Why did you start the NJ Riot team? What are the program goals?

One of the main goals for the NJ Riot Team is obviously to be successful in our games and tourneys, but in all honestly, we have already seen some small successes in the way our boys are coming together on and off the field, building the foundation to be part of something a bit bigger than each individual. We have added to top flight players in the last month who were available, and not already committed to play any Club Ball: Cooper Telesco, of Ridgewood & Donald Magner, of Mahwah.

Where do the rest of your players come from?

Our Players come from an array of towns including 2 boys from Suffern, NY. Some towns represented in NJ are Ridgewood, Mahwah, Millburn, Randolph, New Providence, Roxbury, Flanders, North Hunterdon, and Mendham, to name a few.

Where will you be playing this summer?

This Summer we will be playing at The Bryant Bulldog Classic at Bryant U on June 21st, then at Lafayette College for the Leopard Classic on July 3rd. Then we head to the National Invite Best of the Best on July 6, the Jersey Shootout on July 14th, the Patriot Games on July 21st. In addition, all of our boys will be attending a host of Showcases and Camps including Jake Reed, National Invite 175, Top 205, Fab Frosh, and Blue Chip 225.

As a parent and coach, what have you learned about the club system?

WOW! That is an excellent question and one that is not answered quickly.

Here we go, as a Parent, we all have a tendency to over commit our kids to things, put pressure on them to succeed, and try to (at times) push them to pursue things that maybe we want more than they do. I HAVE BEEN AS GUILTY AS ANYONE OVER THE YEARS.

If I look back, I realized that my sons’ “path” from Middle Schoolers to HS to even soon to graduates, and College students, was happening in their head regardless of what I had to say about it. I used to make a big deal about playing time, roster sizes, and coaching when the boys were in 5-8 grade and now realize how insignificant it was. If they were having fun, learning a few new things and making some new friends, then I, as a parent, had already won.

As I HAVE MATURED A LITTLE and have been a parent with 6 different NJ Clubs in the last 7 years, I realize that they all had some good aspects to them. Unfortunately, I have never been one who was satisfied with just some good things. Over the years, especially in the 2016 Class, I developed some real good friends as well as some real good seasonal Lax Friends. As this group was nearing HS, AND if a young man wanted the opportunity to really pursue being recruited to play in College, then just okay or decent just WASN’T GOOD ENOUGH.

I have been respectful to many Clubs and future programs in not pursuing their players to join Riot 2016. I did initially email a vast list to see if anyone was interested last fall, but have since dialed that back. I will also never begrudge any entity who is for-profit, even if it a lot of profit. That is their right as business people and if people are willing to pay, then even better. NJ Riot has chosen to NOT do that as I, the Founder, also pay the fees for my son, who plays on the team, and I know how expensive these things can get.

If it makes others look bad, sorry, but that’s not my problem, I decided to do that to do something different. The doing something different model is also evident in our communication, as players and parents have input. I have a love for the game, a love for our membership, and a passion to be different. **By the way, we are starting a 2017 Team run by Barry Marenberg in our system, and so far, he has well over 100 2017 quality players coming to our evals for a spot on our 22-23 man Team… I assume we must be doing something right, eh?

What works?

What works is consistent communication, what works is perfecting deliverables, what works is giving the boys attention to what their particular goals are and offering them a solution. What works (surprisingly I even have to list this) is returning calls, texts, and emails in TIMELY manner. What works is BROTHERHOOD.

What doesn’t work?

What doesn’t work is the opposite of everything I listed above. Be who you say are, do what you say do, stand up to criticism, and never run from your detractors. I have developed many detractors over the years for being opinionated and aggressive with my beliefs. I am and have always been very easy to reach if anyone has a bone to pick. Most people would rather do it in the back round, but to each their own. We try to be open, and honest, and that works for us.

What do you hope the NJ Riot can do differently?

Honestly, it’s still too early to tell that, as we are just about to start our inaugural Summer season. We may need to check back for this one…

Just a few weeks ago, St. Mararet’s faced off against Corona Del Mar in the Orange County high school boys lacrosse championship. At one point, SMES landed four goals in just 69 seconds and that put the game away. This was cool news in the local lacrosse community and was even covered locally by OCVarsity.com.

Call me crazy, but as a coach, hearing about SMES coming up big at such a clutch moment makes one wonder if they practiced it. Sure enough, the team hadn’t just practiced it, they’d already set their personal best two weeks earlier when they defeated JSerra Catholic for the Trinity League Championship by scoring four goals in 27 seconds.

Undefeated in league play, St. Margaret’s went on to win the US Lacrosse Orange County and CIF Southern Section Championships. Talk about an unforgettable season! I bet, for the rest of their lives – no matter how old they get – whenever those players see each other and reminisce on the 2013 season, they’ll do it with pride and a grin from ear to ear.

For more Southern California lacrosse news and information, visit Southland Lax at Southland.LaxAllStars.com.

Men’s & Women’s Grow The Game Tees now available! Proceeds go to GTG Tour.

What makes this Old School? The fact that no one is wearing a modern cascade (because they haven’t been invented yet) is a good start. Coaches allowing players to wear warm up pants during a game is another.

Enjoy this May 5, 1996 battle from Western New York… can anyone out there name some of the players in this game?

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Ohio, it’s not a huge state for lacrosse, but that is really changing quite rapidly. The three biggest areas for lacrosse in Ohio, in my opinion, would have to be the Cleveland area, Columbus, and the Northwest area.

Columbus and Cleveland definitely host their share of dominant teams such as Dublin-Jerome, Upper Arlington, Rocky River, and University School. Don’t get me wrong though, Northwest Ohio has some top level teams too, like Sylvania Southview or Toledo St. Francis, but they have something better than elite teams, and that is expansion!

From Toledo to Bowling Green is considered the heart of Northwest Ohio by many. Toledo is the primary location though for lacrosse growth. It is located very closely to the Ohio-Michigan state line, and in the summer, kids from all over Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan flock to play in the local summer recreation leagues.

For even younger kids, there are programs through Sylvania to play all summer long. For middle school- college aged players there is a program called ” T- town”, which runs for a few weeks during the summer. Both programs strive to develop players’ skills by hands-on coaching and getting experience through playing pick-up games.

Although nothing has been announced there is talk of a recreational box league being started too. For players that are looking for a little more advanced experience there are many camps around to attend. Almost every high school puts on a camp for 3rd-8th graders.

For high school players, if you’re selected you can attend the Top 100 camp at Ohio State. This is for the top 100 high school players from around the state. If you don’t get selected though, Ohio State does hold a camp open to all players. For anyone looking to travel a little ways North, Nike puts on a camp. Every summer Nike Lacrosse tours America and put’s on various lacrosse camps for kids 10-18. There is one at Adrian College, in Adrian Michigan, which is about an hour and a half from Toledo. Also there is a camp in Defiance, Ohio held yearly. It’s called “Revolution” and is mainly for high school and middle school aged players.

Ohio’s first and only professional team, Ohio Machine, puts on a camp for boys in 6th-8th grade, the first annual camp will be held in July. Lastly, the most abundant of all opportunities is playing on a travel team. There’s 10+ travel teams around Toledo within an hour of commute. All the travel teams are filled with talent and go to some very prestigious show-cases and tournaments. If you are willing to spend a little more time and travel you can find a team around here that goes to the Cherry-Bomb tournament in Traverse City, Michigan about 7 hours away. Cherry Bomb is the biggest and most well known tournament around, and only the best of the best get to compete in it.

So, for whatever reason if you find yourself in Northwest Ohio this summer, and you happen to play lacrosse there’s no excuse not to be active. From the leisure of recreation ball to the fast paced travel teams there’s a speed of lacrosse for everybody from ages 7-19 to get involved with. So all in all, Northwest Ohio is a land of opportunity for growing the game and all things summer lacrosse.

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Connor sent me two unusual questions regarding goalkeepers:

1. Lets say a team was crushing another team 16-0. If the goalie wanted to come out and play offense for the fourth quarter is he allowed to keep the goalie protector on his helmet, use his stick, etc, and play offense?

2. Could a player play with a goalie stick on offense the whole game, if the team’s goalie used a midfielder’s stick?

There are two rules that deal with both of these questions, but as with most rules, there is some interpretation involved.

Rule 2-1-1 states that, “A team shall begin the game with at least 10 players, and must have a legally equipped goalkeeper on the field at all times, or it forfeits the game.”

This rule establishes that a legally equipped goalkeeper must always be on the field. That means one player must have a helmet, throat guard, chest protector, mouthpiece, protective cup, and a goalie stick while on the field. There is a situation that goes along with this rule:

Goalkeeper B1 must leave the game due to an injury, expulsion or penalty.

Team B refuses to send in another player to play that position.

RULING: Team B must put a legally equipped goalkeeper on the field or it
forfeits the game.

The rules require a legally equipped goalkeeper to be on the field at every moment of the game, however they do not state where that player has to be. That is where the interpreting comes in.

In response to the first question of “can a goalie come out and play offense and keep the protector on his head?”, the answer is an absolute yes. As long as he keeps his goalie gear on and goalie stick in his hands there is still a legally equipped goalkeeper on the field, so you are well within the rules to do just that.

The answer to the second question about switching sticks with a goalkeeper is a resounding no. As soon as the sticks are exchanged you now have a goalkeeper playing without a goalie stick, which means he is an illegally equipped goalkeeper and play must be stopped.

There are two possible outcomes that I can see if you try something unusual with exchanging goalie equipment or sticks during a game. One, the officials will stop play get the goalkeeper geared back up properly and give the ball to the opposing team. Two, the ill-equipped goalkeeper is more likely to get injured before the officials have a chance to kill the play because they are not wearing the extra gear that field players wear (elbow pads, shoulder pads, etc). My recommendation to goalkeepers around the country is to stay in the cage and only come out when necessary.

Starting at 10am, teams from around the five boroughs hit the field and vied for a title. NYC offers boys and girls lacrosse, and offers titles in two divisions: The Bowl Division (B division), and Championship Division (A division).

On the boys’ side, Frederick Douglas Academy (Harlem) took on Curtis HS (Staten Island), and what started out with FDA dominance quickly turned into a tight and competitive game. At the end of the day, FDA held on to the ball, and the win, and are now bringing the first ever lacrosse championship to Harlem. Connor Martin works with this program, and we’ve talked about that before, but this HS team was really managed and motivated by a couple of excellent coaches, and I think they did a fantastic job this year. See more on FDA’s win over on MSGVarsity.com.

Photo Credit: Renzo Spirit Buffalo

When it comes to the slightly bigger boys in the Championship Division, we got just as good of a story. Tottenville (Staten Island) entered the game without a loss, and looked like a clear cut favorite. They had topped Hunter College HS a couple of times already this season, but Johnson Wong and his boys turned up the heat in a major way, and won their first ever Championship Division title. They had won the Bowl Division a few years back, and moved up to the A division.

We saw a lot of these kids at Summer clinics and pick up games, and their hard work has really paid off. Coach Wong has done an incredible job of starting a program, and making them champions. The fact that these kids are, on average, also very high academic achievers can not be overlooked.

Photo Credit: Renzo Spirit Buffalo

While I obviously want to congratulate FDA and Hunter, it’s also important to note that these stories would not be as good as they are without teams like Curtis and Tottenville, who have been ramping up the quality of NYC lacrosse for years, and even decades. I get the feeling that both Curtis and Tottenville will be competing for titles again next year. I’ve seen their JV teams play too, and both are stacked with lots of potential.

On the girls’ side, Tottenville took the A Division title over Beach Channel HS, by a 12-4 score. Beach Channel is a newer program, and it’s great to see them playing for the A Div title. Tottenville was extremely tough all year long, and only dropped one game all season. Like their boys’ team, they were a heavy favorite entering the playoffs, and in this case, they did nicely to cap their season with a title. This was their third straight A Div title. Wow!

Photo Credit: Renzo Spirit Buffalo

The B Division saw Forrest Hills win the title 8-3 over another relatively new team, Brooklyn Tech. Brooklyn Tech had topped New Dorp 6-5 to make the final, while Forrest Hills has taken down HS of Teaching 11-6 in the other semifinal. Both of these teams had awesome looking sweatshirts on before the game, and played with a lot of passion and energy. The overall improvement on the field was more than evident.

As a CityLax volunteer, the finals were really quite an experience. Not only were all the trophies and awards presented to the players and teams donated by CityLax, but I also got to see a lot of kids I knew from clinics. To see the same faces that were at clinics playing for titles made every minute of coaching in the cold well worth it for me. I bet winning a title made it more than worth it for the kids!

It was a great day of lacrosse in the rain for those that stuck it out for the full 12 hours, like the PSAL’s John Murphy, and CityLax’s Mat Levine, and their photographer, Renzo Spirit Buffalo. The kids played their hearts out, showed how NYC lacrosse is rapidly growing, and improving, and got me all sorts of excited for 2014, and CityLax’s Summer, and then Fall and Winter, clinics.

Texas High School Lacrosse League Championship Weekend – Division I Final Four & Championship

The hardware!

Game Results

The dust has settled in Texas! At the end of the most entertaining season in recent memory, the St. Marks School of Texas has claimed its first State Championship in school history defeating the Episcopal School of Dallas 8-7 in OT on May 5th.

The 2013 Division 1 THSLL Final Four was intense from start to finish. Let us recap the semifinal matchups that set the stage for the Championship Bout:

St. Mark’s celebrates.

In the first semifinal, St. Marks took on the defending State Champs, the Highland Park Scots, in a rematch of last year’s championship game. From start to finish, St. Marks dictated the pace of play. Early on, the Lions finished opportunities capitalizing on Highland Park’s inability to possess the ball. Led by their senior-laden defense, St. Marks stifled the Scots for most of the game. Having won by a margin of 8-4, the Lions awaited the winner of the ESD vs. Jesuit game.

The nightcap of the semifinal matchups was one of the games of the year. Dallas Jesuit, the favorite to take the title in 2013, took on the offensively dynamic, ESD squad. ESD came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, going up 4-1 at the half on the talented Rangers squad. In the second half, Jesuit found their rhythm and brought it all the way back, actually taking the lead with 5 minutes left in the fourth on an absolute laser by senior, Duke-bound mid, Garrett Van De Ven. After a quick takeaway and subsequent fast break goal, it was all square heading into the home stretch. With eleven seconds left in the game, Eagle attackman, Richie Loftus, got underneath finishing inside to give ESD the lead and the victory. An absolutely thrilling conclusion to a well-played first day of THSLL, State, semi-final action! And all of us looked forward to the final, an SPC Championship rematch between ESD & The St. Marks School.

Episcopal with the game winner!

The rubber match saw ESD and St. Marks competing for the third time in the 2013 season, each with a win to their credit. ESD defeated St. Marks first in regular season play, while, just a couple of weeks before the final, St. Marks won the SPC Tournament. This matchup, however, was for all the marbles.

ESD and St. Mark’s line up.

Coming out of the gates, ESD went up early taking a commanding 6-1 lead. The Eagles offense has been highly touted all year, and it appeared they were feeding off the momentum from a crucial Jesuit victory.

Capitalizing on early possessions with efficient shooting, the Lions had their work cut out for them down 6-2 heading into the half. As the game continued to play on, the battle-tested Lions squad brought it back slowly, continuously chipping away at the Eagles’ first-half lead. The senior-led, St. Marks defense settled in and really limited the potent Eagles O that had their way much of the first half. With 41 seconds

remaining in the final period, senior midfielder Evan Chang Tung tied the match up sending the State Championship into overtime for the first time in THSLL history.

In the “ovaltine” period, each team exchanged possessions. After a prolonged offensive effort by St. Marks, once again, senior midfielder Evan Chang Tung let one go from distance, a deceptive, three-quarter bounce at the chalk around a screen to punch the ticket for the first-ever, St. Marks State Championship! The ensuing celebration was epic, the appropriate mixture of emotion and appreciation. The Lions had finally done it! Congrats to St. Marks, Coach Lee, all the seniors, their teammates, and the Lions staff on a truly unforgettable run.

Salute to the champs…

The 2013 season demonstrated once again that parity is alive in our great sport and that lacrosse in Texas is better than ever! That is a wrap on the 2013 season from the Great State. However, StickStar will keep you posted throughout the summer on the developments from our region.

Thanks to Connor Wilson and the LAS Staff for the opportunity to keep you informed. We will keep on working at it!

While I love seeing lacrosse make its way onto the mainstream Wall Street Journal, I do have a couple of bones to pick with Mr. Gardner’s take on the situation. I love that he admits he lacks a true connection to the game, but his article was lacking in a couple of ways, and the misinformation could be a little dangerous.

The problem that I have with the article is that it paints lacrosse as a golden place where scholarships are easier to come by, than say football, or basketball, and it glosses over all the hard work, and investment of time and money, one often has to make just to get noticed. Greg Gurenlian is involved and interviewed, and he notes the hard work required many times, but the author doesn’t seem to really align himself with that view. It seems to be much more about endless opportunity than hard work.

Here is an example: Rob Pannell is one of, if not THE, top players in college right now. When he was in high school, he didn’t get a ton of looks. He had to PG at Deerfield to get to Cornell… and I’m talking about one of the BEST in the college game right now. So are scholarships really out there and available to kids in bunches? Is that the message you want to send to parents about lacrosse? It is certainly the message that the headline conveys, which impacts the story. To be fair, it is unlikely that Mr. Gardner wrote that headline.

The correct message here is that true scholarships for lacrosse are rare. A lot of lacrosse players do end up receiving scholarship money, but more often than not, it is for being a scholar, and not just a lacrosse player. After all, each D1 lacrosse team only gets 12.6 athletic scholarships, and schools like the Ivies don’t even offer athletic scholarships! Does that color how we look at this conversation? I should think so. Unfortunately, Mr. Gardner doesn’t look at any of that.

Maybe Mr. Gardner wrote something similar to what I wrote above, but canned it because it got away from the crux of his story; that lacrosse gets kids into college. I can’t say for sure.

But I can say that he almost nailed the true story here, and for a guy who doesn’t know lacrosse very well, that is an accomplishment worth noting.

The most basic and true story line is that lacrosse, when coupled with other activities and academic success, can open doors for any child. Perhaps it will open admission to a kid who would have been otherwise denied, and then that student will receive financial aid. Perhaps lacrosse got them to a school like Duke, but their skills on the saxophone paid their way. Maybe they worked incredibly hard for three years, and then got half of a scholarship as a Senior to lessen their families’ financial load. Maybe, just maybe, they were that one kid in the nation per year who maybe gets offered a full ride.

One thing I don’t see in all of the above? A lot of lacrosse scholarships being tossed around willy nilly.

Lacrosse, like many other sports, offers kids the chance to test themselves, and invest in something bigger than themselves. It teaches valuable lessons on the importance of hard work, individual skill development, playing together, and fighting through adversity. It is a game with no excuses, and if kids fall in love with the roots of the game, it can also teach them spirituality and history. THESE are the skills and lessons that will get kids into college, and possibly earn them scholarships.

The fact that you can be any size and still be a great player just means the opportunity to play is there for more people, and also that it is more competitive. Will you play lacrosse and expect a scholarship? Or will you play lacrosse, and be a good person, and see what you can make happen with all of that?

The latter will get you much further in life, and will increase your chances of getting a scholarship, even if it’s not directly for lacrosse.

Additional Nitpicking:

“Lacrosse is bigger than football at some schools—Johns Hopkins, for example; well, maybe only at Johns Hopkins—but it’s also played in the Ivy League.”

Lacrosse is also bigger than football at Hobart (where it is also D1 on a D3 campus), and UVM, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s, Boston University, UMBC, Hartford, Detroit, Fairfield, Manhattan, Canisius, Loyola, and Denver. This list is off the top of my head, but these schools do not even offer football within their athletics programs, so lacrosse, by default, is bigger than football.

Some very basic research could have cleared that up.

I also didn’t love that Mr. Gardner began his piece with the assertion that you can be too old to learn lacrosse. This is not all that dangerous of an assertion, but it is pure poppycock.

A friend of mine, Dan Bennett, picked up the game at 50, I met him when he was 56, and he still plays today in New York City at 59. Another friend of mine, a former boxer from Canada, Marco Hill, started playing the game a year ago. He’s 42. I played against him in New Orleans and Prague. Too old to learn lacrosse? That’s simply not a thing unless you say decide it is! And even then it’s not true.

The last small issue I’ll raise comes up when Mr. Gardner describes the sport, and yes, this is super nit-picky. Like Mr. Gardner, I’m not perfect!

People love to compare lacrosse to other games, and while I don’t love the idea of sport-to-sport comparison in general, if I were going to make a connection here, I’d probably compare it to hockey, but off the ice, and in the air. I can certainly see how standing around, and playing catch, would remind Mr. Gardner of baseball, but standing around is not really part of our actual game. And yes, there is running in soccer and lacrosse, but that is a rather reductionist view on things, isn’t it?

Overall, it’s heartening to see lacrosse getting some attention from the big guys, like the Wall Street Journal. I just wish they would do a little more research before publishing a story laden with this much easily researched misinformation about a truly wonderful game.

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I looked at the group of boys – so individualized, and seemingly unconnected to one another. Sweaty from our first conditioning practice, some proclaimed that they had never really run before, and that they had never lifted weights. So, this is where we started.

In late October, the Highlands High School lacrosse team had 15 ultra-basic Brine sticks, a few real lacrosse balls, some tennis balls, and one lightweight goal. These were the first, among many, generous donations throughout the season, but I’ll be the first to admit that I felt like I was in over my head.

I had never been a head coach. I had to put aside the years of particulars learned in women’s lacrosse, which had been drilled into my head, and replace them with men’s lacrosse rules and regulations. I was dealing with a rag-tag group of boys, who actually have very different stories and backgrounds, but who many people lump into one hushed category: low-income.

Only a few had been athletes before. Several were more accustomed to a skateboard and donned lip piercings and gauges at our first practices. Many started the season without any athletic footwear. For a number of them, it had been a long time since they’d passed all of their classes in one semester. Some worked for the local grocery chain, others at McDonald’s, or in construction with parents. I had no idea how this was going to happen.

Of course, I didn’t know the San Antonio lacrosse community. And I didn’t know these boys.

We enjoyed our little fall-ball practices. We worked on getting to know each other, on getting in shape, and on figuring out who was really serious about seeing this through. Meanwhile, I felt like I was drowning under everything that had to get done, as well as my newfound realization of the responsibility I had to these boys. We had a few setbacks but finally settled on a wonderful assistant coach who was willing to completely volunteer time and experience, as well as a conditioning coach out of Austin.

I was not ready for this season. I kept thinking that I shouldn’t have jumped into this so blindly. So why did I?

In retrospect, that answer easily surfaces and becomes so clear: Whether I was conscious of it or not, every decision I made had to do with these incredible boys, and what I was so sure this unique and addicting sport could give them. I continued to think that maybe we should cancel our games and just practice and learn this year – while simultaneously being dumbfounded by the fact that things had progressed so quickly that we actually had a legitimate game schedule in year one.

What it comes down to is this: these boys – they are something special. This is group of athletes that changed lives. And everyone wanted to see them get a chance.

When we came back from our break in January, we were officially pressed for time. Before I knew it, the hundreds of dollars in league fees were due, I was writing bylaws, the boys had to cough up $35 big ones to be US lacrosse members, and we still had basic sticks, and no pads. Our first game was on February 2, and we didn’t have but a few “real” sticks. My boys had never set foot on a field with lacrosse lines, nobody had played with a d-pole yet, and my goalie still couldn’t take legitimate shots. He didn’t have a helmet, let alone everything else.

Suddenly, and in large part thanks to our district coordinator, who simply decided this whole Highlands Lax project would come to fruition, positive things started happening. Reagan High School gave us our first 8 hand-me-down helmets and $1,500 – they paid our dues so that we could actually be a team. Their coach always wanted to help for the good of the game.

St. Mary’s Hall handed us $1,400. Texas State University partnered with us, let us meet with their team after their season opener, and conducted a huge donation drive for us. My new lacrosse-enthusiasts got bags and boxes of equipment handed to them from their new role models – college lacrosse players.

New Horizons Lacrosse out of Austin leased us full sets of equipment for free. TMI High School gave us nearly 15 sets of pads, and literally let us clean out their equipment closet. The San Antonio lacrosse community, I’m convinced, is the best around. They mentored me, my kids, and welcomed us all. (Editor’s Note: I literally cried when reading and editing this.)

In terms of our team, Micheal Williams was the catalyst. I had never met the tall, lean, hyper-energetic junior with an afro, but he bounced into my classroom in September with the idea that I could teach him and a few boys how to play lacrosse this year. I never thought I’d see him again when I asked him to scout out interest, but he came back with 22 signatures on a piece of paper.

He turned out to be a pretty solid defenseman, deciding that he would try to get at least one “yard sale” every game (that became his favorite phrase, and I think he actually reached that goal). Everything snowballed from there as we all worked through finding transportation, never playing a home game, getting sponsored jerseys, playing on a small, fire-ant infested dirt field, trudging through the grades, work schedules, court dates, and broken family problems.

Let me be clear – the respect I have for this group of young men knows no bounds. They have to fight, tooth and nail, for every shadow of a privilege they receive. These boys had to go back to their homes that most people I grew up with would consider well within the definition of poverty. Several guys couldn’t pay the US lacrosse membership fee, so we worked out a payment schedule.

Most of these kids don’t go home and live comfortable lives. My athletes work. They go to court. They enlist in the army straight out of high school because it is an excellent option. They eat chips for breakfast and drink soda for lunch. And there are much tougher situations than that. But here’s the catch – they have more heart, pride, and guts than any group of kids I’ve ever met.

The boys on this team fought for everything they got out of this first season, even with life throwing so many things their way and piling the baggage on. They proved that something truly positive can come out of this community directly. I still don’t know how aware they are of what exactly they have accomplished.

Needless to say, I think a lot of people – myself included – saw this team as an underdog. Nobody thought we’d come away from this season with a win, and certainly not two. From our perspective, our first one could not have been more beautiful. I remember looking out on the unseasonably chilly day and having an epiphany. These “hard” guys with the sponsored jerseys from a local cement company – they had become lacrosse players.

They boys had fallen in love with the game. I have never felt more connected to this game than when I watched them see what their efforts had accomplished. This team decided to build something for themselves, and it’s been glorious. They made something completely their own, and students who never would have even recognized each other in the halls found themselves together, on this distinctive field, playing this historic, yet historically affluent, game.

I think back to one of our very first information sessions, where I told them a bit about the sport and showed them some exciting lax highlights clips on YouTube.Before they knew the game, before they felt the sweat, before the pride of winning and the lessons of loosing, before the transformation in leadership and kinship… they walked out of my classroom yelling “Highlands Lax! Highlands Lax!”

They had literally just learned, minutes ago, that the abbreviation for lacrosse was “lax.” Yet they had already decided they were going to make something that nobody could take away from them. I am humbled and blessed to have been a part of what they created.

I’ll say it again: these boys changed my life and their own. They have always had a harder life than mine. They have opened my eyes to real grit, resilience, sportsmanship, and success. They are to be admired, and they don’t even know why yet. Welcome to the game, Highlands. I hope it does as much for you as it’s already done for me.

For a short video on the Highlands Lacrosse Team, check out KABB Fox in San Antonio.

From Morgan…

Attackman Connor Johnson (#24) bowling-balls his way through the defense, keeps himself in the box to avoid blowing the play dead because of the flag down, and then throws up one of the best assists possible to Shawn Finnerty (#16) of Alpharetta HS (Alpharetta, Ga)

Lucky or good?

If your photo gets chosen for our Photo of the Week, we’ll hook you up with your very own LaxAllStars.com Prize Pack courtesy of the The Lacrosse Shop. To submit your photo, simply click the link and send it in to us!

Love the song.

The 14 and 15 year olds aren’t the only ones balling though. Check out the Adanacs’ Intermediate squad (16-18 years old) as well:

Got to love that squeaky wooden floor. Some day, I will play on it.

Thanks to Jeff Roby for sending the videos in, and for putting in the time to put them together. GTG, Jeff!

Great Games!

As always, the best match ups take place towards the end of the season. This year was no different. The top 4 teams in the North (Highland Park, Jesuit, ESD, St. Marks) have all faced off. While we have gained some greater clarity into their abilities to compete, we do not really have an idea of where the teams will finish out when it is all said and done. All of these teams made playoff runs starting on Tuesday, so let us take a look at how they arrived where they are first.

HP vs. Jesuit – In a 2012 Final 4 Rematch, Highland Park was able to outlast the #1 team in the State, Dallas Jesuit, by a score of 7-6. Highland Park was led by senior goaltender Matthew Meaders who limited the Rangers to 1 goal in the 2nd half. Highland Park has handed Jesuit their only two, in-state losses in the last 2 years.

SPC Championship – 2013’s Southwest Preparatory Conference Championships saw a familiar contest between St. Marks and ESD. ESD defeated St. Marks during the regular season for the 1 st time in its last 8 tries. St. Marks, however, is playing its best lacrosse down the stretch, and, in the Championship, it was all Lions. For St. Marks, it is all about the strength of their entire team, but junior Riley Graham, FO Mid, did an outstanding job of controlling possession the entire tournament.

St. Marks vs. HP – After successful outings by these two respective squads the week before, St. Marks once again demonstrated that they are playing their best lacrosse at the right time. In their final regular season contest of 2013, the Lions led from start to finish putting together a complete effort. Highland Park had a tremendous outing against Jesuit. Since that emotional victory, however, they had not put together a complete game until the playoffs started.

ESD vs. Jesuit – In the final, regular season contest of the 2013 schedule, Jesuit got after ESD early going up 7-2 at one point in the match. ESD did, however, come back late pulling to within 1 goal of Jesuit with a possession. At that point, though, Jesuit made a zone adjustment which, ultimately, led to an Eagles turnover. With this victory, Jesuit locked in the 2nd seed in the North District and first round by into the playoffs.

South & Central - While all we have discussed initially has come out of the North, the top seeds in the south and central have also been steadily moving along. Out of Houston, the Woodlands squad finished out its season undefeated at 18-0. This potent group has defeated Highland Park (1 st game of the season), Coppell, Plano West, Westlake (top seed in the Central), and everyone from the South District. While the Woodlands will not get much credit from the State until they defeat a top four, North District squad in the playoffs, there is no doubt that they can compete.

The Highlanders are athletic, offensively explosive, and stingy on defense. Finally, coming out of the Central, the Westlake Chaps have handled everyone in their district but are seeking their first statement win of the year outside of Austin. The Chaps will likely secure the Central District Championship with a win against Anderson. With that win, they will get a bye in the 1st Rd. of the playoffs.

Playoffs

This week there were several, play-in games that lead into the regional championships. They included:

(North District) #6 Coppell @ #3 ESD
(North District) #5 Allen @ #4 St. Marks
(South District) #6 Memorial @ #3 EHS
(South District) #5 Kingwood @ #4 HCHS

The playoff race always comes down to the wire in the Great State, and there are usually some shake ups along the way. At this point though, it looks like the top dogs are moving forward as the Final Four is now set:

Semifinal One: Highland Park vs. St. Marks

Semifinal Two: Episcopal School of Dallas vs. Jesuit

All are top squads, and anyone could take the title.

StickStar will keep you covered every step of the way, so please follow us on Twitter @StickStarLax.

In a scant week, the King will be crowned! We will provide coverage of that, too! Looking forward to it! Happy 2nd Season!

On an endline clear, Bergman begins to walk up the field with the ball. As soon as he gets five yards above GLE, he lets one loose for the goal. We love the reaction by the La Salle bench!

BONUS! This one was so good, we couldn’t pass it up. Another regular on the site, Joe Richter, sent over this b-e-a-utiful shot of a sunset at practice one day in Oregon.

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This Week’s Caption Contest…

Check out the photo below, and drop your best caption in the comments!  We’ll hook the winner up with their own LAS Slouch Beanie the Lacrosse Shop.

This week’s Caption Contest comes to us from Marlo Karp. Marlo sent over this image from a recent high school game between Newark Academy and Oratory Prep.

The sport of lacrosse meets telepathy.

Get to commenting and WIN!  If YOU want your photo to be used in a future Caption Contest, send us the photo and some info via our Tipline!

Last Week’s Winner…

Last week’s Caption Contest winner is rydensaur! Spot on!

rydensaur - Send us your mailing address and we’ll hook it up!

The lacrosse prizes and potential internet fame are well worth the effort, and even if it takes us some time, we’ll always pick a winner! Let the Caption Contests begin!