It was almost 10 years ago when Hampton University announced that it would start a men’s lacrosse team at the historically-black college in Virginia. The announcement said that the school would play an independent schedule under the tutelage of the coach that started the club program in 2010.
Since then, the Pirates’ men’s team has found it tough sledding at times. Hampton has not won a game since the penultimate game of the 2019 season and after yesterday’s 26-8 loss to Stony Brook, has a 57-game losing streak.
But what the Hampton men’s team has wrought is the start of a women’s club side, which has competed for the last few seasons, including in the Next Collegiate League, the Sixes competition which has primarily had teams representing HBCUs in its short history.
Last year, Hampton lost in overtime of the championship final. But this year, the Pirate women were on a mission. They won all six of their pool games last weekend, then yesterday, won the title match over last year’s titlists, Morgan State in a game held at The St. James in Springfield, Va.
The Pirates showed out during the 2025 season, yielding a mere nine goals all season. It’s a performance which could make an argument for bringing the Hampton University team to full varsity status.
Sure, the game that the NCL plays is radically different from the NCAA field game, beyond the obvious difference in that the format is Sixes. The NCL rules for the women’s division are identical to the men’s game — helmets, pads, full contact, and the deep-pocketed stick.
However, I think that we’re going to see some activism for the seven universities in the NCL women’s division to join the varsity ranks, and to join Delaware State, Howard, and the University of the District of Columbia as HBCUs in NCAA lacrosse.
I hope for more interest, investment, and coaching for historically-black colleges in the game of lacrosse. It is a game which has is slowly opening its doors to players of different backgrounds in the last quarter-century. May this continue.