You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'mindy mccord' tag.
Boynton Beach, Florida – Any doubts as to what the LaxManiax program was all about were erased on Sunday as the club program that features players from across the state took four of six total team awards, including all three championships for the event. Most encouraging about the performance, nearly all of the Maniax players will be back next year too. Of the 46 LaxManiax high school players who participated, only six (6!) were 2010’s (that’s what this year’s seniors are called in club lax language). They also took champion and runner up in the ‘Champions bracket’ and took the championship in the ‘Collegiate bracket’.
The LaxManiax teams had lots of talent, with only six seniors and without the help of Team Florida 2011 stars Chelsea Pinneke, Kaliegh Henry, Tina Monohan, Jackie Shaefer (playing for Big Blue) and minus big guns like JU commitments Morgan Derner and Kaylee Quint, Cincinnati commitment Chanelle Coulon, and college commitments Kelly Matthewman, Kelsey Harvey, and Heather Gable the LaxManiax were on a mission to get to know the NEW generation of LaxManiax players.
It was a great chance for a NEW generation of Maniax to learn and grow together! The Next Generation of Team Florida Girls (TNG of TFG). Yet without many of the club’s most accomplished players and DI early commitments, the three teams managed to outscore their opponents by a margin of 128-54 in their first tournaments ever playing together on a full field. The competition was much more close between the Maniax teams themselves. In two head-to-head games, the teams were only three goals apart (15-13).
L to R: Sabrina Jennis, Jordyn Pelkey, Nikki Isdaner, and Spidey Shepardson, were key players for the championship Black team.
The LaxManiax could have used the missing players as an excuse for why they were not ‘as good’ as they were supposed to be, but when you focus on improvement and college recruiting first, there is no need to make any excuses. It is all about getting better and in the process winning too. And this group did both in a huge way!
The LaxManiax classes of 2011-2013’s are not looking back, they are flashing forward to the future tournaments. And the future is looking very bright for TFG and the LaxManiax.
“What I liked the most about the event was just how fast all of our teams played and how skilled most of our girls looked out there. They have made a lot of improvement since May and will continue to grow moving forward. I don’t think a whole lot of teams will want to battle the Maniax in the 2010 season, but let’s enjoy this weekend and the year so far in 2009. We did not have a lot of seniors, but the ones we had were great leaders for us.” said club director Sarah Gallion, a former all-American and Captain at Johns Hopkins.
LaxManiax White and Pink celebrate their victories at the Florida Draw!
Overall, the high school and middle school aged LaxManiax teams proved to be the most skilled and lax-smart teams at the tournament. Considering the club philosophy that echos what the top club programs nationwide follow, it was a true victory for lacrosse growth in the south.
“You could practice 100 times a year with the same team and coach. That is not what a young person needs to develop their games. Kids are all developing, regardless if they are being recruited by Maryland or they just picked up a stick.” said club co-founder Mindy McCord, newly named Director of Lacrosse at Jacksonville University. “They need role models, intense opportunities and learning more than a high school playbook. I think our Maniax day, taking part in the Cradle for the Cure tournament, and one local practice prior to the Florida Draw prepared our kids for play and allowed them to continue working with their high school fall ball programs without interference.”
“Some people don’t get it. Variety is the key in expanding the mind of a young or old person. It’s a very good thing.”
LaxManiax high school teams (three in all, named Black, White and Pink), performed very well, going undefeated against non-Maniax opponents. The only loss suffered by a Maniax high school aged team was to themselves. Overall the record of the teams was 11-0-1 against all opponents at the tournament and included the top finishes possible by any three teams (2 champions and 1 runner up in to divisions).
Someone had to be the runner up! It was a great showing.
Team Summaries
High School Division – Collegiate:
The team started slowly, but made tremendous gains throughout the tournament, culminating with a championship win over Big Blue (Lake Brantley), which featured some of the top LaxManaix players themselves. Game #1 vs. The Hurricanes (Winter Springs HS) was a contrast in halves. In the first half, the coach made little adjustments and called no timeouts as the Canes took a 7-3 half-time lead. To quote myself “I wanted to see how the girls would naturally work together and get to know each other and determine where everyone could fit to help the team.”
During the second half, we adjusted the team and made mental-emotional adjustments to play much smarter and conceptually sound lacrosse. Our draw control and possession skills took hold and we won the half 8-4. This forced a tie in the game, 11-11. Some saw this as a let down, but I saw it as a great chance to make adjustments and help the girls understand the lesson that you have to play as a team and not play as an ‘all-star’ team. It was the first time our team had ever played together and we were hoping that this tournament would allow us ‘practice under pressure’ so we could prepare for recruiting tournaments this fall. The good news is, the team that was able to get put together for the Florida Draw made the most of their opportunities and came together very well.
Thanks to 2012 goal keeper Katie Kastner for stoning two late shots by the Canes to save the tie.
Melodie Adolphe (right) finishes her check on the unprotected stick of a SOFLA player (bottom). Maddy Blakeman (left) and Taylor McCord (center) provided help turning the ball to the perfect check without a foul. LaxManiax players earned 0 yellow cards in their first three games by using technique.
Game two was against a very physical SOFLA team. SOFLA is a team with some very skilled players. The game was pretty tight until the second half when SOFLA took too many major penalties and our team took advantage with possession time. Realizing there were as many as four games to play on Sunday, we stopped fast breaks and played a slow, patient attack, closing with a 9-5 win. Again, our young team started slowly falling behind to a 3-4 half time deficit. But the second half was a strong one, where we controlled the ball for nearly the entire half and forced some great turnovers.
Looking at the event, it was clear that each game we were coming together after ‘instructional’ timeouts and half-times and a better structure AND as they grew comfortable on the field together. We outscored SOFLA and the Canes 14-5 in the second half on Day one. This made the prep for Day 2 a little easier, but with the knowledge that we would have to play 4 games in one day to win the title, I knew we would have to play very smart with subs, midfield, and attack possessions or we would run out of gas in the hot south Florida sun.
We began the day at 8am (warm-up) and we finished the day at 5pm hoisting a trophy after four games, so the theory of managing fitness worked. We had to focus on fitness and endurance while keeping our midfield shifts on the field to controlled amounts in order to have a shot at the end of the day. We played a young Stickbenders team, much like ourselves. After stuffing three goals in within the first five minutes in transition, Stickbenders, coached by former Vero Beach high school player Megan Vatland, conceded the midfield, dropping immediately into their zones removing the fast break option we had enjoyed to start the game. After dictating the lead, the Black teams slowed down the pace of the game, conserved their energy and remained healthy for the next opponent.
Their zone broke down, despite rampant off-ball detaining, stick to body contact, 3-seconds, and fouls on the ball. It was clear that they would have rather forced a free position play than give up tons of goals. Their players were playing hard, and the fouls helped to control the score, but they could not get the ball out of their defensive zone consistently and struggled to manage an attack against the pressure slide defense the Maniax were utilizing.
Our mission was to make the game as short as possible and move on to the playoff round, and we were successful in the 9-4 win. Only one of the goals surrendered came on a shot from play, the other three were free position goals. All in all, a nice defensive game and a smart game considering there were very few subs and a long day ahead for the LaxManiax.
The playoffs started with a friendly game against Xtreme Green which was fun for all the girls. We maximized our substitutions and in the final 10-minutes we practiced for our upcoming semi-final game against the Canes, and we finally completed the game with a nice run and a 10-5 win. Spirits from both teams were very high.
In the semi-finals we faced many former Maniax players. Eight former Maniax players were on the Canes team (WInter Springs) and they were full of seniors with nine, so they had a lot of experience and they have practiced together dozens of times and played in several Lax-4-Life Fall League games, so they were quite familiar with each other and very prepared to face the Maniax.
Maniax Black star (#9 in white) Maddy Blakeman pulls away from Hurricane defender Alley Rhinehart (#9 aqua) during the Maniax 15-3 semi-final victory. During the game, every attacker and midfielder scored.
Fortunately, the strength of diversity and variety of the Maniax program clicked and our kids jumped out to a 7-2 half-time lead. Finally, a strong start! In the second half the transition game clicked and nearly every player on attack scored 2 or more points overall for the game. Our defense was stifling on the well-practiced plays of the Canes, who had many skilled attackers. The substitution methods used all tournament helped us seem very fresh in the fifth game of the tournament and our skills and communication were excellent. We rolled on to a 15-3 victory. It was a great preview of our kids who will be showcasing this Fall in Annapolis in front of all the Division I coaches during the chill of November – many of them were participating on the Black and White teams this weekend.
The big win over the Canes set up a final between Big Blue, a team with fifteen current or former Maniax and some excellent seniors. I teased Maniax/Big Blue’s Caroline Lamere (2010) with the name ‘Lake Maniac’. All of the girls from each team were really excited to play the game. When you play against your friends, you always go a little harder, and the championship game was a great testimonial to the up and coming strength of the Lake Brantley program under Coaches Hopkins, Dunham and Casey and the strength of the young LaxManiax players whom they battled. We started out fast and gained a lead, but Big Blue fought back and the score was tied at the half! The second half once again proved to be the Black team’s half. Defense and speed-endurance were huge factors and the girls secured more ground balls and possessions to seal the 9-6 victory and the championship.
The themes of team work, clock management, and smart play paid off for the Black team which outscored their opponents in the second half 33-11. The only way a team can be that dominating in the second half is by being smart with their possessions and by being in great shape. Considering this was the very first time that these Maniax teams had ever played together (the team had not practiced ONCE as a unit), the power of the LaxManiax program was truly shown. Congrats to all the participants in the event for bringing out the best in the team.
Glo Kelly (Wellington), Lizard Blackwell (Barron Collier) and Mer Donaldson (St. Andrews) provided the team’s only senior leadership. There were also four rapidly emerging sophomores (2012) on the team and eight juniors (2011). The parents of the team were like assistant coaches with as much support as they provided! It was a great family feel.
LaxManiax members of Big Blue and the LaxManiax Black team pose for a picture before awards. Only LaxManiax Black defeated the previously undefeated Big Blue program who played a terrific tournament.
High School Division – Champions:
This division featured some dominating play by the LaxManiax White team (featuring ten 2012’s and three 2011’s and three 2010’s) and LaxManiax Pink (featuring sixteen 2013 players – all freshmen). Oddly enough, the two teams began the tournament facing each other. And after a strong start by the White team, coached by Club Director Sarah Gallion, the Pink team rallied in the second half and Coach Chris Claussen’s team forged the incredible come from behind 8-8 tie! What a way to start the event! Down 5-1 at the half, Coach Chris rallied his troops for seven second-half goals.
Led by 2011’s Jeselle Figureoa (Lake Howell) and Danie Solis (Baron Collier), and Bug Franklin (Palmer Trinity) the White team dominated play against Xtreme Blue opening up the scoring with a 12-3 win in the afternoon game. White then topped SOLFA B 10-5 in the final game of pool play and ironically drew a rematch against SOFLA B in the Champions Division Semi-Finals. This time the White team pounced to an 11-2 victory and brought on the rematch with the Pink team!
With nearly identical scores, the LaxManiax Pink team moved on to pool play and defeated SOFLA 11-4. The all-freshman unit then moved on to defeat Xtreme Blue 12-5 in the final game of pool play and drew the same team in a rematch for their semifinal contest. This game ended in the tournament’s only shutout, a 10-0 win going to the PInk’ees! The young guns earned an opportunity to face their arch nemesis, LaxManiax White, in the finals.
Hannah Bolt (Oviedo), and Sarah Dibble (Lake Mary) paced play for the 2013’s throughout the tournament. Hannah, whose sister was a member of the championship Black team and was a member of the 2011-12 TFG Black program this summer showed a high level of understanding of the high level game and was excellent on ground balls and movement in space. Her fitness levels also allowed her to stay on the field for long periods of time. Dibs’ play showed a quickly evolving left-handed style of play that demonstrates a lot of control and discipline.
Goal keeper Gabi Cohen (Jupiter) anchored a smothering defense that averaged only surrendering 3 goals per game to non-Maniax opponent while holding the White team to 4-goals fewer per game than their average against non-Maniax opponents. What does this mean? It means that she and her defense were critical in the Pink’s run to the finals.
In the final game, LaxManiax Pink started with an early two-goal lead with a lot of intensity riding in the game. Both teams played very good defense and neither team could get a consistent offense thanks to the defensive pressure. Finally the White team forced some turnovers and did not allow the Pink team to settle the ball. They outlasted the Pink team and finished the championship game as 7-4 winners. Both teams represented the club as was expected and the coaches worked well with their teams, providing lots of feedback and critical help to the players on the field. A hallmark of LaxManiax teams is transformative FEEDBACK all the time!
White Out: The Maniax White team (ironically in Black) hoist the championship trophy after a come from behind victory against the Maniax Pink team at the Florida Draw. Just three goals separated the two teams in their two games and leads were exchanged often in each game.
Coach Gallion felt like her team played very well at times and was spurred on by the inner-club rivalry games against the PInk team. “I felt like all of our teams were really good at the tournament. We knew we would be in a dog fight, if we played the Black team or the Pink team, Maniax teams know how to compete but at the end of the game we are all part of Maniax-nation!”
“The LaxManiax Pink team was a great mixture of Maniax from around the state. They were able to come together as a team and improved in every aspect of their game. They were competitive, fast, aggressive, smart, and they got into the flow of the game together.” commented Coach Claussen. “They have a bright future in store for them. It will be fun to watch them develop and if I were playing the 2013’s I would not underestimate them. I really enjoyed working with the 2013’s.”
The tournament, which is run by the parents organization at Park Vista High School (known as SOFLA), was storm free this year and included an added division of play which allowed for more competitive play. The SOFLA organization deserves a lot of credit for creating a solid organization for the event. They consistently made adjustments to keep the event running on track and provided so many volunteers to help that they seemed like they were not even there – a sure sign of a well run event.
The
Naples, Florida - In a move that has been three years in the making, Collier County School Board has decided to move lacrosse in the county from club status to full-varsity status under the jurisdiction of the FHSAA for the 2010 season. The county teams will be independent in 2010, but will be re-drawn into a district for the 2010-2011 school year. It is unclear what district or districts the programs will be assigned, or if a new district will be added as the state moves towards a balanced 16-district arrangement as in other sports.
Chris Claussen, part of a group of lacrosse coaches and former players who helped establish lacrosse in Collier County eight years ago deserves much of the credit for the movement towards FHSAA status. He has spearheaded meetings, a petition, and even a Facebook group online in support of FHSAA lacrosse for southwest Florida. He and his group had been rebuffed several times before, but this Fall, there was a break and after years of hard work and effort on the part of hundreds of lacrosse enthusiasts, the programs will now all have elevated status.
The move will instantly put these schools into FHSAA lacrosse:
Baron Collier (two time girls club state champions, runner up boys club champions)
Naples
Golf Coast
Palmetto Ridge
Golden Gate (boys only)
Community School of Naples (boys only)
These schools will join Canterbury School of Ft. Myers (Lee County) in Southwest Florida as FHSAA lacrosse programs. Other schools in the southwest (Lee and Sarasota Counties) are for now still considered club programs by their public school municipalities.
“For the past three years we have modeled ourselves off of FHSAA, following their rules to the tee.” commented Claussen. “We had the FHSAA rules, the Collier County athletics code of conduct and every other rule we could see other varsity (FHSAA) programs follow to prove that we were able to do it the right way. It’s so good for the kids to finally be ‘FHSAA’.”
Gatorade baths have been the custom at Barron Collier with Chris Claussen at the helm. His teams have amassed an impressive record over the past three years.
Claussen pointed to the outstanding growth in Collier County, specifically over the past four years. Youth lacrosse has grown from 0 to 500 over that time. Currently, an estimated 1,000 kids play lacrosse in Collier County making it the fastest growing sport.
“They (school board) recognized that lacrosse is something that is not going away and it is getting more and more popular. Other AD’s statewide had great feedback for our AD’s about the sport. It can be a real draw at the gate and generate revenue to off-set costs and it’s really not that expensive. We were always respected in our communities, but now we are varsity in every respect with the recognition and leadership of the school district.”
Claussen, who played lacrosse in college, was a huge reason why lacrosse was started on both the boy’s and girl’s levels in Collier County. His passion for the game and desire to spread lacrosse, which he grew up playing, has led to more and more opportunities. He is still active in growing boy’s lacrosse, but stepped away from his dual coaching role at Barron Collier where he was head coach of both the boy’s and girl’s varsity programs and is now focusing on the girl’s side while supporting Matt Hunter, a former Major League Lacrosse player, who is the head coach of the Barron Collier boy’s team. Both programs will be considered strong even in their first year of FHSAA admission. Most coaches throughout the state view Barron Collier as a top-20 program instantly.
“There is very little difference between Barron Collier and Bartram Trail, Timber Creek, Olympia, Lake Highland Prep and other very good high school programs in Florida. They will be a top-program over the next few years and eventually will compete for state championships as their youth players move up to the high school level.” commented outgoing Bartram Trail coach Matt Ragland. “They have athletes and they are very dedicated. While they do not have the years of experience that the kids at Vero Beach or Lake Brantley have, it’s a matter of a couple years until they are spoken in the same conversation with those schools. The state as a whole is making a huge shift forward with the added teams from different regions of the state.”
Barron Collier’s girls program, in just their fourth varsity season, had a player sign a scholarship with Division I Jacksonville University (Abbey Warnken) and this year has five players who will more than likely reach the college level. Very few programs in Florida can boast that many college prospects in one graduating class.
“I am so excited for Barron Collier. I expect that they will do great things. They have been a force to reckon with on the club level and with the structure and teaching of coaches like Chris, it’s only a matter of time before they break into the FHSAA final-four.” Added Mindy McCord, head coach of Jacksonville University. “I am impressed with the caliber of athlete that have come out of Barron Collier’s program. They have a lot of dual sport athletes and those kids have a better chance of being college lacrosse players. In Abbey’s case, she is a great athlete who is super fast. She came out of a system where she could be athletic and use her speed. They have a lot of players like that. Barron alum Alyssa Emmons started for Division II Rollins College as a freshman with very little high school experience and no youth experience. But it was the great experience coming out of the BC program that gave her what she needed to succeed at the next level. Now all the teams in the southwest will have the opportunity to play with teams from all across the state and earn more recognition for themselves and the more FHSAA teams the more legitimate lacrosse becomes in Florida. They are all going to get better because of the greater opportunities for playing FHSAA opponents. Now there are 81 FHSAA teams. Very few states have more than 81 sanctioned high school teams. It’s exciting for the future.”
Jacksonville and Gainesville, Florida – Well, Florida, you wanted college lacrosse. And now you have it! Recently released schedules have come out from both Florida and Jacksonville leaving both programs for little room to breath in the opening season of their programs. Both programs (UF – womens, JU men and women) are starting with uphill battles against established programs. While either program could have settled for a full schedule of lesser known opponents who were all “newer”, each has decided to dive in with the big dogs and start swimming. In the long run, this will help both school’s programs succeed. In the short-term, it will be a series of lessons on how to play top-level Division I lacrosse.
“If you don’t play the big dogs, you can’t recruit the big dogs,” commented JU men’s lacrosse coach, and former Team USA assistant Matt Kerwick, whose team plays North Carolina, Yale, Rutgers and Hofstra in their rookie season. “We open with a team that is a perennial powerhouse because we aim to be there. It won’t be overnight, but it will be a lot sooner than if we did not face the giants early. And our guys are pretty pumped up about it. We want to become a top-notch lacrosse program.”
More than 50 young men will vie for a coveted spot on JU's opening day roster in 2010. The talented group will be tested, but as time goes by Coach Kerwick and his staff will shape the young Fins into a lacrosse power.
JU’s men’s program has had their schedule posted for about a month now. CLICK HERE!
Tick-Tock! The clock is ticking down to the first Division I game ever played by a Florida program. Facing top programs in year one is a part of every Florida lacrosse team in 2010.
Have these programs bitten off more than they can chew for year #1? Well, that all depends on what your expectations are for the first year of lacrosse at the Division I level and what level of recruit you are looking to bring in for the future. Director of lacrosse and head women’s coach at JU, Mindy McCord, shares the aggressive belief as her men’s counterpart.
“We want to be challenged and play a schedule that reflects where we want to be in a couple of years. We have a very athletic group coming in and playing programs that are established and compete at the highest level is going to help us get there. We play our conference opponents and a number of programs who are coming to Florida for their spring break’s. It is a tremendous asset being located at the beach in Florida. Lots of teams want to come here to play. In the future, with teams will be able to come to Florida and play two quality Division I opponents in Florida and Jacksonville. That builds both of our programs very nicely.” McCord said prior to her team’s welcoming ceremony at Jacksonville University.
33 student-athletes arrived at JU with hopes of competing for the Dolphins lacrosse program in Year #1, including 23 freshman. The young Fins come from seven states.
Florida’s Women’s Schedule
2/20 Jacksonville
2/23 LaSalle
2/28 North Carolina
3/4 St. Bonaventure
3/9 Georgetown
3/13 Johns Hopkins
3/20 New Hampshire
3/24 Cornell
3/27 Ohio State
3/30 Oregon
4/3 Penn State
4/9 LeMoyne
4/11 Colgate
4/18 Vanderbilt
5/2 Northwestern
5/6-8 American Lacrosse Conference Tournament (Ohio)
Eight games are at home in the new UF lacrosse facility in Gainesville. Seven away trips plus the conference tournament for UF in their first campaign.
Jacksonville’s Women’s Schedule
2/6 UMBC
2/13 Oregon
2/20 Florida
2/27 Detroit (at Presbyterian)
3/2 Boston College
3/6 St. Bonaventure
3/10 Vermont
3/12 Temple
3/16 Long Island University
3/27 Howard
4/10 Davidson
4/11 Longwood (at Davidson)
4/15 Liberty (TBA)
4/17 Louisville
4/18 Cincinnati
4/24 Presbyterian
5/1-3 National Lacrosse Conference Tournament (Virginia)
Nine home games for JU and one game in Gainesville. JU will only have to leave the state of Florida three times in their first season plus the conference tournament.
Players for all the programs are looking forward to playing tough schedules in year #1. The impact these games could have on local lacrosse is huge. It’s like having a professional lacrosse team stationed on the First Coast! Tons of games to see and lots of role models to follow. And the level of competition will really open the eyes for area girls and boys to how the game looks like when it is played at the major college level!
I am prepared for all the bumps in the road! I can’t wait to see all these great teams come to the area. It can’t help but grow the game.
But what I love most are the stories of the college coaches interacting with the local high school and youth programs. Mandy O’Leary and her husband Kevin have been helping lacrosse groups in Gainesville to learn more about the game. Mindy McCord and Matt Kerwick have been out working in the community over the past 12 months. The difference that northeast and northcentral Florida will feel as a result of these coaches, and now THEIR TEAMS, will be incredible…but wait for five years to pass and then revisit the topic. These programs will become staples of southern lacrosse and as southern collegiate lacrosse grows beyond the point of no return, the high school game, where the first major growth was experienced, will become greater; The youth levels will explode, and the population as a whole will ignite!
Can you imagine when there are almost as many college programs in the south as in the midatlantic? That day is coming sooner than later.
And the DI season, and schedule, are still six months away! Hurry!
St. Augustine, FL - Spending time at JU Elite camp this week with college coaches and US Squad players as well as some great high school and rising college players was awesome. While I was there, I asked a few of the coaches, Adam Norton, former head coach of Stanford University and a long-time lax coach, and Team USA World Cup alum Randall Goldsborough, former head coach of F+M and Bucknell, and assistant at UNC, and Stanford, what they thought the kids from the south could do better to improve their chances of playing at the next level.
This interesting look through the eyes of experienced lacrosse professionals should prove helpful in looking at the recruiting process. Before the interview, lets define some terms discussed by talent evaluators that are somewhat universal.
Measureables – A word used to describe traits of athletes that can be easily compared or measured against another. For instance, speed, strength, agility times from sport combines are ‘measureables’ as they can be transferred for comparative analysis from one recruit to another. If Morgan runs a 5.1 40-yard dash and Pat runs a 5.6 40-yard dash and each play the same position equally effective, the measureables point to Morgan.
Intangibles – This word describes the traits of an athlete that are not seen and cannot be measured quantifiably. These include internal qualities, values and character traits. An astute recruiter tries to pick up on these traits at camps, or in depth study of a game film or tournament ’stalking’ (seeing lots of tournament games featuring the same athlete). Courage is an intangible that is shown through actions over time and the way you play your game.
Game Sense - A prospect’s ability to sort out the high speed game of elite-level lacrosse. You can play all the wall ball in the world and lack ‘game sense’ and totally turn off colleges. Game sense includes understanding that lacrosse is played at your full-speed, lacrosse is a very aggressive game, and there are parts to the game that require tactical understanding. Having a strong non-dom has nothing to do with game sense. However using the non-dom effectively can only happen with game sense. For instance, setting up your dodges using your non-dom to get to your dominant side would be an example of using game sense to make a play. Sneaking in for a good back check would also be a great example on the defensive end. No look passes and clearing space for the ball also show game sense. This is a tricky part for recruiters as kids who have less experience playing lacrosse have less game sense. That is not to say that you can’t teach an athlete what you want them to know once they get to your college. And some players with great game sense at 16-years old are eventually surpassed by others when they are twenty.
What are the colleges looking at?
Randall Goldsborough: Reliability. Passion. Understanding of the game (game sense). Toughness. Effort. Loyalty. Trust. A lot of non-field traits or intangibles. Sacrifice for sure.
So you are saying that coaches are looking for things that they cannot really ’see’?
Randall Goldsborough: I think so. I think a good coach will see those things that others do not see that make the difference. I don’t think they are looking for the high scorer or the one who plays the most playing time.
If you were to advise a rising junior today (early August) what would you tell them?
Randall Goldsborough: I don’t know if they would be able to do this, but what I would like for them to do at this point is to go do something that they have never done before, something active, that would be virtually impossible to do unless they sought it out. Learn something really hard. Maybe conquer a rock climbing wall. You need a lot of grit. You need to grow. You need to be challenged. That same feeling is fgoing to be what occurs for the next 6 years. You need to learn how to gain confidence. You need to accomplish something you did not think you could accomplish. Go hiking for a couple days. Look at your fear and overcome it. The next year is a tough one. Tough on you. You need to know that you can survive. You need to have an ‘ah ha’ moment: “I have already conquered this. I can do that!” You get kncoked down a lot, not literally, but you face a lot of obstacles and you need to know that you can overcome them.
Randall Goldsborough may not possess all the measureables needed on paper, but her game sense and intangibles are off the charts!
They also need to be prepared for the year. They need to check their resume and their letter (recruiting info) and get it out there in August. August is important because: a) college coaches are on vacation. They will be coming back from vacation looking at all their emails and then sending out mass emails to those who contacted them while they were on vacation. Those Fall tournaments, if you do not get invited to junior days, you do not get a chance to play somewhere. b) You have to get seen in the Fall, you have to get this done if you want to be a Division I recruit. The recruiting process is accelerated now. Many top players are committed by January of their junior year. Others in the spring of their junior year.
Unfortunately the process has sped up so fast that you have to be prepared to perform in the fall. You cannot use the fall to prepare for the summer. That is what the summer season was for. You use the summer to build your team and then your Fall and the following summer are ‘it’.
As a person who has worked with southern players, has coached against Florida players at tournaments, and who has experience in the game with a wide range of players and coaches, what words of wisdom do you have for southern prospects?
Randall Goldsborough: I think first, going to a couple of camps early, like top college program’s camps, summer of freshman year or 8th grade, to see what it is like up north, or where it is more developed.
Kids need to watch as many men’s and women’s college games on TV as they can. They need to have something to copy or emulate. And if it is not around you every day than you need to find it. I think what kids in this area (the south) may have to do more than the kids up north who are playing against elite kids all the time, they have to start to udnerstand why they are doign what they are doing it. Why are they using fakes, or standing a certain way. Because if they can see what is going on first hand and then see it on TV or on video, they get to think about it more.
Certainly consistently playing with and against the best and most dedicated players is the best way to improve.
Beyond that, they have to find friends who are as into it as much as they are and just go play. Play 2 on 2, 3 on 3. They need to role play; Pretend like they are Katie Chrest from the US Squad. They should tape those games (World Cup) and watch them over and over again so they can emulate that level. When I was a kid I used to get a trash can out and shoot baskets into it and pretend I was Michael Jordan. Kids in the south need to do the same thing with lacrosse. The more competitive role models, the more maturing.
I think also at the same time, with all of that, they need to be creative on their own. They need to create what Florida lacrosse is. Maybe Florida lacrosse has nothing to do with skills. Maybe it has to do with grit and hustle. A lot of (college) coaches would rather have the grit and hustle than the skills. They can teach the skills. But really just have fun with it and be the player you want to be.
Bring out the imagination in your game.
And honestly when I was growing up (in Severna Park, Maryland) we just went hard and played an aggressive style. There were some real brutes playing the game because we did not have great skills back then (early 90’s). And then we learned stick skills over time, so we had the best of both worlds. We were the hard working, tough players, with skills that were learned over time.
Adam Norton, former co-Head Coach of the Stanford Cardinal, sees recruiting and Florida lacrosse through similar eyes. The two served as assistant coaches at Stanford and helped lead Stanford to a 14-3 regular season record during Coach Norton’s season as head coach.
What are the colleges looking at?
Adam Norton – The gestault of the player and what makes them attractive in that collaboration and connection of talents and attributes is going to change from one program to another. There are programs that stress a well-rounded scholar-athlete and programs that don’t discount academia but it is not an inhibitor or limitor to their search for talent. They are Division I programs and they operate more by the DI standards for qualification.
Personally as a coach, I believe very strongly in the concept of “team is family” in that I want great players and great people. And I am not willing to sacrifice talent over character.
Adam Norton led Stanford to a 14-3 record with wins over several top-10 Division I programs. He also plays on men's masters and elite teams.
So you are saying that coaches are looking for things that they cannot really ’see’?
Adam Norton – Yes. You can get the jist of who a player is recruiting at tournaments. You get to know whether you want the person “in-person” at a camp or on a campus visit.
If you were to advise a rising junior today (early August) what would you tell them?
Adam Norton – The key things that they should be doing now are: 1) Accumulating video clips of themselves. 2) Educating themselves about the depth and bredth of college programs out there. 3) Formulating at least the beginnings of a self-assessment of what they want from the whole college experience and not just lacrosse and just sports part.
On top of that, at this point they should have the widest of wide in brainstorming college lists, whether it is 20-50 schools long at this point. And, I would contact each one of those schools with a 1-page reusme or summary of their bio-metrics in terms of height, hand dominance, if you have a 40-yard dash and mile time, go ahead and put those in, and then your academic profile, SAT, PSAT, whatever thety have thus far, academic interests, and hobies and passions. Include where you are going this Fall because the Fall means everything now in the DI time frame.
That first round of connection, there is nothing wrong with it being generic and mass produced. The colleges are going to behave in the same manner for the most part as the lists are quite large.
Once they have established contact with a coach, don’t try to be impressive, just be yourself. Don’t try to be someone who you are not. Be authentic and don’t worry about trying to impress someone. That is my advise to coaches as well.
As a person who has worked with southern players, and who has experience in the game with a wide range of players and coaches, what words of wisdom do you have for southern prospects?
I would say quite simply that while you may not have been playing lacrosse as long as some of the traditioanl ‘hotbeds’ of lacrosse, you are seeded in the backyards of the greatest growth in the sport. And at the rate the sport is growing it is creating tremendous opportunities for kids form all over the country and not just the midatlantic, or northeast, but the entire eastern seaboard and other pockets where lacrosse is moving and shaking. No where is it growing faster in terms of rate and population or level of play than Florida.
I would also say that talent has no discriminators or ‘limitors’. Talent is talent regardless of where you come from. So the more people who are playing on any particular area, the more talented players from those areas will be produced.
Every Coach is Different – Every Program is different, but Good Advise is Always the Same – P-MC’s perspective:
After speaking with coaches from all over the country this weekend, the resounding traits that they like from Florida players are:
Grit. Determination. Speed. Toughness. Passion. Intensity. Attitude.
Not once did any of the coaches mention ’stick skills’ as a factor in their recruiting. Nor did they mention that winning tournament games was a factor. They also said nothing at all about scoring goals. They actually talked more about things that are intangibles vs. traits that are in plain site. I would like to hope that club players in the south who have the traits listed above are being driven by those traits to develop game sense and stick skills too. Might as well. They are huge components to the game. But are they really necessary to be identified as a top prospect? That depends.
There are over 300 college programs out there. Jeb Chagan from Villanova places a premium on stick skills and polish. Torrey McGowan from Notre Dame College in Ohio is looking for speed and toughness and could care less about stick skills and polish. And there are coaches all over the map in between. Roughly 800 coaches recruit players (head and assistant coaches). Most are looking for different things. Even coaches on the same staff have different opinions. In all honesty, reading the previous Blog about ‘There is no off-season’ would probably do a lot of prep players good as it is what they can CONTROL in this process vs. what a specific college is looking at. Who are you? Develop ‘who you are’ to the ‘nth’ degree and show that to the colleges. Push yourself to the ‘nth’ degree to bring out YOUR best.
If you are a prospect or a parent of one, be honest with yourself. What makes you the player you are now? Is it your game sense? Perhaps your measureables? Or even the intangibles? What areas do you need a lot of work in to be a great prospect? You need to work on those areas within the next 48 hours! Start a plan to fill in the gaps of your ‘profile’ as a recruit. Make yourself more attractive to more coaches.
For every Mindy McCord and Mandy O’Leary at the Division I level, there are three Torrey McGowans, Julie Redmands, Dawn Easleys and Dennis Shorts. These coaches all have very specific things they are looking for in a recruit. Could be height, speed, smarts, silky smooth stick skills or a combination of factors. Some are in search of the ‘polished’ kid to recruit and bring in ‘early’. There is a huge risk for that style – for both the recruit and the college: They may not get any better. They may have peaked already and ‘polished’ their games as good as they possibly can be. What happens to these players can be very sad. Their games have peaked and by their sophomore years they are finding themselves surpassed and on the bench for the first time. So often college coaches at the top levels sign players early because they are ‘polished’ only to cut them when they get to college 2-years later because they are not able to adapt to their coaching or the college level game, or they are simply not as good as they were when they were 16 relatively speaking. They are ‘tapped’ out of their potential and they end up frustrated.
So my advise will remain the same: Get yourself out there and work very hard to follow your dream! Plan and chart your progress. Are you filling in the ‘holes’ in your game? How about the ‘holes’ in your personality (we all have some element of our humanity that does not work ‘for’ us in our training). Enjoy getting better and know that you are from the south and have not played nearly long enough to reach your potential. You have a long way to go!
Final Advise:
The real secret is looking for qualities that coaches do not necessarily always notice on the field – the intangibles. The intangibles drive the measureables. If you are working hard, you will want to improve your speed, quickness and footwork. You will want to improve your game sense by watching games on TV or attending high level college games in the Fall to find some role models. Hard work, effort, speed and quickness, anticipation within the game, intelligence, and mental toughness. You have to do your homework and research/visit schools and get your recruiting assignments out there. You need to have a LONG list of potential schools and be sure that they are not all top-level DI programs.
Nobody in the south has ‘peaked’ yet. You have not played the game long enough or at a high enough intensity over time to bring out your true best. The better your work ethic and consistency of effort and the smarter your training, the more you can unlock your inner and outer potential! A great example of this is Alyssa Emmons at Rollins College. Alyssa played very little high school lacrosse and was known as a soccer player growing up in Naples, Florida. Her freshman year at Rollins she started on defense and played well. She is learning and growing exponentially under the care of Coach Short and Coach Pinneke. Would ANY DI program take someone like that – with no track record?
YES! Some DI programs take great athletes from other sports and they end up all-Americans even without high school experience. They are great athletes with intangibles and measureables and the coaches teach them the rest.
And don’t forget these words. Matt Stover, a pro-bowler I coached during my stint with the Ravens tells young aspiring footballers this all the time. Heed this lesson as it comes from someone with 20 years of NFL playing experience.
“No one ever had to tell me that I needed to go out and practice.”
Now THAT is a great intangible.
