Happy Holidays All!

Just a quick note to players and parents for a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Looking forward to a very successful 2010 lacrosse season!!

A Big Win vs Summit and A Note to Team Parents & Players

What a great game last night!!  I have stated many times that this team is a work in progress and last night I think we all saw a great deal of that progress coming to fruition.  I apologize to the boys for not speaking with them immediately after the game but I was pulled away on an urgent matter and when I was through speaking most of the boys had left.  Please let them all know how proud I am of them.  We had solid goaltending last night, passing and shooting were improved and there were a number of great assists on the goals we scored (an excellent indication that we are starting to pass more instead of holding the ball too long!).  Beating Summit is great achievement.  Our next game is January 8th since the next 2 Friday nights are holidays.  The January 8th game is 10pm (!!) so please plan accordingly for that timeslot. 
 
Now, there is a matter of importance that I’d like to communicate to all of you.  Its important to me that all parents (and the players) are fully informed on how the team is run and that it is my intention to run our lacrosse teams in the fairest way possible.  Coach Argenziano and I spend a good amount of time before each game putting the lines together to maximize our chances of scoring and to match up middie lines with attack lines so that the boys are comfortable with each other, trust each other (or are learning to) and work well with each other.  When we designate lines as “first line”, “second line”, etc. those words mean nothing!  Just because one player is on the “first line” and another is on the “second line” does not mean the “first line” is the better line in any way.  Those designations mean nothing.  Its just the by-product of how Coach Argenziano and I set up the game based on which boys are playing that week and which boys are not, and based on what we know about the strengths and weaknesses of the other team and how we can match up against those strengths and weaknesses. 
 
We try our hardest to get each player as much playing time as possible and we do our best to make adjustments when necessary.  Each of the players is responsible for being ready to take the field when they or their lines are called.  There are no horns or stoppage of play in this league so all substitutions are made “on the fly”.  If a player is not ready to go when his line is called, or chooses not to go out on a called shift, or second-guesses one of the coaches about playing time, the make-up of their line or anything else, that player will miss that shift.  I believe this makes it fair for all the players who are ready to go when they are called for.  Also, any player who plays dangerously or whom the other team’s coach or the referee feels may be playing dangerously or in violation of the rules will see a reduction in playing time. 

The 11 Commandments of Lacrosse

I added the “11 Commandments of Lacrosse” as a separate page to this blog.  You can click and access it from the link at the top of the blog.  The 11 Commandments is a “must read” for all lacrosse players!  I highly suggest that you print it out for your lacrosse player and tape it on the wall so it gets read over and over!!

Another Battle to a Tie in Game 2 of the Winter Season

In our second game of the winter season we again fought to a 6-6 tie.  Though we were without our regular goalie, we got some solid goaltending from Connor Cook.  We had some great goals and a few missed opportunities that we will surely work to cut down on.  A very important observation Coach Argenziano and I have made is the need for all players to play defense when the other team has possession of the ball.  Defense is not just a position for the “defensemen” with the long sticks.  After our team takes a shot on goal and the goalie makes a safe and clears it to his own men, or when the other team brings the ball in from out of bounds, our middies and attackmen must hustle and play defense against the ball carrier and the other players on offense.  Lacrosse is a fast game and the winter league is as close to a non-stop game as possible.  Thus, all players need to be moving at all times.  In future games we will be trying to maximize the match-ups of our players against the players on the other teams.  Hopefully this will give us a bigger advantage and lead us to more victories.

Our third game this Friday (12/18) is vs Summit at 5pm.  All players should be at ISP by 4:30pm.  I know all of us would like to come out full-speed against Summit to get our first “W”!

See you on the field!

– Coach B

A Solid Start To Our Winter Lax Season!

We played a competitive Sparta team to a solid 7-7 tie in the first game of our winter lax season on Friday night (12/4/09).  In my eyes our first game was a success even though we didn’t get the “W”.  In this league a tie is almost as good.  For a team of players (ours) that had not yet played together and some who have never even set foot on a full field, I was very impressed with what I saw.  I also saw a bunch of things that we need to work on and that I will communicate to the players before our next game. 

It was nice to see goals scored by a bunch of different players (as well as great assists from other players!).  We were sharp on face-offs and tight down on defense and we had some very promising goaltending from Mark Pasquariello in his first ever lacrosse game.  With more experience Mark will be a very solid goalie for us. 

We are scheduled to play Chatham this Friday (7pm).  Chatham typically fields a very skilled and fast team so we will have to work hard to stay with them.  We will have to turn our play up a notch but I have confidence that our team can do just that. 

I know there is often some snow on the ground these days, its cold out and its dark by 4:30pm but even when inside, the boys can (and should) practice their cradling (preferably in both hands).  Every little bit of practice goes a long way.

So… after a very encouraging first game, I look forward to the next one and getting our first “W”.

See you on the field.

– Coach B

Our First Winter League Game is TONIGHT!

I look forward to seeing you all tonight at 7:30pm.  I will handout the game jerseys and go over the ground rules for the games.  Please remember to bring all your equipment.  Don’t Forget Your Cup!!  Mouthpieces are required as well and ISP will be selling them for $2.00 if you don’t have one.

Come ready to play!! 

– Coach B