FSU sports information

Florida State will add women’s lacrosse as a varsity scholarship program, Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Alford announced on ­­­Tuesday. FSU women’s lacrosse will begin competition during the 2025-26 academic year.

“Lacrosse is the fastest growing college sport nationally and it is evident that our culture and community will enthusiastically embrace it," Alford said. "Lacrosse provides another opportunity to compete at a championship level.”

With this decision, FSU becomes one of 118 Division I NCAA women’s lacrosse programs spanning 16 conferences. The Seminoles also embark on competition in one of the nation’s premiere women’s lacrosse conferences in the ACC, which has produced 17 NCAA women’s lacrosse national champions and has placed a team in the national title game in 13 of the last 14 seasons.

There are currently 10 women's lacrosse programs in the ACC.

“As a club team at FSU, women’s lacrosse has a proven culture of excellence and achievement,” said Alford. “In hearing from both current and former players, their passion and input throughout this process was constructive and helpful in our decision making. I am thankful for their participation in the process and looking forward to an exciting future.”

The addition of women’s lacrosse to FSU scholarship athletics offerings continues a tradition of commitment by the University to compete at an elite level in women’s athletics, which resulted in four Top-6 finishes and NCAA championship appearances by every FSU women’s team during the 2022-23 academic year. That commitment to excellence is also embodied in FSU’s commitment to conduct a gender equity review of its intercollegiate athletics program to develop and adopt a new Gender Equity Plan to strengthen FSU’s support for its championship women’s sports programs. The Plan will be completed no later than July 31, 2024, and will be designed so that all aspects of FSU’s intercollegiate athletics program comply with Title IX’s athletics provisions. The Plan will be implemented as quickly as possible, with all aspects of FSU’s intercollegiate athletics program in compliance with Title IX by the 2025-26 academic year and in future years. As the world of intercollegiate athletics continues to evolve, FSU will maintain flexibility with how to achieve gender equity and Title IX compliance.

“Creating opportunities for women to achieve excellence has always been a bedrock of our values at Florida State,” said Alford. “This is merely another chapter in a long history. We have been, and continue to be, unwavering in our commitment to that. It’s integral to our university and athletics culture. That’s been reflected in our elevated financial support for facilities and staff for women's teams in recent years.”

In arriving at today’s announcement, FSU engaged with the women’s club lacrosse team and their legal representatives in a collegial and cooperative dialogue.

"This is the right thing to do, and we are doing it for the right reasons,” said Alford. “It’s a significant step in our gender equity plan. We are pleased to demonstrate our commitment toward providing the very best opportunities and resources for both our female and male athletes.”

FSU is fully committed to taking appropriate steps to onboard the new women’s varsity lacrosse team with equipment, facilities, resources, scholarships, staffing, and support to successfully begin competition no later than the 2025-26 academic year. That process is anticipated to include non-conference competition (“Fall Ball”) during the Fall 2025 semester. The University will begin a search for a women’s varsity lacrosse head coach in the coming weeks.