Duke Lacrosse Coaches Clinics on the Web

The Dilettante has been fortunate to take in the Duke University Coaches Clinics in each of the last two years. They've been given at the Duke Lacrosse film room to local North Carolina coaches for several years now. It's a five star clinic by Coach Danowski and his excellent staff. This Fall's Clinics will be available to Coaches all around the country as the sessions will be broadcast live on the web, using the schedule below. All times are in the evening using the Eastern time zone. Full details can be found at:

Go Duke
Well worth any High School Coach's time and highly recommended!

Wednesday	Sept. 21	7-9:30
Wednesday	Oct. 19	7-9:30
Wednesday	Nov. 16	7-9:30
Wednesday	Dec. 14	7-9:30
Wednesday	Jan. 18	7-9:30

Griffin Goudreau 2011 Highlights

Griffin Goudreau, the 6'5" 220 pound Close D/LSM has committed to play for NCAA DI Providence College. Griffin, who attends Bellarmine College Prep, played for the Alcatraz Outlaws this past summer, where he caught the eye of a number of coaches. Here are his highlights from the 2011 season.

Matt Corbin 2011 Highlights

Matt Corbin, the fine De La Salle Close D, has committed to play NCAA DIII at highly regarded Haverford. Matt is in the Class of 2012 and will join another NorCal guy next year on the 'Fords - Jack Bodine, Class of 2011, from  Saint Ignatius.

Haverford is a supreb academic institution and Matt is a very strong student. Sounds like a great fit. The 'Fords are getting a tough, sizable, tenacious defender. They're lucky to have him!

Michael Hernandez 2011 Highlights

Michael Hernandez, the fine 2012 Piedmont Middie, has committed to the University of Michigan. He played for the Alcatraz Outlaws this past summer, where he tore it up at the Gait Cup and King of the Hill. Here are his Junior year highlights.

In Praise of Off-Season Teams from a Single School

For almost a decade, I've been watching summer lacrosse travel teams do battle with teams from other locales–teams from New Hampshire to Florida, and Texas to Washington– in tournaments with as few as eight teams in the bracket to tourneys with as may as 74 in the bracket. They've all been great fun and cumulate as one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life.

Over these years, what I appreciate most about summer tourney teams has changed. For whatever reason, I used to be most attracted to the big, fast, powerful hyper-AllStar teams that attempted to amalgamate the very best athletes from a sizable geographic region. Teams like Gotskillz, Tri-State Black, Laxachussets, Long Island Express, Dukes and the Crabs. It was great to see these aggregations of superstars go mano-a-mano against an opposing superstar from another of the very top clubs. I still like to watch these one-on-one battles among the very elite Select teams, but in the last few years I've found myself drawn to the School teams.You know, the teams comprised of players from a single High School. I've had a hard time understanding why this change occurred, but think I finally can explain it – at least to myself.

School teams may attend the same tournaments as Select teams, but they have different objectives. School teams are formed primarily to prepare for next season's  conference play and the Regional, Sectional, and State tournaments that follow. Last year's Seniors have graduated and the heart of the new team will have to be found among the former Juniors, Sophs, and Frosh who were on the Varsity last season. Yes, the players want to be seen by the peripatetic bands of college coaches who carry their Renettos and clipboards, rotating from one field to another every half a game. But the purpose and the attention of their school coaches is focused on building the best possible SCHOOL team for the next season. 

The objectives of recruiting clubs are different. They form teams to showcase the best players in a given grade within an entire region. There is no future for these teams. They play in the moment, for the summer, then they evanesce. Generally, there's not much teaching going on with the recruiting teams. They run basic offenses, have basic slide packages and hope to compete by exploiting mismatches. Off ball movement, off ball picks, fake slides, the two man game, the three man game and other team elements of lacrosse are mostly missing when one watches the recruiting club teams. I've got nothing against Club teams. They serve their purpose. It's just that the play so predictable. There's a lot of individual athleticism and not much coordinated grace. It is what it is.

School teams have team objectives. They exploit with skills and superb coordination. It's beautiful to watch. It's purposeful beyond the objective of getting Jimmy recruited by XYZ DI school. These teams adapt to changing conditions. If the offense isn't effective when initiating with a dodge, they'll switch to initiate off the pick. If neither crease sliding nor adjacent slides are working, you'll see these teams move into a zone. Lacrosse becomes a thinking man's game. I love it!

The different objectives of school teams doesn't mean they can't compete in tournaments dominated by Club teams. De La Salle did very well at the UNC camp a couple of years ago. Saint Ignatius won the UNC Camp a year ago and made the Sweet Sixteen at Champ Camp - the last school team standing! And at Hotbeds this year, the Championship Game was between two School teams - West Islip and Ward Melville.

So, which school teams among our NorCal enclave travel together in the off season? Well, the Snipers, from Monte Vista, go to the Adrenaline Challenge every January, and always do well. They won NCS last year. The De La Salle boys have traveled as a team for the last several years. Many of those years they won NCS. Saint Ignatius, traveling as Fog City, has gone to Champ Camp or the UNC Camp for the last four or five years. They've been the top team in CCS for some while. Bellarmine has traveled as a school team as well. I believe it has helped them become  the powerhouse they are today. Let me know of other schools who travel together in the off season. Don't get me wrong. All of these teams abide by CIF rules and regs, but - within the rules - they find a way to play together in the off season  

So, here's to the School teams! They make Lacrosse endlessly entertaining for fans of the game.

Statistical Analysis of Men's NCAA DI lacrosse

As the saying goes, "There are lies, damn lies, and statistics." But in today's ultra-competitive sports world, the use of statistics can help a coach better understand his opponents, while using stats to create better performance by his own team. Michael Lewis even wrote a best selling baseball book - Moneyball - in which the key element of the Oakland A's extraordinary record of wins per dollar spent on salaries was shown to derive from GM Billy Beane's advantage in the use of statistics.

Lacrosse is just coming into its own with sophisticated statistical analysis. Recently, a seven page article deconstructed game data from all 2011 NCAA DI contests. Without giving too much away, one of the key takeaways was the exceptional shooting performance by Canadian NCAA DI laxers. You can read the article at: http://www.laxpower.com/content/mauboussin/stats_analysis.php

Huaraches - No, Not the Nike Lax Cleats

Plenty of laxers are familiar with the Nike Huarache cleats. They get lots of pub from the custom designed versions given to attendees at recruiting events put on by Jake Reed's Nike Blue Chip and Peter Worstell's California Gold. You can see a Nike example in an earlier blog post I made. But I'm writing about the sandal Huaraches that seemed to draw lots of attention recently at East Coast lax tourneys. At least that's how it seemed to me as 5 colleges coaches and 3 players admiringly asked about the huaraches I was wearing during my summer swing to Maryland.

Huaraches, of course, were originally a Mexican sandal, popularized as low cost footwear, whose soles were made from old tires with strips of leather forming the top. Huaraches have gotten more stylish over the last 50 years or so, and I see lots of guys wearing them as hot-weather footwear on the West Coast. But they seemed very nouveau to East Coast laxers, who may be looking for something new and different than the thong flips that have been so popular over the last decade among the lax bros – at least those who have "tilt." So, here are a few examples of huaraches I've seen worn by West Coasters:

Love 'em or hate 'em, they do keep your feet cool and non-sweaty, while keeping your feet from going all pink and red on you.

NorCal All-Stars at Hotbeds

A number of NorCal Select teams traveled to the Battle of the Hotbeds tournament at U Delaware a week ago. Hotbeds has become a much more competitive tourney over the last three years or so and is attracting many more NCAA coaches to watch the boys. Amongst the big-time team tourneys, only a handful are watched by more coaches. So, making the All-Star team at Hotbeds is a nice recruiting bio bauble!

The Golden State Titans captured all the NorCal spots on the All-Star teams at Hotbeds, and here they are:

Class of 2012

Michael Tagliaferri M San Ramon Valley

Class of 2013

Cam Bowlby G San Ramon Valley

Will Ernst G University

Charlie Ford LSM St. Ignatius

Will Montero M De La Salle

Congrats to these boys for their outstanding individual tournaments, and to all the Titans for performing so well as a team!

Golden State Titans finish 5th at Hotbeds!

In this morning's quarterfinal game between the Titans and Ward Melville, WM prevailed, 9-3. That was the beginning of a three-game run to the Championship by Ward Melville. After defeating the Titans, WM thumped the Florida Hammerheads, 8-3 in the semis, and then defeated West Islip by the same score in the Championship game. Congrats to all the Titans – and to their coaches – for a great run at a well-regarded tournament. A 10-1 record is a wonderful performance!

Golden State Titans at Hotbeds

The Golden State Titans, coached by Chris Rotelli and Erik Martin, have put together a record of 10-0 during the Battle of the Hotbeds at the University of Delaware. That record propels them to the playoffs, which will take place this morning. Based on records so far, West Islip and the Florida Hammerheads have qualified for the semi-finals, while four teams–including the Titans–meet in quarterfinal games to determine which teams move on to the semis. The Titans face Ward Melville at 8AM today. Winner meets the Florida Hammerheads at 9AM to determine which team moves on to the Finals, which take place at 10AM.

You can read some terrific game reports by Ed McGovern here. Go get 'em, Titans!

LAX recruiting: The Parent Trap

Here's the funniest article on Lacrosse recruiting I've ever read. Actually, it's the only funny story I've read about lacrosse recruiting. Possibly apocryphal, but many elements have the ring of truth.

Sports Illustrated

Team Talon: US Lacrosse U15 National Championships

The Nor Cal Talons U15 team finished 4th in the US Lacrosse sponsored National Championships for the U15 title over this past weekend. Congrats to the boys and their coaches. I've included the roster below:

Joe Reid of Petaluma was named to the All-Star team of the National Championships!

Two other California teams made the 32 team Championships. NorCal Blue and DH Elite – coached by Kyle Harrison – were also competing. Congrats to all these California boys. You can read more at:

http://www.laxmagazine.com/high_school/boys/2010-11/news/072411_for_the_love_of_the_game_wins_us_lacrosse_national_championship

A short highlight vid of the Talons' game against Dukes Lacrosse U15 team can be seen here.

Champ Camp: Follow up on GotSkillz

Earlier, I wrote about Gotskillz, a made-to-order team of 28 players who are all rated among the top 50 players in the Class of 2012. Their run ended today also, as they lost to Long Island 1, 5-4. The last time you read about Long Island 1, they had just defeated Fog City 6-5 in OT. Didn't see this game, but the similar results for Fog City and GotSkillz against LI 1 may speak to the issue of good teamwork versus exceptional individuals.

Champ Camp: The dance is over.... V

Fog City's improbable run to the title ended yesterday afternoon against Dukes 2, a Pennsylvania club whose teams – Dukes 1 and Dukes 2 met in the Championship game last year and may do so again this year. They're both in the semifinals on opposite sides of the bracket. As I talked with the Dukes coaches after the game, they were quite complimentary, saying "You've got to bring more players to this tournament. We learned that lesson some years back. The temps and humidity will just destroy you if you only bring twenty. It wasn't us who beat you, it was the heat and humidity."

Nice words, indeed, but the Saint Ignatius squad brought everyone who remained from 2011's varsity. They are 21 strong. I counted 31 on the Dukes 2 squad.

Dukes led at the first quarter break, 1-0. Then, in rapid succession, three nice dodges from X put the Fog Dawgs up, 3-1. JW McGovern scored the first two and Chad Cohan scored the third. The Dukes fans sitting under the only nearby tree were stunned – and stunned again when they learned that our boys were from a single school, and that school was in San Francisco.

The halftime score of 3-2 Fog City, would be the high water mark for the boys. During the second half Dukes 2 would out score the Fog Dawgs 6-1, making the final 8-4. The boys will play a consolation game Sunday morning, but the time for congrats on their great run is now. Way to go, Fog City!

And then there was one... IV

Only one single-school team remains in the Sweet Sixteen at Champ Camp. Fortunately, it's Fog City who defeated Norfolk Academy from Virginia, 5-4 in a matchup between two – pretty evenly matched – single school teams.

The Fog Dawgs played brilliantly on defense today in a superb display of intelligent lax. Nice position D, clever stick checks, nifty strips, and several neat interceptions. A group effort in which all the D had moments of individual brilliance!

On offense the Academy boys jumped out to a 2-0 lead, at which point the Fog Dawgs Offense started looking sharper, tying it up at 2-2. It was tied again at 3's early in the 2nd half, when the Virginia boys took a 4-3 lead. In the fourth quarter, Joe Pappas made a great strip – MJ Toepel made the play off the ground and nailed a 35 yard pass to JW McGovern who deked his defender and double pumped the goalie before burying the ball. Game tied at 4-4! With just three minutes remaining, JW juked LtoR, creating just enough space from 12 yards to RIP IT past the goalie. His fist pump on one knee spoke to the team, who played out the remaining 2 minutes 24 seconds looking tough and fresh. They weren't fresh, of course. It was 101 in the shade and 111 degrees on the turf field, but it was enough for a solid D and a risk-avoiding offense to run out the clock. Sweet Sixteen, Baby!