Get Up And Just Grow the Game!!

If you are on this blog reading right now, it’s because you love the game of lacrosse.  As popular as the game seems these days, we are still not mainstream.  I coach lacrosse (both youth and sometimes H.S. in the off-season), I write about the sport in this blog and some other websites, and I have made part of my living representing some lacrosse players and some businesses in the lacrosse world.  There are so many others like me out there doing so many things to GROW THE GAME. 

The shirt on the right is one my favorites.  I have a bunch of them and wear them as often as I can.  It shows my commitment to doing whatever I can to contribute to the growth of this great game.  My good friends at http://www.laxallstars.com are currently deep into their Grow The Game Movement.  Info here: GTG Movement  Visit Lacrosse Allstars (Lacrosse Allstars)  and grab a GTG shirt of your own!

But it doesn’t end there.  Last year one of my son, Zander’s, summer team coaches – the great Princeton (and current Hamilton National) defenseman, Chad Weidmaier spent time in Uganda teaching kids how to play lacrosse.  UGANDA!!.  Brett Hughes has turned Lacrosse The Nations (Lacrosse The Nations) into an enormously powerful organization that unifies the lacrosse community to sustainably improve education and health while creating hope and opportunity for children in need.

Josh Chewy Acut has been Growing the Game in Texas for quite some time now and I personally have seen some top-notch lacrosse talent from Texas over the past two Summers so its become abundantly clear to me that there is a great deal lax talent out there in Southwest (and just about everywhere else!).  Payu Nerngchamnong, whom I read about quite a bit on the lax blogs, is doing a ton to Grow the Game in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore.

The above is just a few of the great things that the lacrosse world is doing to bring this great game to the masses AND to use the game to help improve the lives of others.  Lacrosse is so much more than just a game.  Its a life.  If you love this game, try to be more than just a passive player, coach or fan – do something to promote it and help it grow!

See you on the field!

– Coach B

Your “Best Friend”

Your lacrosse stick is your “tool”. When you step out on the lacrosse field you have a role, a job, a responsibility to your team and yourself to play the best you possibly can. In the game of lacrosse you can’t do that without a necessary tool: your stick. Your stick should become your “best friend”.

For your tool and best friend to function as well as it possibly can, you need to take care of it!. It very often requires a fair amount of TLC. Don’t take it for granted. First off, you have to love it. If you are not happy with the way your stick is strung, have it restrung. Ask your coach or your teammates who are happy with their sticks and get their recommendations for someone to restring your head for you. If your top or side strings are torn – replace them. If your shooting strings have loosened and your passes and shots are not flying the way you like them too, then fix your shooting strings. Many times the weather doesn’t cooperate and we are forced to play games in the rain. Rain can really affect your mesh and the pocket in your stick. After a game in the rain, take a good look at your pocket and make sure you are happy with the way the mesh has dried. If you don’t like it, fix it – but fix it before the next practice or game! Different types of mesh are affected differently by the rain. Anyone playing with traditional stringing (bonus points for you! 😉 – on the right is the stick I am currently playing with) also knows that you need to care for your leathers and adjust them periodically. Additionally, make sure your pocket hasn’t sagged to a point where it is or is close to an illegal pocket. You surely don’t want your goal wiped out in a crucial game and your stick removed because of an illegal pocket that you could very well have fixed if you just gave your stick a little tune-up.  For some tips on getting a good pocket in your stick, see my post of February 23, 2011 Is Your Stick Ready?

Remember also, it’s YOUR stick. It doesn’t matter if your teammates think it throws badly, as long as it works for YOU. Everyone’s stick is different, but serves the same purpose. It’s kind of like the lacrosse flip flops all the players seem so fond of – even with the exact flip flops, two people will break them in differently, to make them uniquely theirs.

I actually started this article back in the Spring and shelved it when I got busy with work-related stuff.  As many boys (and girls) begin to get ready for tryouts for next summer’s elite teams, I felt this article was now timely.  Best of luck to everyone in their upcoming tryouts.

A big shout out to my friends at Lacrosse Allstars (www.laxallstars.com).  If you are not already doing it, be sure to find some way to Grow The Game!

See you on the field!

– Coach B

Full Force Lacrosse – Fall/Winter 2012-13 Tryouts

Full Force Lacrosse is planning to field Fall and Winter lacrosse 7th/8th grade teams for 2012-13.  We will be holding our tryout on Friday August 17 from 7:15-9:30pm at Snyder Avenue Turf Field in Berkeley Heights.  Please arrive at 7 PM for check-in and to receive your pinney.  There will be a $10 tryout fee to cover the cost of the field.  You must bring all your equipment and plenty of water. A make-up tryout will be held on Wednesdsay August 22 at Aircast field in New Providence for those who are unable to make it to the A
 
We realize that some players will not be able to play in the Fall due to commitments to other sports.  HOWEVER, if you plan to play for Full Force Lacrosse in the Winter, you must still attend this tryout. 
 
The tryout is open to any player entering 7th or 8th grade this Fall and is not limited to Chiefs players so please feel free (we actually encourage you) to forward this e-mail to any of your son’s friends in surrounding towns who may have an interest in playing for the team this Fall and/or Winter.  We hope to field a small and highly competitive team, and hope to have a large turnout from which to select the team. 
 
Our plan is to enroll the Fall team in the Rutgers league.  This league plays its games on Sunday afternoons/evenings between 5pm and 9pm on the Rutgers campus in Piscataway.  Games are not typically played on any other days and at any other location.  We do hope to hold a few local practices prior to the start of the game season. We are also considering entering the team in a Fall tournament.  For the Winter we will again enroll in the ISP indoor league up in Randolph.  The Force 7th/8th grade team won this league last Winter.
 
Once the tryout is complete, those who are informed that they have been selected will be provided with the information to register with the Rutgers league as a member of the Full Force Lacrosse team.  We anticipate that the fee for the Rutgers league will be $150 per player and we intend to order shorts and shooter shirts (we are searching for a cost effective package for the shorts/shirt).
 
We are very excited about the upcoming Fall and Winter seasons and look forward to seeing your son at the tryout.  Once again, check-in on on August 17th is 7pm and the tryout will commence at 7:15pm sharp.  We will, of course, have frequent water breaks and will have an EMT on-site.
 
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email fullforcelax@gmail.com and we will respond as quickly as possible.  Full Force Lacrosse maintains a website at: www.fullforcelax.weebly.com so be sure to check it frequently for additional information.