse

Babylon Girls Lacrosse Coach Tim Harrison is suspended for the remainder of the season after scheduling more games than allowed, according to Section XI rules, and the Babylon School Board is expected to name a replacement coach at tonight’s board meeting.

Section XI, the official governing body of high school sports in Suffolk County, allows varsity girls lacrosse teams to play 16 games a season, which includes both league and non-league games. Typically there are 14 league games and two non-league games. Teams can also play scrimmage games, which, unlike league and non-league contests, do not factor into playoff seeding.

Babylon’s schedule includes 17 games this season– three non-league games and 14 league games. The district was notified of the rules infraction through a letter and call last week from Section XI and told the coach would be suspended and the team would not be eligible for playoff participation.

According to an October 2007 update to the Section XI handbook, “if an individual or team exceeds the maximum number of contests permitted by Section XI, the penalty is team ineligibility from the date of violation for the rest of the season, including playoffs.”

Babylon district officials requested an appeals hearing that was held Thursday.

Section XI President Ed Cinelli did not a return a phone call from Patch for further comment on the action taken.

While the appeal did not result in Harrison’s suspension being overturned, the team is allowed to compete in the playoffs if it qualifies.

“Babylon inadvertently violated a Section XI rule regarding the maximum number of contests allowed. We claim full responsibility for the infraction and accept the consequences,” Babylon’s Director of Physical Education, Health and Athletics Michael DeJoseph told Patch in an email today.

“Babylon respects the leadership and governance of Section XI and the NYSPHSAA and will continue to follow the rules and regulations without exception. We want to get back to the business of playing lacrosse and request all concerned parties respect our wishes,” stated DeJoseph.

Harrison was in his ninth year of coaching the team and had told Patch in a recent interview that this year’s competitive strategy was to be on par with division powerhouses Shoreham and Hauppauge.

In an interview last week Harrison said there is a strong “community-to-school connection,” with the girls lacrosse program and that this year’s talent is due to both the school program and village lacrosse community.

Playing a huge role in that community-to-school connection is the Babylon Village Youth Lacrosse Program, an all-volunteer organization headed up by Rob Schipf, the current president, noted Harrison.

Harrison credits Schipf, and former program president, Greg Antolini, for making girls lacrosse a strong program.

“Working with Rob and Greg has been excellent.  They have done a great job bringing in knowledgeable volunteers to coach the youth teams, and we are benefiting as a school program because of it.”

The benefits go both ways. Harrison has run a coach’s clinic for the Village Youth League, where he shows the volunteer coaches what a typical training session is comprised of, and what are “age-appropriate expected outcomes.” 

Conversely, Antolini and Schipf organize summer camps and clinics where Harrison’s varsity players have worked with the youth players during the off months. The village league gives back to the high school girls by organizing scholarship fundraisers. 

In addition, Harrison and Schipf organized an alumni game that brought players back to interact with the up and coming generation, so the girls can even see the next step beyond their senior year if they want to continue playing the sport. 

Many Babylon girls are playing successful college lacrosse. Three seniors from the 2010 team are playing college ball: Noel Rodgers at Lehigh University, Maggie Rose Melito at Suny New Paltz, and Brianna Watt at Bryant University. 

Working in conjunction with the two programs is a girl’s travel team that Harrison co-coaches known as the Beach Bums. 

The travel team is a pay-to-play program comprised not only of Babylon girls, but also of players from surrounding towns, and lets girls play lacrosse year-round and build skills and relationships.

“I consider myself very fortunate to have coached at Babylon with girls who have bought into my system of lacrosse and with parents that have supported our quest for excellence," said Harrison last week.

"Girl’s lacrosse is booming in Babylon. The fields are packed with kids on Saturdays; we have a youth program with qualified coaches doing a great job; we have travel teams, and we have a school program that has over 70 girls playing this sport. It’s just great," he said last week.

The girls lacrosse team has a home game at 6:30 p.m. on April 15 against Mt. Sinai and on another home match on May 4 against Center Moriches.