A new vision for SR lacrosse
By Hector Trujillo
Bo Francy, known as Coach Bo, is the president of the Scripps Ranch Lacrosse Association and owner of Evolve Fit Studio.
He coached with the Scripps Ranch Youth Lacrosse Program, working with aspiring young players for the last four seasons. Prior to coaching in Scripps Ranch, he played lacrosse for nearly three decades at the high school and adult levels.
“The first and biggest change we’re going to implement this year is a Junior Falcons Program,” Francy said. “The program was created to introduce TK and kindergarten players, both male and female, to the fastest game on two feet.”
He stated his intention to create a foundation, since in the last three to four seasons, the youth lacrosse program has been top-loaded with seventh and eighth grade players, while interest at the younger grade levels has been limited.
Francy hopes to change the culture of lacrosse in the community. San Diego is largely a football, baseball and soccer town, with the last two being predominantly spring sports – and lacrosse has to compete with these.
“We wanted to put ourselves out there and offer an additional sport for youth players and individuals who are interested in playing something other than baseball and soccer,” Francy said.
Many youths are dual sports athletes, which is beneficial. However, lacrosse is a secondary sport for many during spring, making it challenging to practice, field a team and be successful.
To increase the sport’s visibility, professional lacrosse team the San Diego Seals and Scripps Ranch Lacrosse will host Youth Lacrosse Night at the Scripps Ranch Farmers Market on Nov. 17. Youth players, high school players and staff will be available to answer questions. Additionally, during the San Diego Seals home opener on Dec. 9, the Scripps Ranch fifth-sixth-grade youth lacrosse team will play the San Marcos fifth-sixth-grade team during halftime.
The youth program will also offer about half a dozen “welcome to lacrosse” events between November 2022 and January 2023.
Francy also owns San Diego Lacrosse Academy and will have a full plate as he takes over the Scripps Ranch High School (SRHS) boys lacrosse program from head coach Anderson Caldwell.
“Coach Anderson built a fantastic program … I aim to continue building on top of what he did and instill the same culture we are developing at the youth level,” Francy said.
The goal for the high school remains the same, however, which is to win CIF-San Diego and eventually take the team out of state to start having it compete against higher level competition.