July 31, 2026 - 11:42 am

There will be sanctioned high school lacrosse for nine Clark County School District high schools this spring with the help from the Las Vegas Desert Dogs of the National Lacrosse League.

In a joint statement Friday from CCSD and the Desert Dogs, the two entities announced a plan to help nine CCSD high schools with their boys and girls lacrosse programs this spring and allow the schools to play for an NIAA-sanctioned state championship.

“The Clark County School District (CCSD) and the Las Vegas Desert Dogs support the expansion of athletic opportunities for our students and families,” the statement said. “As such, we are excited to announce that we have collaborated on a plan to provide lacrosse to both boys and girls at nine high schools during the upcoming 2026-2027 school year.

“CCSD and the Desert Dogs have come together to identify coaches and reduce costs for student-athletes who have expressed interest in participating in lacrosse at nine CCSD high schools that previously expressed interest in fielding teams for the 2026-2027 spring season.”

The nine schools that will have lacrosse programs are: Arbor View, Centennial, Chaparral, Coronado, Foothill, Liberty, Palo Verde, Shadow Ridge and Sierra Vista. The nine public schools will participate alongside Bishop Gorman, Faith Lutheran and Sloan Canyon in the one classification (Class 4A) Southern Region for the sport and face Northern Nevada teams for state titles.

At a Friday news conference, CCSD superintendent Jhone Ebert said the partnership between the school district and the Desert Dogs came within a matter of 48 hours with Desert Dogs chief business officer Jonah Haas.

“Within 48 hours, (Haas) came to the table and said ‘Okay, how can we make this happen?’” Ebert said. “We had a principals meeting (Friday) morning and they were really excited about the expansion and that it’s starting this year and we’re not waiting another year.”

Ebert added that there were many elements the district had to work through to implement the sport, such as equipment, coaches, transportation and setting up fields.

“There are many, many components and I am really proud of the work that we did in such a short period of time,” Ebert said.

On Tuesday, CCSD said in a statement that it was not implementing high school lacrosse this spring with the focus to bring the sport in for the 2027-28 school year. The Desert Dogs released a statement on their social media channels earlier Tuesday expressing their “disappointment” that CCSD would not be moving forward with implementing lacrosse for its member schools.

Haas said the team called the district on Tuesday to echo the team’s social media statements, which sparked the conversations to begin the formation of the partnership.

“The biggest (problem) was the resources, and for us to be able to provide equipment for families and students who weren’t able to afford it was a big concern for CCSD and one that we could solve,” Haas said. “That’s what it came down to, was getting more efficient on the spending and supporting and participating in what we need to do.”

Haas said schools can apply for grant programs for schools for support in preparing for the first season of the sport in the spring, and another program for families for equipment.

“I’m grateful to CCSD and their willingness to take my call on our disappointment in their initial decision, but their share desired with us to find a yes (to implementing the sport),” Haas said.

The NIAA in August 2025 announced the full sanctioning of boys and girls high school lacrosse as a sport statewide with the first season coming in spring of 2027.

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.