The girls’ lacrosse season is currently in full swing in the Rhode Island Interscholastic league.

But one school in Warwick is noticeably absent from the standings – Toll Gate.

That’s simply because the Titans have never sported a girls’ lacrosse team since the league started in 2001.

In 2001, the RIIL girls’ lacrosse league only had four teams, and has steadily grown since then.

But three students have taken the initiative this spring to assure that the Titans will have an entry into the league for next spring.

Many girls have tried to start up a girls’ lacrosse team in recent years, but nothing has ever really materialized.

That is, until this year.

“Starting up the girls’ lacrosse team at Toll Gate happened very spontaneously,” Madison Gothberg said. “My friends Lily Fortin, Makenna Dacey and I were at lunch and came up with the idea. We were discussing how we wish there were more sports for girls to play in the spring. From there, we talked about how we all were interested in playing lacrosse.”

Because there’s no lacrosse team at Toll Gate, girls really only have the option to play softball and outdoor track – not exactly the widest variety of options.

So Gothberg, Dacey and Fortin decided to take action, and in return, the interest in the team was outstanding, with 36 girls signing up to play for their club team.

The rest is history, as the girls have worked extremely hard this spring to learn the game.

But starting the team wasn’t easy. They had to fund many things independently.

“To become a club sport, we had to fund for uniforms, cages and hundreds of lacrosse balls all by ourselves,” Gothberg said. “Doing this was a challenge, but also a huge learning experience. We could not have achieved this without the help of our sponsors, coaches and extremely supportive parents. We’d like to thank our sponsors, which include Flamand and Associates, Thomas Ford Law Office, Karen Davis and Cormack Routhier Agency. Our coaches, Ben Upham and Charles Starkey, have also been an enormous help because this was completely volunteer work.”

The Titans have scrimmaged a number of schools this spring who have taken time out of their league schedules to play a club team – something they didn’t have to do. Knowing this, Gothberg and her teammates are grateful to those schools who fit them into their schedule.

“Currently we are playing as a club team and are scrimmaging other schools,” Gothberg said. “The other schools have been tremendously helpful in taking time out of their schedules to scrimmage us.”

After achieving a great deal of success this spring, the girls are looking to take it a step further next season and earn a spot in the RIIL’s Division III.

“The goal for us going forward is definitely to become a Division III sport next year in the RIIL,” Gothberg said. “We are going in front of the school committee on Tuesday, May 11, looking for approval to become an official varsity sport next year.”

With Gothberg and her teammates going in front of the school committee today, they are hoping to share some good news soon.

Hopefully Pilgrim and Warwick Vets won’t be the only girls’ lacrosse teams in the city come next spring.