USF Athletics set to add women’s lacrosse to program

Programs already participating in women’s lacrosse in the AAC include Cincinnati, Florida, East Carolina, Old Dominion, Temple and Vanderblit. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/ADOBE STOCK

USF Athletics will add women’s lacrosse to its list of varsity sports, Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly announced Wednesday.

The newly added sport will begin its inaugural season in 2024 with home games scheduled to be played at Corbett Stadium until plans are made for an on-campus stadium for the team.

A search for a head coach will begin in early 2022. The Bulls will also compete in the AAC, which already has a women’s lacrosse league first launched in 2019 and consists of six teams so far. 

“USF is a destination for successful female collegiate athletes, and we are very excited to add a highly entertaining and growing sport in women’s lacrosse,” Kelly said.

“We will be very competitive both within our conference and nationally and will invest the necessary resources to be so.”

The sport will be the newest women’s program at USF since 1995, when women’s soccer was first introduced. This will bring the total number of women’s athletics teams to 11 and varsity sports programs as a whole to 20.

“The addition of women’s lacrosse as a new sport at the University of South Florida is an example of how we are committed to excellence and inclusiveness in all aspects of the university — including our athletic programs,” Interim President Rhea Law said.