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From The X! CIF Southern Section HS Championship Recap And More

In the not to recent past the CIF Southern Section California High School Championships took place pitting Mira Costa High School from Los Angeles County and Foothill High School from Orange County against each other.  The Knights from Foothill went into the game as the reigning champions came away with their 4th consecutive CIF Southern Section Championship.

The game was amazing and these were two teams at the top of their game.  The Cali high school crowd really got you pumped and I had forgotten how fun it was being around the high school kids and their enthusiasm.

CIF or the “California Interscholastic Federation” is the governing body for California Sports in case anybody was wondering.

With out further ado, another episode of From the X!

[fvplayer src=”https://youtube.com/watch?v=26_u8rJJ9SI” splash=”https://i.ytimg.com/vi/26_u8rJJ9SI/hqdefault.jpg” caption=”From the X! Foothill HS/Mira Costa CIF Championship”]

I thought Kleponis in goal for Foothill was on fire.  For the life of me I couldn’t think of the word scorer’s table in the interview, I think I said score keeper or something.

Anyway they said he had 10 saves in goal which is where I got the stat. West Side Lax in their breakdown of the game listed 13 saves, even better.  Mira Costa just kept firing away and Kleponis stepped up.  He will be going on to Whittier College starting this Fall.

Senior Captain Nathan Kleponis

If  head coach Jon Fox looks familiar, that ‘s because he’s been here before.  Way back in January I had a little talk with him when he was putting on the Black and Gold Lax Fest so congratulations to Coach Fox and they players at Foothill High School.  They are graduating 7 seniors and Foothill is running deep with the junior class.  I’m talking 22 returning players just at the junior level.  I am looking forward to talking with them at the 5th Championship!

Talking with Coach Ben Dibuono

I also want to give a huge shout out to another high school coach,  Coach Ben Dibuono.  He is Esperanza High School’s Men’s Lacrosse Coach.  A lacrosse coach once told me that lacrosse people help other lacrosse people and Coach Ben is a prime example of that.  He has helped get the sport of lacrosse off the ground here in Southern California on several levels and especially in Orange County.

He’s been involved in getting three high school teams started, a club team, and has helped me personally with a city rec camp that I run.  Here is an interview I got with him earlier this season.
[fvplayer src=”https://youtube.com/watch?v=ADMltS3WEsU” splash=”https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ADMltS3WEsU/hqdefault.jpg” caption=”Coach Ben Interview”]

Summer Camps and your personal A-Team

Well summer is knocking on the door and with summer comes the annual ritual of summer lax camps.  If you want to get your game on and pick up some skills here are some of the camps that will be going on in the So Cal area:

St. Margaret’s Tartans Boys Lacrosse Camp; June 21 thru June 25 @ San Juan Capistrano

Trilogy Lacrosse High School Summer Camp Hosted by Whittier College; July 5 thru July 9 @ Whittier College

Trilogy Lacrosse Middle School Summer Camp; July 26 thru July 29 @ Placentia

Trilogy Lacrosse High School Summer Camp July 26 thru July 29 @ Placentia

Trilogy Lacrosse Middle School Summer Camp; August 2 thru August 5 @ Mission Viejo

Trilogy Lacrosse High School Summer Camp; August 2 thru August 5 @ Mission Viejo

Adrenaline Summer Camps; Through out the Summer @ various locations

And finally, if you have never picked up a stick before and you live in the North Orange County area then sign up for a beginning lacrosse camp through the City of Placentia.  This is a camp that I run for kids literally just starting off in the game.  There are two sessions; June 19 thru July 24  and July 31 thru August 8.  I’ll probably get a camp for intermediate players started in the fall.

If you really want to get really crazy,  you can pocket some of the $200+ your parents drop for camp and hit up yours truly for private coaching lessons.  If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find me, maybe you can hire me.

Cue the “A-Team” intro music.
[fvplayer src=”https://youtube.com/watch?v=wyz_2DEah4o” splash=”https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wyz_2DEah4o/hqdefault.jpg” caption=”The A-Team Full Theme Tune”]

Catching up with CSUF and their Denver experience

The MCLA season ended a little while ago and California teams had a less than desirable representation at the Championship tourney in Colorado.  CSUF and Chapman University both were knocked out early.  I got some follow up from an insider at CSUF about the status of things in Titan territory in a quick interview with Captain Jordan Michaels.

Obviously the loss is disappointing, what do you guys walk away from Denver with?
Jordan Michaels: Extremely disappointing. However, playing in the national championships is a very neat experience. To have the opportunity to be able to watch and play at a very high level of lacrosse is awesome and that is something, win or lose, that no one can take away from us.

How do you feel the future of the team looks?
JM: The future of this program is looking to be very promising. We are only graduating about 4 players, myself included, and have a handful of solid players coming in. Orange County is continuing to grow as a hotbed for lacrosse and Cal State Fullerton is a viable option for students who want to stay close to home and get a great education while playing lacrosse. So I am looking forward to watching this program grow and continue to compete at a high level.

What are the plans for Titans lacrosse over the next few months?
JM: Well, we have finals coming up here in a week or so. But for the most part everyone is going home for the summer and gonna play in some summer leagues and enjoy a little time off.
Thanks Jordan!

Finally, because I like to copy everything 412 LAX does, I also recently started up  a Facebook page.   At the Middie D fan page I keep a finger on the pulse of lacrosse in Southern California.  You can see exclusive pics and vids of the stuff that didn’t make it into LAS. You can join in the discussion debating whether or not lacrosse is still a rich kids sport, and more.

412 is on the right

If you are looking for some fun threads to shoot around in this summer check out what I got up and running over at Cafepress.  I have some more ideas in the works so check back in a little bit for some more wacky stuff.

Finally give us your opinion at the LAS Reader Survey.  It’s not the SAT,  just fill in the bubbles, you don’t need a number 2 pencil.

Later y’all

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About the author
:
Middie D played lacrosse at BYU under the tutelage of former Head Coach Jason Lamb and Current Head Coach Matt Schneck.  He now lives in God’s paradise of Southern California, more specifically Orange County.  His favorite color is shocking pink, favorite food is candy corns, and likes watching telenovelas.

Questions? Want to contribute to the Lax All Stars Network? Hit us up at info@lacrosseallstars.com