Mothers Day

Hi Team,

First I would like to thank everyone for putting in the effort to make our team what it has become.  With our next game occurring on Mothers day, I would also like to acknowledge your commitments as "outstanding" as we pull a couple of hours out of a day dedicated to our matriarchs  to play the game of Lacrosse. Take a look at this interesting Sioux perspective of mothers to help embellish this special day.

It's been a little while since I've posted anything to this Blog.  So I'll do a little bit of a recap and cover some of things we've been working on at practice.

Our Lower Cape game;  A tough loss, at times we look to blame others for our own short comings.  This time we can see very clearly how an un-objective official ( working the field alone ) can cause a shift in momentum for the preferred team.  US Lacrosse wants three officials judging every game. And in  doing so you would clearly see a balance that is difficult to achieve by a single official.   It will take a lot more people willing to train and become certified before this ideal is met.  Keep it in mind maybe you could take on the role of Official?

Our Ole Rochester game; Our first tie.  From a coaching perspective this was my toughest game to keep all our players getting field time.  So on mothers day when I assign your line positions I need you the player to keep me on my toes.  "Coach it's our shift next!" would be helpful.

Our Record, 1win 3 loss 1 tie.

Practices; We've been hard at work!

• Ground Balls; scoop through, knuckles to the ground, keep moving, head up for awareness, goosing the ball, kicking it out.
• Attack Men; why are attacks called attacks? think about it and get back to me!
• Grip and Rip;  We spent some time figuring out how to shoot quickly after receiving a pass.  The less time spent cradling and giving up room to the defense the higher our chances are to score.
• Feeding and Cutting;  We've trained our triangles in the box and behind the crease.  So now we know how to get open and be ready to cut in and rip a scoring goal.
• Pick and Roll;  Setting a pick will stifle our opponents defense and exhibit our ability to work as a team (you may hear me yelling out to a player "pick him" I assure you I'm not yelling "kick or hit him")
• Communication; I've got ball, I've got man, Midi back, Here's your help, I've got help, Open, Slide,  Clear.
• Clearing;  During a transition we need to focus on clearing to the wings, avoid the middle of the field. Run at high speed up the wings. Look for a ready Attack.
• Zone Defense / Fast Break;  Playing a zone position and abandoning your man to secure the goal and sliding to the most dangerous man. Working the triangles.
• Give and Go; More of the same from above, with emphasis on ball down recovery and passing.
• Back to the Box; Getting our defense and midis back down field to defend the goal on a transition. 

Well kids I'll see you at 1pm Mothers Day, remember to be kind to the people in your lives, and put your heart into all your endeavors!

Coach Josh

Trilogy

3x's Trilogy,

Well Team, spring break has come to its end, two games in two days then it's back to the grind.

This week was for many of us just a normal week of going on about our business as usual, but for some there was excitement, adventure, discovery and repose.

One adventure I can speak on was of the awesome clinics put on by Trilogy Lacrosse up on the turf at Gillette Stadium.

For three days youth players from all the MBYLL supporting areas got together and practiced with the professional athletes of the Trilogy Team; Ryan Boyle, Mitch Belisle, Matt Striebel.    
These guys were dynamic teachers who brought their game to their instruction.  They pounded on the fundamentals while providing advanced drills and skills that only hardcore laxers could provide.  If ever you have a chance to train with the Trilogy Guys I can personally recommend that you do!  

One of the things that I got from watching the clinics was the repetition of the use of communication.  As all of you know by now, one of the things I've been harping on is communication.  And that's what the professionals are advocating.  

When we finally hack into the groove of communicating I think we will find that our team will see growth that will lead to better success.  I say better success because I am enjoying the success that we are currently experiencing now.  Breaking through the communication barrier is the tool that will spike our growth as a team and as individuals.

Another bonus for me was that UFC welterweight champion Johnny Hendricks was in the house checking out Gillette, I of course said hi to him. Lucky ME :)

Last thought on todays post, think in threes.

• 3 lines- attack-midi-defense
• 3 players per line- center and wings
• 3 points in a triangle- strong formations in geometry, philosophy and lacrosse
• 3 groups-coaches, team and individual
• 3 parts of the player- mind, body and heart
• Thanks Trilogy Lacrosse for the fundamentals and philosophies

Thanks  To You For Reading

Coach Josh

Tough Break Fast Break

Wow,

Tough Break on the Fast Break, let's make a slide.

I'm sorry to announce for any of you whom may not know, that Dartmouth U13 beat us on our home turf this past Sunday (April 13).  8 points to our 5.  I could see the disappointment in many of your faces :(.  But fret not, you really put on a show of style and ability that made all those spectating either happy or proud.  Standing next to the sub box is a very interesting place to stand as coach.  During the game I was happy to hear the voices of the players off field expressing their support, joy and frustration for players on the field.  Your enthusiasm and focus was both invigorating and encouraging.


Dartmouth Beat us simply because of a couple of dropped ball transitions, accompanied by well executed fast breaks.  It's up to us to work on how we are gonna defend against these fast breaks.  Also we need to spend some energy looking at goosing the ball.  So when we have a dropped ball and scooping through (like in a ground ball scenario) is not an option we can redirect the ball to an attack/midi and prevent the transition.


So for Tuesdays practice you can expect to see some basics, some more basics and probably some basics, along with working the slide.  Communication is gonna be key from this point on! (as if it wasn't already).


You players should be sure and keep your heads up!  It was a tough game and everyone worked hard and put in an excellent effort!  I personally couldn't be happier to see you come together and work as a team.  All the little details that will enable a win will keep coming together with every practice and game that we put behind us.


Thanks For a Great Sunday and best wishes to Coach John L. as he undergoes surgery on his achilles tendon this Tuesday.

Hats off to all the BYL Players, their Fans and their Coaches.

Peace and Lax.

Coach Josh.

Pre Game

Hello Team,

Are you ready? Are you focused?

Game Day Sunday at BHS at 1:30pm.  We are going up against Dartmouth on our home turf.  Remember to tell your parents that we could use volunteers for fund raising at the concession stand.  Contact Nancy O'Neil through the BYL website if you are able to help out.

Thursday's practice on the turf was an attempt to define our space as players on the field.  Working in a zone, communicating with each other and remembering our basics.  Working the slide and the ride.

If you have time look at some of the previous posts and click on the links, there are a bunch of cool videos covering the things that we're talking about at practice.  It's a useful thing to watch some games and the Pro's and the college teams in action.  Where the mind leads the body will follow.  And please feel free to forward any links you find that you might want me to share.

Guys please remember to check the schedule since we've added a game on Saturday April 26th at 10am on the home turf.

I'll see you Sunday at the school behind the field at 1pm.  We will work out positions and warm up our stick skills.

Have fun and be kind to the people around you!

Peace and Lax

Coach Josh

First Game Win.

Congratulations Team U13 White!

I would like to congratulate you all on a job well done.
Every player worked hard for their well earned victory today.

12/8 victory over DY.

See You Tuesday.

Coach Josh

Its Game Time!!

Hey Team,

Another exciting week of practices behind us and a game fast approaching.  Finally our first game to be held at BHS on the turf Sunday April 6th at 1:30pm.  Please be ready and geared up by 1pm.  We can find a spot off turf to go over positions and warm up our goalies.

I can't wait to see you guys out there demonstrating your skills!

Remember we talked about communication and we talked about field position, (as well as a great many other things).  If you're open then let the man with possession know it!  Shout the commands "open" or "here's your help" or "I've got your help".
Lets not yell out the name of the person carrying the ball.  Just shouting the name doesn't give him the information that he needs to make a quick decision.
Playing your position and making yourself open gives you the best opportunity to get a touch and make a play.  And eventually we can develop a number of voice commands that will deliver information in a way that we will all know exactly whats going on at the same time!!

As far as positioning is concerned, you have been on one hand taught to "play your man".
But I have been trying to show you how to play your position.
Both concepts are right and there is not really a contradiction here.
If they (the opposing team) have the ball, than cover your man!
If we (U13 team white) have the ball, than play your position and get open and get vocal!

One last thing... AVOID THE SWARM!!!  No matter who has the possession of the ball it never takes the whole team to take the ball at once.
When you see all the Attack and defense piled up in a heated scrum trying to regain possession you need not join in the battle.
What you need to do is get yourself in a position to be open for a pass, or prepared to ride the opposing team and clear the attack!

A few terms that you here all the time but may not know the meanings of;

CLEAR- Getting the ball away from an attack and out of your defensive zone.
RIDE- Cover a defensive player, don't let them clear. 
MAN BALL- Back to communication.  Two players go for a loose or ground ball. One player calls "I've got ball" the other "I've got man".  One picks up the ball while the other defends the scoop by pushing of opposing "man" team players.

I gotta get going for now team, I can't wait to see you on sunday.

BHS has a varsity home game today Friday, April 4 at 4pm.  Try and make it if you can.

Parents please check out the need of BYL for parent volunteers for home games.  There has been an e-mail sent and BYL board member Nancy Oneil. She is looking for your support!  

For All Your Hard Work,
THANK YOU.

Coach Josh

Tuesday Practice, Chaos Reigns Supreme!

Chaos Shmaos!

Things can't always go as planned.  And this is true on many fronts.

Today as I arrived early to practice I was excited to see BHS freshman lacrosse playing against Sandwich High (on our field).  Cool I thought for a brief moment, until I discovered that there was still more than a 1/4 of game time to play.  The BHS track team owned the track and field,  and BHS freshman baseball had the u9 field all tied up.  So we shifted gears and found a spot tucked away in a corner and had our practice.

I had worked out a practice plan that never saw the light of day.  This is not desirable! Yet it is quite fine.  After all this is life.   And this is the kind of thing that will end up happening in various capacities though out life on a regular basis.  Fortunately with the help of the other coaches we managed to get in a pretty solid practice.

Well it's late and there is little time for me to work on this post.  So I'll be brief, Yes team, Thursday we can scrimmage.  We sadly missed our game on Sunday due to foul weather and a flooded field, we've been jammed into field corners tighter than the crease.  And every practice you've made the request.  So, finally you will get a scrimmage, this Thursday at six pm.

So come to practice well hydrated and ready for action, we will work positioning for the first portion of practice and then we can have a chance to try them out.

Warm Regards

Coach Josh

4th Practice Saturday Solo

Hey Team,

For the eleven of you who made it  to Saturday's 8am practice I want to say GREAT JOB!!!!  This was a non-mandatory practice and I realize that many of you had other responsibilities that prevented attendance.  It's okay.  To the Coaches that joined in the fun, there will be monuments erected in your honor!

If you weren't there, this is what you missed; The weather!!!  Wow what a morning.  Pulling into the parking lot of BHS at 7:40am was a little creepy.  There was a thick bank of fog shrouding the bleachers and out on the turf, alone in the mist, was the silhouette of a lone Lacrosse Player with a bag of balls, working his shooting skills on the net.  At first, Wyatt and I thought is was an ancestral ghost of the game.  But as we approached we were thrilled to see it was our good friend Andrew working a sweat in the sunny haze of a warm and windless morning.
As the players tricked in promptly at eight, eight o'five, eight o'6, eight o'eight.....(with the exception of Player #2 who was ready for action by 7:50am) We took to the turf, a quick slightly unenthusiastic warm up,  a move into some foot work (by now the blood started pumping).  On to passing and shooting drills. Followed by 1v.1 with shots on the net.  From 1v.1 we transitioned into 3 v. 2 sideways in 1/2 of the restraining box.  A quick water break to replenish, since all were in full sweat, still no wind and the sun melting back the fog, not a more beautiful morning could be asked for. From there we launched into a bit of a scrimmage.  A couple of penalty calls and a lot of fun!

Warm Up:  Warm ups are dynamic, not static.  We do this to loosen the muscles and circulate the blood.  The motions we demonstrate are useful in our Lacrosse play.  This is key to preventing injury.   I'm often telling you to bounce, like a fighter ready in the ring before his fight.  This charges and loads the the body with energy and keeps the body limber and prepared for action.

Foot Work:  Always work on foot work.  Steps in all directions, head up, apply stick skills to increase the value of your work.

Passing and Shooting:  This when working with another player includes catching.  But working this skill alone is very doable.  Work your off hand 50% of the time.  If not 50% then 60%.   Action reaction method is applied to shooting and passing.  Push with the top hand and pull with the bottom hand working dynamically together for power.  Pointing elbow and shoulder to your target.  Receiving Player is to provide a target by putting the head of your stick in the "box position" verbally communicating with the "open" command.

1 v. 1:  This drill was fun and essential.  we applied the footwork drill with an opponent.  Remember the things we focused on.  Not letting the Attack beat our defense,  staying between the ball and the net, moving the attack away from the center.  Shooting skills were worked as well in this drill.  Shooting "over the top" right team?   Remember what advise our friend Andrew gave us about defending here.  The Tufts play off game scenario. (watch this if you have time! The reference that Andrew shared with us is at minuet 13:00, replay @ 26:10).

3 v. 2:  Pass Pass Pass.  We did this sideways drill confined in 1/2 of the restraing box.  This is real life lacrosse.  What we wanted to focus on here was drawing-pulling the defense to the ball and opening up an attack/midi for a pass.  More on this tuesday! (I promise).

Scrimmage:   This was just us having Fun right?  Wrong!  Sure it was fun, but whether you knew it or not, I was proud to see you moving about the field using the most important skill of communication.  "I've got ball"  "I've got back"  "open".  We don't just shout out the ball carriers name, but we give him information that will help him to make a decision.

Well that wraps up today's post.  I've added the links to it.  Remember to use the links on the previous posts and work on your cradling (top heavy) both dominant and off hands.  See you Tuesday hydrated and ready for action.

Peace and Lax,

Coach Josh

Game Day

Good Morning Team,

Nantucket Canceled, boo hoo!

Coach Josh

Third Practice, Five days until GAME DAY!

Hey Team,

Well here we are three practices in, so much ground covered and still just at the beginning of our journey!

We're being threatened by an early spring storm with some meteorological balderdash claiming up to 18" of snow!  Keep an eye on the BYL website for possible practice cancelations.

Thanks go out to U15 for giving us the turf for practice today!  What fun it is to play on a field with lines and markings.  It's our first view of what our game day field will look like.  Remember to email your confirmation to the BYL website.  I got verbal feedback from the team, and I will post logistics on this blog tomorrow for the trip to nantucket.

Today I had a chance to speak with most of the players about what positions they wanted to focus on this season.  It's a great metric to gauge their positions, however I will be busy about encouraging them to play the whole field whenever possible.  At this age the kids should take advantage of trying out every role on the field and remain open minded to their possibilities.  At this age they are really just at the beginning of a long and exciting lax career, with ample opportunity.

Attack!!!!! That was the bulk of the teams idea of positioning!  Ha ha, who doesn't love the idea of being in front of the goal ready to score the winning shot!

Midfielders or 'Midi's'!!! A strong second preference.  Have your lungs and legs ready because you are gonna need 'em.  This is the running mans position, as well as the important roll of FOGO.  Don't forget what we covered in face of drills today, with the threat of snow we may not see another practice before game day and this skill is well needed.  I saw good promise and strong wills at practice today.  I am happy to say that we have what it takes to win a face off!

Defense!  So, not many of you have an interest in playing defense.  Well one day you might, what an exciting position!  This is a part of the team that has little opportunity to score winning goals, does that sound boring?  How about stopping and advance from the opposing team, communicating with your Goalie, clearing the ball and being an essential cog in the gear work of a well oiled machine.

Goalie, yes it's true there are few who walk this path.  I'm happy to say that we have a player who is up for the task, and at least one other who is interested in a part time roll as such.  I encourage you all to dig deep inside and look to see if there is a goalie in you.  Mostly I want you to try this role out for a bit and enjoy the perspective of a wall that will stand through the fiercest battering.  By standing in the crease you will see the game in a way that is truly unique.

Well Kiddos, Thanks for checking in!  Please take the time to use your parents' laptops and youtube the positions that you want to be.  Look for explanations of the roles of these players.  There is lots to learn and little time to learn it.  Do some homework and bring to practice the things you learn.

With Much Respect,

Peace and LAX,

Coach Josh

Second Practice U13 Team White

Team,

Thanks so much for giving it your all for our second practice.  It seems the first day of spring brought us great lacrosse weather and with the thaw came the mud.  Don't be fooled though… cold days lay ahead and warm clothing should be brought to practice in any event.

Well,  none of the players accepted the R.O.O.T.S. acronym challenge (see first blog post)  and I was able to keep all of the rewards for myself.  I will at this point provide for you another one of the letter meanings in this essential acronym,  O is for opponents.  Opponents are enemies right?  No!!!!  The team opponents are V.I.P.'s or very important people!  Think about it this way, without opposing teams there would be no game.  There would be no competition.  There would be no excitement.  We owe an equal amount of respect for the teams that we come up against as we do for each other.  So now you have a good portion of the acronym solved, bring me the rest and enjoy a reward!

So something else to bring to practice next tuesday is a goal that you have in mind for the season, what is it that you want from the game this year?  Score your first goal, make a big transition during an offensive strike?  Maybe you want to improve your single hand cradling in your off hand?  Or maybe you want to play goalie for one quarter per game!  You tell me, I wanna know!

Some things we worked on in practice today;

1.  Equal Pressure Drill; Hogans Lacrosse-butt to butt. (boxing out the opponent)
2.  Passing and catching, the push and pull of the pass, the give with the catch.
3.  Off hand passing and catching. Passing and catching over the shoulder.
4.  Give and Go Drill.
5.  Alley Drills- cradling and dodging in the wings.
6.  Ground balls with sprinting and scooping.

Remember guys, communication is the key to team work, remember to talk to each other while out on the field, "I've got ball", "I've got man", "open", "release".  These and many other key communication terms will give us an advantage when we are out in the scrum.

Have a great weekend, be kind to your family and we will see you tuesday at 5pm well hydrated and ready for the weather.

Peace and Lax,

Coach Josh

First Practice U13 Team White

Well Team,

Thank you all for a very exciting and frigid first practice.

I would like to start this post by giving a special thanks to the volunteer coaches that really made it possible for the team to get some solid training in today, Coach Matt, Coach John and visiting Coach Nick great job today!  This team effort is what our players need to learn and have fun,  you guys made it a great first practice.  Also visiting appearances from BYL President Coach Phil.

There are a few important things to consider for our second practice.

1. Based on the weather, let us dress for a frigid cold practice!  Dry socks and lots of layers.  There is no need for pads on thursday, we will simply focus on 'no contact' drills.  Be sure to have cups, helmet, gloves and mouth pieces (We can work scrimmaging next week).

2. Players who know the acronym R.O.O.T.S. and its meaning will win a prize.  BYL in conjunction with the governing body, US Lacrosse, focuses on these tenets. Players, parents, coaches and officials'  understanding of this philosophy will help us reach our commitments this 2014 season.

3. Self,  I'll give you the 'S' in R.O.O.T.S. .  SELF identifies with the importance of each individual player.  There are 22 players on the team and every individual is essential to our sports success.  In the mad dash of all of us working together, it is important that no one gets lost in the shuffle.  If the needs of the player are not being met please contact me, it is my priority that every one learns and has fun as an individual and as a team player.  It is important that we all show up for practice well hydrated, prepared with proper equipment, warm clothing and a "ready-focus" attitude.  (ask your kids, "ready-focus!")

Some of the things covered in todays practice:  Throwing, Catching, Cradling, Scooping.

Key words/phrases to listen for:  box position, give with the stick, follow through, head up, scoop-through, scrape your knuckles, over the top, off hand.

Key Communications: "ready-focus", "I've got ball", "I've got man", "open", "release". (more explanations to come)

Thank You Everyone for Participating,
We will see you Thursday 5 o'clock.

Peace and Lax

Coach Josh