Let me start by addressing anyone who feels we shouldn't be playing the sport. Women's lacrosse is a great sport that continues to grow like wildfire at all levels. Most anyone who has had a daughter play quickly agrees that it is the best of all women's sports. I am probably closer to the sport than most here since my daughter was a 4 year D-1 starter and played for one of the best three high school programs in the country.

The best lacrosse players are still concentrated in the Mid-Atlantic region. Maryland is the top producer of players followed by NY, NJ and PA. By example, the current US team (36 players) has 10 from MD, 8 from NY and 4 from NJ. This leads me to my first point; VT is well situated geographically to attract top players. As an aside, I looked at the UNC roster. About 90% of their team has to drive through Virginia to go from home to Chapel Hill.

The best lacrosse league in the country, by far, is the ACC. The conference currently has teams ranked 2 (UNC), 3 (Syracuse), 5(UVa), 7 (Duke), 9 (ND), 11 (BC) and 14 (Louisville). The only ACC team not ranked (and not even close) is VT. Point #2, we are in the best conference to elevate the program.

If you want to know more about the sport, the best website is lawpower.com. On that site they have computer rankings that go back over ten years. There are only about 40-50 programs that have ever been ranked. Much like the bottom rungs in most D-1 sports, there are a lot of programs that don't have the necessary ingredients (money, conference affiliation, location, demographics) to ever be a power. Our rankings in the last 5 years: 34, 38, 34, 43 and 39. In other words, we are at the bottom when it comes to schools with similar potential. It is the equivalent of the football team being ranked at the bottom of the P5 conferences. Point #3, we are not moving up the ladder; we are sliding down it. This is also reflected in our records the last 5 years: 10-8 (2011), 10-7, 8-8, 7-10, 6-12 (2015). Our wins are against weak opponents and we haven't had a significant win since 2012 (our only ACC win ever, against the Hoos, which gave a lot of us hope).

The coach seems to have had the right credentials. She's from Baltimore and played at a very good program (Stanford). It just hasn't worked out. Don't know her and never met her but it's time to go. Six years is plenty of time (the High Point PROGRAM was only 5 years old when they beat us last year; a terrible loss like losing to Alabama State in basketball). Based upon recruiting rankings she has not brought in much in the way of top tier talent and she hasn't been able to overcome the talent deficit with superior coaching.