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Jon Fox: Black and Gold Lacrosse Festival

Jon Fox @ UCI

Editor’s note: Lax All Stars is a forum for passionate people to have their voices heard and it’s a time for rejoicing because a whole new section of the country is about to gain representation. This is the introductory post from new contributor Lacrosse Fire.  He writes to us from down California way and will be bringing the noise regarding SoCal lax.  Give him a big LAS welcome.
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There is nothing better than kicking off the new year with a game of lacrosse.  That’s exactly what Jon Fox, head coach for Foothill High School’s men’s lacrosse team did.  Not just one game but a whole festival!  On Saturday, January 2, (*Just keep reading) Jon Fox, along with the help of the Foothill High Booster club organized the first annual Black and Gold Lacrosse Festival.   An event to gather alumni, current players, and families for an all day lax fest.

While the rest of the country was socked in with winter weather, out here in SoCal. the conditions were ideal for a day outside laxin’  it up. Jon Fox, who played at UCI from ’90-’94,  has been a pivotal factor in establishing the grass roots lacrosse movement here in this part of the OC.

I spoke with Jon Fox briefly and got the rundown on the whole lax festival.  “The festival is centered around the alumni, it’s a chance to get together and play lacrosse. One of the highlights was watching my kids play in youth games.”

The day started off at 8:00am with 6th grade club teams going at it.  The field wasn’t just limited to boys games, the girls had a chance to show off their skill which really opened up the field to make this an all day family affair.

The cuteness factor came in with the K-2nd grade  game.  Little bobble heads running around the pitch, just puts a glow in your heart.  By noon the 80 degree weather along with a gentle breeze made it perfect for grilling burgers.  It wasn’t until the old-timer’s game that the comedy act started.  Imagine semi out of shape dads running around the field with endless attempts at one-handed GBs.  In their favor however, most of them were rookies and still finding their game.  All told I think the final score was 1-0 for one of the teams that probably had the youngest dads.

After a handful of games there was an awards ceremony to recognize alumni who had gone on to play post-high school.  There was a handful representing NCAA action, several playing the game in the MCLA and even 1 dude, David Pearson, representing u-19 German National Team!

Added up I think there were about 10 games that led into the main event.  The Foothill High alumni versus current players playing under the club banner Crush.   Here’s a quick clip of what Jon had to say.

Also hanging around the festival and looking as chill as ever was none other then Brett Hughes, LAS contributor and co-founder of Lacrosse the Nations.  You can get the full dish on Brett here.

We  talked with him to find out what Lacrosse the Nations is all
about.  Talk about growing the sport.

Brett sure knows style

If you ever run into Brett and his smoking hot girl, ask him about JAZZ eye-black.  If you want to help Lacrosse the Nations just follow the link on the right hand side of your screen under Friends of Lax Nation.

All around it was a great event, the weather was amazing, and to top it off there was lots of lacrosse.  We’re already looking forward to next year.

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*Ok ,we can here you all out there crying, “January 2!, that’s so two weeks ago.”  Well you’re right, it was, live with it, for now anyways.  There are a couple more things we want to revisit, before we get into some current stuff. . . . . . . So yeah.