ROANOKE, Va. – North Cross School already has a strong foundation of successful athletics programs. The Raiders have grabbed state championships in not only football and lacrosse in the past few season but they’ve also yielded state champion golfers. In hopes of keeping the golf game strong, while also creating new opportunities, the school is ready to expand from its co-ed team and create a girls team.
“The big part of that for us is really going to be the equality piece in that we wanted the girls to have a fair shot just like the boys do to compete with their like gender,” said North Cross athletic director Jeremy Eubank.
Eubank made a proposal to the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA) three years ago to have a girls golf state tournament.
“It was accepted the first year and this coming school year we will have an independent tournament where we will have a team champion and all-state honorees will be recognized.”
As a result, North Cross is ready to field a girls team of 10 members and begin playing in the Spring of 2025. Eubank pointed to the popularity of girls golf growing in our area in particular as a driving force as well.
“The first year we did this their were about 60 kids and now we’re at about 90 kids with about 8-10 schools in VISAA that offer girls golf as an individual sport and not a co-ed sport anymore. So, we’re really looking forward to it. We’ve already go about 3-4 golfers already in house.”
The Roanoke Valley is no stranger to seeing talented junior girl golfers compete in various annual tournaments and at the college ranks, with some hoping to one day take their talents on the LPGA Tour.