Ravenna School District Superintendent Laura Hebert’s only regret over the course of her 30-year career as an official, member and chairwoman of USA Lacrosse was that she never played the game when she was in high school. She did just about everything else and her work was recognized when she was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame on Jan. 6.
“I have to tell you it was really humbling to be inducted alongside so many great players and coaches, contributors,” Dr. Hebert told The Weekly Villager. “It also spoke to how far the women’s game has come; we had to merge with the men’s game while I was the head of USA Lacrosse, so it just spoke to how far the women’s game had come. It was truly humbling to inducted alongside of all of those great players and coaches.”
By being inducted into the Hall of Fame, Dr. Hebert became only the second female in the State of Ohio to earn that honor, joining former Hathaway Brown Athletic Director Laurette Payette.
The third-year Ravenna Superintendent said she did not get to compete much as a varsity athlete when she was in high school because she graduated right around the time Title IX was adopted.
Dr. Hebert noted that at that time, lacrosse was not a well-recognized high school sport. Many colleges like Kenyon, Dennison and Wooster had played but it still had not yet caught on at the high school level. She instead became a varsity coach in field hockey, basketball, softball and volleyball in the Columbus area but soon transitioned to becoming a field hockey official.
“I did love coaching but there comes a time when the time commitment to coach is pretty intense,” she said. “It was not difficult to make the progression to officiating. You have to pick your times and learn the game.”
She said there was a need for field hockey officials and having played field hockey in high school, it seemed like a natural fit. Once she became a field hockey official, she started learning how to become a lacrosse official as well.
“The more difficult progression was from officiating field hockey to officiating lacrosse and that was just because they needed lacrosse officials so badly that a lot of the same people did the two sports,” Dr. Hebert noted. “They provided me with a lot of opportunities to learn the game. When I moved to Virginia, lacrosse was huge so it was even easier to get into the game.”
According to Dr. Hebert, she learned that lacrosse was very popular in Virginia because the game had originated on the East Coast before it spread across the country. She quickly started officiating Division I lacrosse games.
According to Dr. Hebert, although she lived in Virginia, the lacrosse officiating community was a very close group and she was often contacted to travel to other states to officiate games.
“I did games in California when I was in Virginia, so the community is tight knit even though the geography is wide; it was not difficult to stay connected,” she said.
She said that her full-time job as a school administrator went hand in hand with being an official because both positions required the same strategies, such as time management and the same temperament that made an individual successful in both fields.
While in Virginia, Dr. Hebert established the Central Virginia Women’s Lacrosse Association League and continued officiating field hockey. She soon joined USA Lacrosse’s Board of Directors and eventually became the chairwoman.
“It provided me with opportunities to lead and have an impact on the game, officiate and make great lifelong friends,” she noted. “It was really more about the people than it was about the game, at the end of the day.”
Dr. Hebert said she retired from officiating when she moved back to Oho six years ago to become the principal of Twinsburg High School because she wanted to focus more on her professional career. Even after becoming the Ravenna School District superintendent in 2021, she still stayed connected to lacrosse by training and rating officials.
During her 30-year experience with lacrosse, she learned to appreciate the beauty of the game, especially women’s lacrosse.
“The women’s game is very fluid,” she said. “It is not like the men’s game. It is a pretty game, and I would have liked to have played but I am forever grateful for the chance I had to officiate and participate in having some kind of impact on the overall game.”
