As of November, UW-Whitewater women’s lacrosse officially became a club sport and is currently looking for new members to bolster its roster of 14.

The club currently has three matches set up with UW-La Crosse, UW-River Falls and Winona State.

Mandatory team fees currently stand at $39 and equipment must be purchased in order to compete. Participants will also need to fill out some paperwork, which can be provided by the club’s officers, junior Carley Ballweg and sophomores Katie Klein and Sydney Soma.

The trio co-founded the club in an effort to share their passion for the sport of lacrosse with UW-Whitewater.

“Lacrosse is a blast,” Soma said. “I could talk for days about it because it’s so much fun. It keeps you in shape, you can meet so many people and make so many connections and this is the chance to be on the first ever women’s lacrosse team at UW-Whitewater.”

Klein said those who decide to become involved with the team can learn valuable life lessons in addition to making new friends.

“One of the things people learn in college is time-management and that’s something you can strengthen by playing a sport,” Klein said. “Making the time commitment to workout and be part of something bigger than yourself, as well as going to school, prepares you for the real world.”

Newcomers to the sport interested in joining the team can borrow equipment to get a feel for the experience before purchasing their own. Also, experience is not a prerequisite to signing up.

“Lacrosse is such an easy sport to pick up,” Klein said. “I mean most of our members right now are rookies. Most are people we knew who gave it a try, and after two months they are committed.”

Anyone interested in joining the team can attend the new member meeting tonight at 8 p.m. in the Kris Russel Volleyball Arena in the Williams Center. Other information can be found on the team’s Facebook page and website.