2012 Laxies: Top 5 goals of the Year

Here are 5 video clips from the Laxies, representing the top goals of the year. They are all fabulous and some seem impossible! I find that they load irregularly, but it's worth your while to keep trying, so as to see all of them.

http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2012/11/22/2012-laxies-highlight-reel-goal

Liam Burke commits to NCAA DI Michigan

Liam Bourke, LSM, Redwood HS, Class of 2014, has verbally committed to the University of Michigan. He made first-team All-MCAL and led his team with 58 ground balls. The 6'2" 175 Bourke showed well this past summer, playing for the Alcatraz Outlaws and the Golden State Titans.

Congratulations to Liam!

Patrick Tracy commits to Brown

Patrick Tracy, Redwood High School's dynamic Attack, committed to the Admissions process at NCAA DI Brown University recently. During the 2012 season, the then Sophomore put up gaudy numbers, with 61 goals  and 46 assists. During the summer, he played for the Alcatraz Outlaws, during whose tournaments Coach Lars Tiffany saw him play.

Congratulations to Patrick!

Growth of California NCAA DI lacrosse recruits over time

Has the number of California Boys NCAA DI recruits changed over time? How are our HS players perceived at the top levels of the College sport? Using the databases of Lax Power, I gathered the information needed to create a longitudinal picture. Here it is:

College                        % change
Academic       # of        from prior
Year         DI recruits        year
2007-8           20                -
2008-9           21              +5%
2009-10         24              +14%
2010-11         15              -37%
2011-12         20              +33%
2012-13         29              +45%
2013-14         40              +38%

California has had the 2nd highest number of Boys' Lacrosse teams of any State for the last several years, so one might expect that we could have the second highest number of DI recruits. That would be wrong – for several reasons. Those reasons include:
• Lacrosse is a relatively new sport in California,
• No NCAA DI programs exist in California
• Almost all DI coaches reside a continent away, making it hard to see our players
• Most California players have not had Fathers, Uncles, and cousins who introduced the game to our players

So, I think the best way to look at the stats is by growth rate of our State's DI recruits. While results wobble a little, it is clear that California DI recruits are  both growing, and growing faster than the number of NCAA DI programs is growing. So, our guys are gaining share of the overall number of recruited athletes.

This is a good sign!

N.B. I didn't tally the recruitment results for our guys who have been recruited to play NCAA Div II and DIII, but I'd guess the growth rates look similar.    

Jackson Teague commits to DI Mercer University

Jackson Teague, De La Salle's versatile A/M has recently committed to Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. I've long felt that he sees the field exceptionally well, moves well without the ball, and makes great assists. He is a very capable offensive player. Mercer is getting a good one. Congrats to Jackson!

Oakland Lacrosse Club

A well-organized Lacrosse Club has emerged to serve Oakland. The time is right, the people are right, and a little monetary assistance would go a long way to opening up this East Bay community to our sport.  Skyline Lacrosse Club has been very helpful to this effort, and those efforts have resulted in a new club and will produce new Boys and Girls NCJLA U13 teams this Spring. Here's the press release:

Introducing Oakland Lacrosse Club Registration Now Open

The burgeoning enthusiasm for and success of the lacrosse teams at Oakland Technical High School and Skyline High School spurred parent volunteers to form the Oakland Lacrosse Club during the summer of 2012. When the high school teams were initially established, they functioned as a special program of Skyline Lacrosse Club entitled Skyline Lacrosse HS. Under the umbrella of the Skyline Lacrosse Club the teams were able to grow and develop. Additional teams were added to accommodate student interest. As we contemplated future development of lacrosse in the Oakland public schools, the time was right to spin off from Skyline Lacrosse and establish a new club.
With the blessing and support of the Skyline Lacrosse Club, parent volunteers formed the Oakland Lacrosse Club; to this end bylaws were drafted, Articles of Incorporation were filed, a board of directors was elected, our membership in the Northern California Junior Lacrosse Association was approved and a website, Oaklandlacrosse.org, was established. The newly launched Oakland Lacrosse Club will support the high school teams and we have added a comprehensive middle school program. Our phenomenal new Oakland Tech JV Boys’ head coach, Kevin Kelley, with the army of volunteers he recruited has put lacrosse sticks in the hands of over 500 Oakland middle school students this fall! We are now well on our way to fielding U13 boys’ and girls’ teams in the 2013 spring season! Many of these new players will eventually attend Oakland Technical or Skyline High School. Experienced players will strengthen our high school teams.
Registration is now open for Oakland Tech boys’ and girls’ teams, Skyline High boys’ and girls’ teams and the new boys’ and girls’ Middle School (U13) teams. Click here to register Oaklandlacrosse.org
Do Not Delay. Teams may fill up. Registration closes November 25, 2012. Questions? Contact info@oaklandlacrosse.org 

Kevin Kelley

Kevin played NCAA DI Lacrosse at Providence, was the Head Coach at Piedmont High School, is a coach at UC Berkeley, and has been the Coach of the Oakland Tech Boys' Lacrosse team.

As with all new enterprises, funding is necessary. Fund raising is off to a very good start, but they still need a few more contributors.Here is an opportunity to put Oakland Lacrosse on a solid footing:
http://www.indiegogo.com/oaklandlacrosse

This is the infrastructure and leadership team that can pull this off! I've made a contribution and hope readers will consider doing the same.

Uncommon for now....

A feed from one California guy to another California guy for the finish. Bang,bang...assist and goal. That's an uncommon occurrence in NCAA DI lacrosse. But not for long at the pace our guys are getting recruited.

More and more, California guys aren't lone rangers when they go back East. Next year, for example, it will be Jack McCormack of DLS and Wiley Osborne of Menlo School heading off to Dartmouth. Middie Mike Hernandez of Piedmont and Attack Brendan Gaughan of La Costa Canyon are Frosh who are both attending Michigan. At Penn State, Two Freshmen from the same school have enrolled at Happy Valley. Close D Jordan LaTendresse and M Jordan Weiss, both from San Ramon Valley, will be playing for Coach Tambroni!  At Notre Dame, former SI Attack, Bobby Gray, joins former Corona Del Mar standout Attack, Ryan Mix. This year's Yale Freshman class has another pair of SI/CDM guys – JW McGovern, an Attack from St. Ignatius and Mike Keasey, a Middie from Corona Del Mar.

Here, Yale takes on UMass in a Fall Ball game. Both Yale and UMass made the NCAA tournament last season and new guys are always competing for playing time. In this video from LAX.com, #10 Keasey brings the ball up the field and spots #4 McGovern sneaking around the crease from X. Feed and finish in the blink of an eye! From 3:16 to 3:24 in the vid.




By the way, the same thing is happening at top NCAA DIII programs. We've got former Foothill Goalie Patrick Shevelson and former SI Middie Phil Aliman who headed off to Kenyon this Fall where they'll join Phil's older brother Nick. Similarly, Close D Matt Corbin of De La Salle joins D Somer Stein of Marin Academy and A Jack Bodine of St. Ignatius at Haverford. It's absolutely explosive growth, folks, and you're watching it happen!

NorCal & NESCAC

The New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) is one of the nation's finest Lacrosse Conferences. All the schools are academic powerhouses, they are all elite Liberal Arts schools, and they play a wicked brand of NCAA DIII lacrosse. It's no surprise that a large number of NorCal laxers accept invitations to play for NESCAC schools. For those who have never seen NESCAC campuses, herewith a sample. I've added to each school a few of the NorCal guys who play – or are committed to play – NESCAC lacrosse. Enjoy viewing the good life!

Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut:

Brendan McDermott

Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont::

Mani Ghiasi, Will Ernst

Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts:

Duncan Cummings, Austin Shea, David Lee

Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts:

Johnno Gibbons

Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts:

Ryan Le

Colby College, Waterville, Maine:

Alex Rutan, Riley Burke

Michael Tags – US Lacrosse write-up

Michael Tagliaferri

It's always nice to read about Michael Tagliaferri, whether it's coming from his 2X AA San Ramon Valley days, his exploits on the USA U-19 team, or his upcoming performances with UNC. Lacrosse Magazine, the official publication of US Lacrosse has just published another article on Mike. This one reveals more details about his family, and also gives a tutorial on his dodging techniques.

For those of you who are members of US Lacrosse, you can read this story in the current issue. Non-members will have to wait a month or so until it shows up on the website. Ah, the privileges of membership!

The dodging tutorial is terrific. Be sure to see the pix and read the details. Key quote from the tutorial: "Watch the defenseman's front hip. If he opens his hip, split dodge the other way. If it stays closed, run past him."

OSU v Lehigh at Kezar – the local story

Will McKee (photo by Doug Ko)

Lehigh defeated the Ohio State University at Kezar Stadium Sunday, 15-13. It's always fun to watch Lacrosse, even Fall Ball games, but for me the story was the return to San Francisco of Lehigh FO/M Will McKee, who plays DI Lacrosse for Lehigh. Will has played in Kezar Stadium many times – in both Football and Lacrosse – but this time had a different vibe. He was a Lehigh MountainHawk and kids in the stands asked for his autograph after the game. San Fran Preps did a story about Will's return, which you can read at: http://www.sanfranpreps.com/2012/10/22/beyond-preps-will-mckees-return-to-kezar-stadium/

Will took a few face-offs, played some midfield, and his team won, so he had a great time at his homecoming. He even got a plateful of his favorite cookies from a fan (Barefoot Contessa Chocolate Chunks for those in the know).

Both Ohio State and Lehigh practiced at St. Ignatius' turf field on Saturday, so that was yet another familiar field for Will. He was a High School All-American at SI and he'll develop into a fine college player. Way to go Will!

Landmark event for California lacrosse

The St. Ignatius College Prep Boy's Lacrosse team will take the field in 2013 with at least eleven NCAA recruits on the roster. I believe this is a high water mark for any team in California Boy's lacrosse history, Only teams like Garden City on Long Island or the best MIAA A Division teams in Baltimore produce numbers like this. Quite an accomplishment for SI.  Northern California's approach to Boy's lacrosse was to create a solid Youth Lacrosse program – the NCJLA – and have the talent "bubble up" to High School programs. This differs from most other non-hotbeds, which put most of their effort into High School programs – taking good athletes and teaching them the basics of lacrosse. I have long contended that the Northern California approach to building a strong Boy's Youth lacrosse infrastructure would prove superior to any other approach. Mission accomplished.

That same Youth lacrosse excellence will allow more High School teams to reach this "every starter an NCAA recruit" landmark. Don't have any idea which team comes next, but I'd be surprised if that team didn't have initials like BCP, DLS, MC, MV or SRV,.

Here's the rundown for SI 2013:

Attack
David Fleming Fairfield 2013 DI
Joe Lang Harvard 2014 DI
Moore Harris Washington & Lee 2013 DIII

Midfield
Chad Bell Boston University 2013 DI
Matt Emery Virginia 2013 DI
Spencer Evans Harvard 2013 DI
Brendan McDermott Trinity College 2013 DIII

Defense
Riley Burke Colby College 2013 DIII
Charlie Ford (LSM) Georgetown 2013 DI
Jack McGovern Holy Cross 2013 DI

Goalie
Cyrus Scott* Colgate 2014 DI
______________________
*I had earlier heard from a goalie on the recruiting trail at the Ivies that Cyrus committed to UPenn, but have subsequently confirmed with the Scotts that Cyrus committed very recently to Colgate. Congratulations to this fine lacrosse player with strong academics!

11/12/2012 UPDATE: A/M Moore Harris Washington & Lee 2013 DIII, has recently committed.

Cyrus Scott to Colgate

While on the East Coast this past week  – taking in 5 DI Fall Ball games in two different states – I met a  goalie who was visiting an Ivy League school. Just an accidental brush, but in our chat, I asked if he knew Cyrus Scott (SI's fine Junior goalie) and got the response, "Sure do. He recently committed to Penn." Now I don't know if this is factual, but goalies in the hunt for DI slots always seem to keep their eyes and an ears open to what their competition is doing. So, if this is true, congrats to Cyrus! Penn is getting a very good goalie.

UPDATE: I recently talked with a member of the Scott family who told me that Cyrus has very recently committed to DI Colgate. Cyrus is a very talented goalie with strong academics. I am not surprised that he had a number of opportunities to play NCAA lacrosse

Organized Lacrosse in Oakland Public Schools

Lacrosse has had its ups and downs in Oakland, with early efforts to launch the game going back more than twenty years. Despite great effort and dedicated coaches most of those early efforts failed. But efforts continued and it may be that Oakland's large school population may be on a path to critical mass. Here is a terrific story about the Oakland Lacrosse Club and Kevin Kelley, who are organizing a major effort to expose Oakland boys and girls to our sport. I wish them the very best of luck:


Kevin played Division I lacrosse at Providence College, where he graduated in 2000. After graduation he moved to the Bay Area and helped start the Piedmont high program. He was assistant coach in 2002 and 2003 and head coach from 2004-2009, compiling a 73-42 record and three straight NCS appearances (2006-2008).


Oakland Lacrosse Club

NCAA rule changes for 2013 and their impact

Every year, the NCAA makes rules changes  – some years fewer, some year more. Those rules have a way of flowing down to High School and Youth Lacrosse. The MLL has its rules, but in our sport, the NCAA is "King of the Hill." This year, the NCAA made, in my opinion, dramatic changes to the rules of the game. Below, I list the key changes the NCAA has made and provide the perspective of an NCAA DI player whose Fall practices and Fall Ball activities provide a "real world" commentary on the NCAA's changes.

NCAA Rules changes discussed herein:

• eliminate the horn on dead ball out-of-bounds situations

• Institute a 30 second shot clock after a stall warning has been issued

•  extend the length of the substitution box

• change the shape of "shooting strings" within NCAA legal heads

First, here's an article featuring the opinions on the rules changes:

http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2012/09/24/rule-changes-approved-panel

I asked an NCAA DI player who is working with these rules in Fall Ball what his opinions of the following rule changes are:

• No dead ball horn
• Longer substitution box
• 30 seconds to shoot after stall warning
• Defenders 5 yards off the ball carrier. Is this true?
• Stringing changes

He responded as follows:

The no dead ball horn makes the game a track race. In practice, we are getting up and down the field with almost no breaks in the scrimmage. The longer substitution box doesn't play a huge role, except in the clearing game the middies try to get little advantages to maybe get a fast break or get open. The stringing rule has had no effect whatsoever and is a pretty pointless change as far as I'm concerned. I'm a fan of the 30 second shot clock: it's really plenty of time to get a quality shot, and it doesn't restrict the offensive strategy by being forced to keep it in the box. 

2013 will see big changes in the pace of the game. Looking forward to the season!

Mike Tagliaferri to undergo shoulder surgery

NorCal's Mike Tagliaferri will undergo shoulder surgery at UNC soon. The USA U19 team's storied midfielder is expected to play this Spring, but awaits results and recovery from his surgery. You can read an article about Mike's injury at:

http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2012/10/02/north-carolinas-michael-tagliaferri-have-shoulder-surgery