The Countdown is on…
One week until we officially begin our 2009 lacrosse season, it’s been a long time coming! Although I sometimes being patient, one of the aspects of coaching a spring sport that I really love is the build up and anticipation to the season.
All summer, I travel up and down the east coast (and sometimes west, as I went to California and Colorado this past summer) looking for potential student-athletes for our program, running youth camps and spending time with my family and friends.
The fall brings a short, non-traditional season when we take time getting the freshmen up to speed, getting all of the players on the same page with our expectations and goals for the year.
The start of winter brings a time of workouts and wall ball for the players while the coaches focus on recruiting, administrative duties and preparation for the spring. The holidays come and we spend some time with our families and loved ones before they may not see us for a while (except on the sidelines).
And then… spring is finally here! Although it may not feel much like spring for the first few months, we get back to practice and preparation for our upcoming games. January and February practices always zoom by and the next thing you know, we’re walking out onto the field for our first game. Our first game will be at Salisbury University on February 25th at 6pm. Hope you can make it!
This weekend, my last “free” one until May (hopefully a few weeks into the month as the National Championship is May 16-17 in Salem, VA), I was up in my home state of Maryland for the US Lacrosse Convention . This was my 7th year attending and each year I come away pumped up for the season and with a bunch of new ideas swarming in my head. This year I especially enjoyed a presentation from Georgetown coach, Ricky Fried. Coach Fried’s presentation was in conjuntion with a live field demonstration from the US National Team. You can really grasp the way different concepts are meant to look on the field when you have the best players in the country demonstrating! I had an opportunity to coach a team against the US National Travel Squad this past summer in Prague (check out the photo gallery on my website) and I hope the Australian players have been working hard in their off-season!
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