Press Release

Press Release: 

Known as “The fastest game on two feet” Lacrosse has been around forever. The Native Americans had played it on fields stretching miles and miles. They used wooden sticks with leather strung pockets, and played with the roundest rock they could find. When the game was over, the Native Americans would actually execute the losing team's goalie. Fast forward to the modern day game, and you could say things have changed for the better.....This is a sport that has long since been a fixture in North America; especially in the Northeast. It is a particularly unique sport, and doesn't get too much exposure through major sport broadcasting mediums such as FOX, ESPN, or CBS Sports. As far as Major League Lacrosse (MLL) and National League Lacrosse (NLL), they take a backseat to NCAA Lacrosse. More people are drawn in and follow NCAA teams, and NCAA games are ten times more likely to be packed with fans, or on the Television.This is the only sport in the United States where its “obscurity” is puzzling. How can a sport that has so many followers, players, and people involved in the game, not receive more exposure? The only answer that comes to mind is that the sport is simply still continuing to grow.
Through personal experiences growing up in Washington, to currently playing in Massachusetts, I have seen and gone through many different aspects of the game. From the West Coast to the East Coast, despite differences on either side, the sport is continually increasing in popularity day by day. It is my firm belief that one day it will in fact be an Olympic sport once again, with the United States taking home the gold. 

Facebook:
Like Lacrosse? Go visit #lacrossethecountry, its my blog that takes a look at lax from coast to coast. You never know, maybe you'll learn a thing or two!

Twitter:
Like lax?? Ever wondered what it's like to grow up playing it on the other side of the U.S.?? Check out #lacrossethecountry to find out!!

How to string shooters on a lacrosse head

Want to be able to seemingly score goals at will? To snipe top right corner of the net? Well, learning how to string up shooters in your head are a vital part of wanting to achieve these goals (no pun intended). Shooting strings affect the flight of the lacrosse ball coming out of the pocket. It helps with accuracy and gives the player total control of the ball, rather than just a feel for it. Different players like their shooting strings strung in different ways. Usually people have two hockey laces as shooting strings, but sometimes people have one. Sometimes people use nylons instead of hockey laces which are much, much thinner, and offer slightly less control, but just enough for an added handle. In this case it's shooting strings, but with these step by step instructions, you could put in nylons too all by yourself.

Step 1: Begin with your standard head in hand just like this. As you can see there are no shooting strings, we will have to add them.

Step 2: From the very top, count down a few rows to establish which row you will be placing your first shooting string. In this case I string mine in the fourth row down. The small holes in the mesh are called "diamonds". With the shooting string, you want to string it through alternating diamonds, as shown in the picture below.

Step 3: You want to next take the slack from either the left or right side (I take the slack from the left) and take the string back through each diamond again, alternating over and under where the previous string was. This way you get a nice braided look.

Step 4: After you are done alternating the other string through each diamond, and have the nice braided look it should look like the picture below. Once you have both ends of the hockey lace, you are ready to tie a knot.

Step 5: Now you tie a knot, just a regular old knot. The tighter you pull the strings when you knot it, the lower the ball will throw coming out of your stick. Naturally, the looser you have the strings when you knot it, the higher the ball will throw coming out of your stick.

Step 6: Now you repeat the process, carefully following steps number 1 through 5, following the EXACT same rules, but two rows of diamonds down. Refer to the picture below.

Step 7: Once again, how tight you pull the strings when you knot it will really have an affect on the way the ball comes out. Especially when there are two rows of hockey lace shooting strings in your head.

Step 8: Make sure the knot is firmly secured so it does not come undone; it should look like the picture below.

Step 9: When all is said and done, your finished product should look quite similar to this. You should be able to notice the nice channel in the stick for the ball to sit and travel. It is truly a thing of beauty.

Be sure to follow these steps for a perfect head with excellent shooters that both throw and look good. Every team needs what's known as a "Stick Doctor". That one kid who knows how to tinker with a stick just enough to work out any kinks. They are a VALUABLE asset to a team, take it from someone who knows. Now you are ready to put in shooters of your own, for the smoothest throwing stick on the squad.

Thanksgiving in Lancaster and Lacrosse in L.A. - Transcript

Q: So today I will be interviewing Will Simonds, he is another junior here at Endicott college, he lives right down the hall from me, Iv known him since freshman year in brindle, we've been great friends i go to his house every thanksgiving (will laughs) its a great time, its sort of a tradition, and um, first question will, when did you start playing lax or did you play hockey first, and where was it cuz i know you've moved around a lot around the U.S.

A: well that's a loaded question Austin, I started playing hockey in uhhh first grade when I was living in Seattle, um then I didn't start playing lax until 7th grade when I was in Seattle at the time.

Q: so who got you interested in these things? was it your friends, your mom, your dad, your older sister?

A: well my biggest influence was definitely my Dad, determining what sports I wanted to play growing up

Q: did, did he play growing up?

A: he played hockey and lacrosse, uh he played hockey is entire life, ane played lacrosse until high school and then he played baseball, but um, I, I played lacrosse

Q: So was it kinda different? Like so I know you lived in LA at a point, were you playing lacrosse then? What was really the sequence of events? like versus when you started picking up the sport and kept playing, going to L.A. then Lancaster, then back to Seattle?

A: umm honestly, a huge difference from lacrosse up in Seattle, or out here in the east coast to down in LA. when I was living out there, umm the lacrosse programs out there were not very widespread, the game is still expanding all over the place so the leagues weren't very official, no high schools or local schools have lacrosse programs affiliated with them. There were much more organized lacrosse and hockey programs where I lived in Seattle, I played club hockey in Seattle, used to go up to Canada every weekend, lets see, and when i moved down to la id say the hockey got less competitive

Q: do you think the hockey in LA, not just in terms of your age group but in general, but the NHL, that it was less of a big deal ,or less of a big deal? like living in Lancaster PA, like why do you think hockey is more popular say in Lancaster than it would be in LA

A: I think that the huge reason for that is the difference between west coast and east coast. Honestly i think that the NHL influence is a lot larger in Seattle and on the east coast than it is in LA just because it has so many other sports

Q: Yea yea

A: just so many other things going on out there. There is definitely a lot more NHL interest and coverage in those other two places.

Q: One of the most popular things, I actually discuss it earlier on in my blog,is the impact of the Ultimate Lax Bro and the influence that video had on the lacrosse community

A: ..... interrupts.....I have to take this (shows me his phone and his boss is calling so he had to leave real quick)

Q: Ok

A: Ok wait say it again

Q: Ok wait, sorry, I know you had to take that call from Doug Roberts your boss, just for the record.

A: laughs

Q: Um so the question was about the Ultimate Lax Bro, how do you think this video affected or influenced the lacrosse culture. Are you familiar with the Ultimate Lax Bro?

A: Well of course. Being apart of the lacrosse community, umm I think alot of people know the videos, the character, I think it really impacted the lacrosse culture alot, it sort of mainstreamed the Lax Bro attire, look, attitude, that kind of thing. It sort of taken as a joke, ya know. Whenever people talk about it but, it definitly has had its impact

Q: Some people I feel like its either ya love it or ya hate it, some people think its the worst thing to happen to the lacrosse community and put you in this category like "Oh you're a lax bro" what's your opinion on this?

A: I feel like ya know, it contributed to putting lacrosse players in that sort of category but, ya know, what athlete, what sport doesnt have that ya know. Football players the stereoype is that they're meatheads

Q: That's very true

A: Hockey players ya know, theyre tough and also meatheads and stupid

Q: laughs

A: I dunno

Q: Well that just about wraps it up were runnin on 5:35.... 5:36 here now, but thank you Will so much for this interview

A: Thank you austin

Q: Awesome. Alright, goodbye.

Thanksgiving in Lancaster and Lacrosse in L.A.

Places that molded me

Scenic Sammamish, Washington: Hard work not only on the field, but off the field too. Studying for school, developing work ethic, gaining leadership skills; I learned everything I needed to know growing up right here.

Skyline High School Stadium: This is where I honed my skills all throughout high school, and played in games under the bright lights. I got my first real taste of what playing lacrosse was through these experiences at Spartan Stadium.

The good ol' backyard: My parents have since sold them as I have gone off to college, but we had a lax wall (a portable wall you could throw against and it would feed the ball right back) and a goal. The amount of time I spent, rain or shine, practicing just throwing against the wall and shooting was insane. I also wonder how many lost balls are lying around the bushes back there.

Post Center gym: I have spent so much time at the school gym. From living in Beverly this past summer and coming every morning, to 2-a-days each and every winter - I'm no stranger to the fitness center here.

The Nest: The Endicott field speaks for itself. As a freshman I've snow shoveled it, I've bled, sweated, thrown up and cried on it, I've broken bones on it, and created life long bonds on it. Endicott Stadium has embodied the life of me as an athlete the past three years.

The Ultimate Lax Bro

If you haven't already seen the video, please take the time to visit the link below:

Meet Brandtford Winstonworth, The Ultimate Lax Bro

With over 2.3 million views, The Ultimate Lax Bro is an internet phenomenon. The video is the most quoted video of all time among lacrosse players around the world, and forever changed the culture of the sport.

This video first burst out on the scene when I was a junior in high school – my friends and I thought it was the funniest thing of all time. The kid who made the video attended St. Lawrence in New York at the time, a pretty well known D III school. The video had a tremendous impact on the culture of the sport, inventing new terms and reinforcing the stereotypical lifestyle of a lacrosse player; the lingo, the attire, the attitude, the confidence (or arrogance depending on how you want to look at it). However, being from the northwest, the culture associated with the sport at home, was a bit different from what it was portrayed in the video. I'm not only talking about differences in the sport itself, but differences from east coast styles to west coast styles.

Here I am going to breakdown the video from start to finish, analyzing the most important terms:

Fluff: The mesh is the basket where the ball is held in a lacrosse stick. The term “fluff” is referring to the slack of the mesh that sticks out the back of the head. Whenever a stick is strung, there is always a little bit of mesh that is left over, and sticks out the back. Sometimes it gets caught on things, worn and torn, and just gets really soft and frayed. Brandtford describes one of his sticks as fluffy, therefore, the universal term was born.

Boarding school/Pastels: Boarding school is something that not a lot of kids attend out west. On the east coast it is much much more common to have your kid attend boarding school. I don't even know of any boarding schools in Washington State to be 100% honest. Before I came back here I always just thought of boarding school as this far away place your parents sent you if you were a bad kid. When I came back here I learned they were nice schools and it was pretty common to attend boarding school, especially if you played a sport. Pastels are what he refers to his colored as. The east coast is preppy, and I never had shirts like that growing up, but I sure do now.

Spoon or Twig: A player's “spoon” or “twig” is in reference to their stick. How you pick up the ball by scooping it, and when you run you cradle it. Naturally the terms make complete sense.

Lax Bro: A Lax Bro is a term associated with anyone who plays lacrosse. “Oh you play lacrosse? You're a Lax Bro?” Bro is chill term to call another person, because lacrosse is a chill sport, then combined with lax you get “Lax Bro”. It is a common term thrown around by others who don't play, directed at people who do.

Nantucket: Brandtford Winstonworth refers to his Nantucket hat “ACK” for short. Nantucket is associated with wealthier, old money, upper-class, generally white people who have played lacrosse through the generations. The hat is a symbol of who plays the sport, and is another stereotype. When I first saw the video, I had only heard of Nantucket because it was on the fruit drinks I liked, Nantucket Nectars. I never knew about that stereotype until I got back here and my friends told me all about it.

Flow/Lettuce: “90% of lax is in the flow” A player's flow or lettuce refers to your hair when it is long, and sticks out the back of your helmet. It is a universal term and a pretty funny thing to everyone who is involved in lacrosse. Bro Bible is a hilarious college lifestyle site and they assemble the “All-Flow team” each year, featuring the players in NCAA lacrosse who have the best looking flow. Keep it short and maintained all year, then come spring and lacrosse, you let it rage.

Club/DI: This is really funny because players do not need to decide between club and DI.....The talent is head over heels much better D1 than club. Players play at the club level when they either get cut from the college's varsity team, get kicked off, or just flat out aren't good enough to make the team in the first place.

Turf Dogs, Mid Calves, Nice shorts, Lax Pinnie, Croakies, Shades: The old adage, look good play good, absolutely rings true for lacrosse players both on and off the field. When I first saw the video it was weird. I never wore bright colored shorts like he does, on the west coast everything is much less preppier. I never had heard of Sperry Topsiders either till I came back here. Croakies are almost non-existent on the west coast; except for old Dads with no sense of style. As for Turf Dogs, I saw them here and there on football players, but never had I seen lacrosse players wear them off the field – especially as a style choice.

Preakness: The Preakness reference ties back into the sport being relatively wealthy. This is a high class event, and once again, is something I never would ever have thought of as an awesome event lacrosse players are associated with attending.

Party Culture: Lastly is this party culture that goes with playing and being apart of a lacrosse team. This video always shows empty beers everywhere and is hilarious. Around campus lacrosse players are looked at, or put in a category as “wild” whether you like it or not. For instance, every single day at Endicott in the locker room, we blast constant wompy party music, with heavy bass. To say this isn't true would be lying, we play hard and party hard too.

On the flip side, some people hate the Ultimate Lax Bro video. They are so against that stereotype it's not even funny. I personally like to make fun of the video, and it doesn't upset me – but what I dislike is the label as a “Lax Bro”. It's annoying to be automatically grouped or looked at in predetermined a way. A lot of people think the video was an awful thing to happen to the sport, and that because of it people view the players as giant jokes. If you look at the comments on the Youtube video, its a whole lot of back and forth opinions. Some people think it's the funniest thing ever, some think its the dumbest thing ever. There's quite a few fighting words between commenters as well.

The Ultimate Lax Bro video took the “Lax Bro” stereotype to an entirely new level. It sparked the idea of what a lacrosse player is, how he should act, what he should look like, what he should sound like, and what he stands for. This video opened my eyes to what lacrosse was like, and made me think “okay. so this is what lacrosse must be like back east”. The first time I visited colleges out here and stayed with kids, it wasn't exactly like the video, but there were similarities for sure. Many more similarities than there were out west. A.J. Pegno, who I stayed with at Endicott, was wearing croakies and shades when I met him. Chuck Spinelli, who I stayed with at Merrimack College in North Andover, wore a pinnie the entire time I stayed – even to breakfast and everything. These are only a couple more examples of the affect this video had on kids. Brandtford Winstonworth is and always will be a true internet sensation.

“Daddy University”: Politics in Sports

The University of Richmond (U.R.) cut their men's soccer and track teams without warning, and established their men's club lacrosse team as a new varsity sport. This decision resulted in major uproar and commotion not only amongst the soccer and track teams, but other students, alumni, donors, and people across the country. Besides being simply unfair to U.R.'s soccer and track teams, there is more going on – this is an issue of politics in sport.

Allow me to lay out the scene: Mr. Jim Miller, U.R.'s Athletic Director, announced this decision was not made within the Athletic Department, but at the “Board of Trustees” level. According to NCAA title IX, the number of men's and women's teams must be equal; therefore if lacrosse was added without cutting the other teams, it would be in violation of NCAA rules. The Board of Trustees said they had conducted a year long study to decide which sports the school should have, “...looking at budgets, admissions issues and everything else you could imagine...[1]” After conducting this study and working through all the data, it was clear the Board of Trustees wanted to add a men's lacrosse team.

Originally anonymous, there was a rather large donation of $3 million given to U.R. Where this anonymous donation came from, no one knew at the time; however, two prominent Trustees involved with sports on both sides of this issue did stand out – Paul Queally and Bobby Ukrop.

Mr. Queally is the proud parent of two Richmond students and his previous contributions have resulted in the building of Queally Hall. A junior on the lacrosse team requesting anonymity said, “Mr. Queally has financially helped our team, and our coach, Glenn Carter, has often spoken at practices about how much Queally’s donations have helped the team. [3]” According to The Collegian, U.R.'s newspaper, Mr. Queally's youngest son is in high school and his Facebook profile picture portrays him playing lacrosse.

Mr. Ukrop is a fellow Board of Trustee member and has been associated with the men's soccer team. He had been a longtime supporter of the University, and after the decision had been made final to cut both soccer and track for lacrosse, he resigned from the Board of Trustees.

It was later revealed that the large donation was made by Mr. Queally.

When Mr. Miller made the announcement to the soccer and track teams that they were to be cut, not one of the Board of Trustees was in attendance. The news was also delivered just four hours before a U.R. Soccer game – not the best time, in my opinion.

Patrick Love, a junior cross country runner was noted as saying, “From an international perspective, they mentioned that they want to promote diversity with this decision, which is so not true because lacrosse kids are almost all from the Northeast.” (Click to read more)

There is a misconception here. Lacrosse players are not all from the Northeast. The sport has grown in the Northwest, Southwest, Midwest, South and Southeast. This being said, if you look at the United States where the sport is played, the Northeast could be considered a mecca of sorts. So, Mr. Love is correct in that having a lacrosse team in the Northeast is not quite promoting diversity.

According to Richmond BizSense, Richmond's premier source of news and information, “In the past week, groups of alumni and students have sprung up in attempts to save track and soccer. Track boosters bought a full-page advertisement in the school newspaper with a stirring tag line: “Money can buy a lot of things, like this ad or even a lacrosse program, but it can’t buy honor.” This is a direct shot on how this whole situation was handled as dishonorable to the kids, parents, alumni, boosters, and the entire community.

The criticism on this situation by alumni was extremely harsh. An article written to The Collegeian by former student, Keith Donohue, takes a look at “The Daddy” about how his donation of $3 Million influenced this decision:

“The Daddy’s son plays high school lacrosse and is slated to attend Richmond next year. Surprise! A reliable source suggests that the primary reason why the university president expedited the decision to add lacrosse was that The Daddy pledged to also fund a new campus visitor center. [3]”

This is ridiculous, and makes me extremely upset. Politics in sport has happened ever since I can remember; not only in the news, but in personal experiences. I clearly remember back to Little League, when All-Star voting would come around. I played for the same team with the same coach through the 6^th grade when I quit. The head coach was a real pushover; his wife was a doctor and had influence on his decisions even when it came to his baseball team. Every single year he would announce two all-star representatives from our team, and every single year his son would get one of the spots. His son was far and away not one of the best players on the team, not by a long shot. I always felt snubbed and it bothered me that outside factors played such a role in sports.

Another example of this is high school lacrosse. I came from a school known for its powerhouse nationally ranked, top ten football program - not for its lacrosse club team. We were a relatively new team when I joined and certainly had our ups and downs. No one from Skyline ever got recognized in lacrosse by the Washington High School Boys Lacrosse Association (WHSBLA), Washington State lacrosse's governing body. The WHSBLA committee is made up of 5 head coaches, all of school sanctioned teams, and have been around forever. They tend to only select the kids from where lacrosse has a history, and label Skyline as being a strictly football school.

Other teams were school sanctioned because they had been around longer, and had custom Nike jerseys, matching team lacrosse cleats, and donated money to the WHSBLA because they had it. We were just a club sport, had cheap Warrior uniforms, everyone just used their football cleats and we used our extra money for new practice balls, nets and equipment. During my junior year, my best friend was the face-off guy, and led the state in draw wins and ground balls. I came in 5^th in the state in ground balls, and neither of us received all-state accolades. When we were seniors, he led the state again in both categories, shattering his records, and I came in third in ground balls – nothing. Both of us played summer ball with players who made up the All-State teams, so it was sort of ironic. We both ended up at good lacrosse schools; him at Ohio State, and myself at Endicott. Again, it just goes to show how sometimes things should ethically work, just don't.

These examples show that at any level, no matter the relationship or influences, people can be swayed. When it comes down to it, yes, people should evaluate the outcome of their decision, but that to simply protect the purification of sports needs to be the number one goal: to not taint the game has got to be the number one duty. Tainting the game for personal gain cannot be a factor in making decisions that affect kids, adolescents, young adults, and even professionals for the rest of their lives. The most trivial decisions can have dire consequences, so I urge people to follow ethics first and foremost. Ask yourself if what you are doing feels right; if it is morally just.

From Sammamish to Beverly

Answering the question "Where are you from?" is really annoying to me. I usually say Seattle, Washington because no one around here knows or has even heard of Sammamish, Washington......My response usually elicits the follow up question "Really? How'd you hear about Endicott?" To this I have a host of different answers and it usually depends on who's asking. More often than not I will just say I heard about it from a family friend or I got recruited; that seems to work.  

The following people are how I landed at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts. They were highly influential throughout my entire collegiate recruiting process. These are the people I consulted with and how I eventually became a student-athlete here at Endicott.

Parents:

Both my parents were extremely supportive in the whole recruiting process. Although my Mom wasn't too fond of me going across the country, she eventually dealt with it. It was a little tougher on her because I am the first born, but my Dad comforted her. My Dad had stressed that although he didn't want me to leave, it was indeed a phenomenal opportunity both for higher education and for sport.

Scott Brayton:

Scott is a family friend who started a company called Varsity Student Institute (VSI). He is originally from back east, and played soccer at Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York back in the day. What he does is help match colleges up with kids looking to play sports at the next level. Exposure, tournaments, calling coaches, arranging filming at showcases and tournaments, sending film, SAT and ACT test prep, everything you can think of. He helped me trim down and identify what I was looking for in a school, and to answer the question: “Would you still want to go there if the head coach left or if the sport was cut from the school?” Without Scott I would never have even heard of Endicott College.

Spencer Matches:

I played along Spencer from the first time I ever played organized lacrosse. He is one of my best friends, along with his identical twin brother, Matt. I played with Spence in high school, club, and summer travel teams, so we've been around a lot of lacrosse together. He completed a post-graduate year at Bridgeton Academy in Maine, then got recruited to play at Division 1 Ohio State. It's awesome to see him do so well, and to look back and see both of us push each other the way we did. Not many kids come out of the northwest and play lacrosse in college, let alone our high school.

Lachlan Murphy:

My first year playing, I was a freshman at Skyline High School. There were two junior captains, Riley Gervais and Lachlan Murphy. I knew about these guys well before I tried out for the team from reputation alone. These guys were phenomenal players and Lachlan was bound to play at the next level. Lachlan got recruited by Division 3 Rensselaer Polytech Institute (R.P.I.) a great and successful program. He was the first player from Skyline to get recruited and play at the collegiate level. He was and continues to be a true role model in terms of his ethic, and how a person should conduct themselves. As a high schooler, looking at what he did made me think “hey, If he can do it, I can do it”.

Coach Quirk:

Coach Quirk is a family man, and was the selling point as to why I decided to attend Endicott. Whenever I would talk with him on the phone, we rarely spoke about lacrosse. It was all about “How's school? How's your Dad, Mom, Brother, Sister? Are you enjoying your Junior year? etc. Lacrosse was literally the last thing we would get to. He preaches all the time that we are a family, and yes he teaches us how to be successful lacrosse players, but more importantly he teaches us how to be successful in the game of life. He is more than a coach, and wanted to make sure I was comfortable going to Endicott all the way across the country, even if for some reason I wasn't playing the sport. A perfect example is when I broke my thumb over this past spring break. The break required surgery where I needed two screws in the largest bone in my thumb. When I heard this news I called my parents. Needless to say my mom was very worried, she was freaking out. Coach Quirk called them and reassured that everything would be just fine. The day of my surgery he took me to the hospital, and picked me up. When I came out of surgery he was sitting down in the waiting room. Head lacrosse coaches, especially at this level, that do something like that for their players are few and far between. 

These five people (six technically) are all connected in that they were instrumental during my college search and ultimate decision making process. I am having a great college experience so far, and I owe it to each and every one of them. My parents for support, Scott Brayton for doing the leg work in finding the school, Spencer Matches for pushing me, Lachlan Murphy for paving the way, and Coach Quirk for his reassurance and genuine care about me as a student-athlete.

Because you can't spell fundamental without FUN

Today I will be giving detailed instructions on how to properly throw and catch a lacrosse ball. It doesn't matter the level of involvement you have in the game, this post is all about reinforcing the basics. You may be in elementary school just starting out, middle school, high school, college or in a men's over 40 league - to know and refine correct technique is vital no matter how old you are. As players grow older, what happens is they start deviating away from the proper form of throwing the ball. Sometimes people develop ways of throwing side-arm or underhand instead of the traditional over-hand way.

For this tutorial you will need the following:

-lacrosse stick

-lacrosse ball

-either a partner, or a hard smooth wall to throw against

After following this five step instructional, you will be able to throw and catch with even the most experienced of lacrosse players.

Step 1: Hand Placement. Place your non-dominant hand near the bottom of the stick, and grasp it firmly. With your dominant hand, place it at the center of the stick, grasping the same way.

Step two: Stance (throwing right-handed) Place a ball in your stick. Raise your arms up making sure your left elbow is completely lifted, making the end of the stick pointed directly towards where you intend to throw the ball, and the pocket with the ball in it hanging over your right shoulder. With both elbows raised and your left elbow up and stick pointed, you are in perfect stance to throw.

Step three: Throwing is all done in one motion. Once in the stance, raise the stick off your shoulder so both arms are raised and the pocket with the ball in it is next to and slightly behind your head. All in one fluid motion now:

-step forward with the left foot

-pull down with your left arm as you push up with your right arm

-follow through with this motion all the way down till the head of the stick is pointed towards the ground.

Your right shoulder should swing down. The ball will leave your stick - don't stop this motion after the ball has left.

Now that you are ready to throw, here is how to properly catch a lacrosse ball:

Step four: Hand placement - catching

The non-dominant hand is in the same place as it would be when throwing, but the dominant hand you want to have placed at the very top of your stick. You want to have it touching the plastic of your head.

Step five: Stance

Get in proper position to catch the ball coming at you. Bend those knees and look the ball in to your stick. You want to make sure that when the ball arrives in the pocket, that you pull back a little bit with your dominant hand, you want to “cushion” the ball in.

Now you are ready to catch and throw. Practice this perfect technique for guaranteed success. Who knows, maybe one day you'll even pass along this knowledge on to someone else eager to learn!

How to make a pre-game breakfast before the big game, all by yourself!

What goes into your body is important, especially on the day before a game. Instead of Mom making your breakfast this coming Saturday morning, why don't you give it a shot. A solid pre-game breakfast consists of carbohydrates, protein, and hydration. Follow these next steps to prepare a simple yet great pre-game meal that will have you performing at your best:

Step 1:

Carbohydrates provide quick energy. Foods like whole wheat bread and certain cereals like Wheaties or Raisin Bran work great. Either pour yourself a bowl of cereal or put some bread in the toaster for breakfast this morning.

Step 2:

Now that you have your carbohydrates, its time for some protein to go along side it. Yogurt or turkey bacon are great in the morning. Either grab a yogurt from the fridge, or zap some turkey bacon in the microwave. For this take the bacon out of the freezer, and put it in the microwave for 60 seconds and you're good to go. Milk (skim, 2%, or whole) is also high in protein, and compliments any breakfast.

Step 3:

Hydration. This is important for any meal, or any time you take part in physical activity for that matter. Pour yourself a glass of orange juice, cranberry juice, apple juice, or even just plain old water. Although sugary yet delicious, these juices will get the job done.

Step 4:

Enjoy your well-rounded breakfast, sure to fuel your body for the game!

Collegiate Lacrosse: Game Day

The harsh, brisk, wind chill of a Tuesday night in the heart of downtown Boston was enough to make you not want to be there. Located just off Commonwealth Ave, Wentworth Institute of Technology’s campus could not be more opposite than Endicott’s. The sights and sounds of Boston comprised the school’s home field advantage. All throughout the game sirens were going off as ambulances and police cars sped by the field. Although Wentworth boasted brand new turf possessing a soft, rug-like feel, I got the sense not many of my teammates were “amped” to play the lowly Wentworth Leopards. The mission was simple - to get in, do our job (come away with the win), and get out; not losing any men of course.

4:00 - Departure

Departing Endicott College for our team is always a bit of an ordeal. As a junior, through first-hand experiences, I have learned arriving at the bus early is an absolute must. You don’t want to be the freshman who arrives late, doesn’t end up with a seat, and has to drive to the game with the ineligible and injured kids – it is one of the worst feelings ever. You also don’t want to be the kid who doesn’t end up with a seat and - god forbid - has to sit next to a coach at the very front of the bus….yikes.

Although we look the part in our professional suit and ties, once on the bus, things could not be more hectic and un-controlled. It is a full on scramble for seats. Shoving your lacrosse bag and sticks on the bus isn’t that bad, but has to be done before anything else. Next factor in swarming kids to the food placed outside the bus at every departure. The sandwiches, chips, cookies and waters in stacks next to the bus door only added fuel to the fire.

A saving grace for this entire process is that each person on the team has a bus-mate. As bus-mates, it is each of our civic duties to act as a two man team. Whichever team member is there first, they claim a seat. My bus mate is Jimmy Smith a fellow junior. He’ll tell you firsthand the struggles of what it was like scrounging for a spot on the bus as a freshman. Jimbo and I have been bus-mates since joining the team, and as seasoned vets we’ve got the process down. We coordinate who’s going to be there first via text. It’s a solid system and we get our seats every time.

Clearly demonstrating ownership of a territory on the bus is done in a certain number of ways. This is done by placing bigger or valuable belongings such as your backpack, iPad, iPod, sweats, sweatshirt, phone, or shoes on a seat. The spoken word of promising seats won’t cut it and has no place here, especially for underclassmen, it’s a dog eat dog world on the bus.

You would think that, as educated college kids, we would just sit in the same exact seats every single trip right?Wrong. It doesn’t work out quite like that. Sure as upperclassmen we pretty much get the same seats every time, but when it comes to getting situated on the bus, it’s about as rough as it gets. The bus isn’t the same model everytime, so rows are shifted and bus-mates are moved around. It’s a process needing improvement for sure. We aren’t animals, we’re men.

5:00-6:00 - Locker Room

Once at Wentworth, we got off the bus to take our stuff to the locker room. The locker room at this particular school seemed to be a half-mile away. We had to cross two streets as a team (45 kids) – talk about angry Mass-holes. It was an extremely small locker room compared to all the other schools I have been to and smelled like hot stuffy musk.

In the locker room you usually have a solid chunk of time to do whatever it is you want. We had an hour that evening. Kids use this time to go see the trainer to get stretched out, tape up their sticks, check out to the field and pass around, play games on their iPods, listen to music to get in “the zone”, pack lips (forcing freshmen to chug their water so the bottle can be used as a spitter is common), or even to take naps.

This was an especially odd set up for a locker room because there was a big maroon door leading to where Wentworth’s players were in the room adjacent to us. Now, the locker room we were in had showers, urinals and stalls – typical of any locker room. Wentworth’s players kept opening the maroon door to go to the bathroom and use the sinks…..

This is highly, highly, highly uncommon in sports, especially college sports. That the other team, just freely cuts through the other team’s personal space. I know it is Division III, but c’mon. Coach Sciamanna, our assistant coach, conveyed the team’s thoughts perfectly, “What the fuck do they think this is a JV game? Jesus.” He was right.We don’t want to see, hear, or converse with the enemy before a game. Only when we are in the right mental state of mind do we want to engage in any sort of contact, which happens on the field at the start of the lacrosse game. Lines of Wentworth players were just passing through our preparation zone as if we had known them for years. Making for an odd ambiance in the locker room is an understatement.

6:00-6:50 – Warm-up

How nice the new turf was seemed to be the main concern as our team walked in two lines up to the turf. There was chit-chat instead of hootin’ and holleran’….not good. Only adding to this already odd state of mind, the sound system at Wentworth was atrocious. It sounded like their warm-up music was playing out of an iHome.

Being injured, just standing there on the sideline with the other two injured guys and the athletic training staff can be fun – for about 5 minutes. It is really tough to watch your team; your brothers go out there and compete. Our coach preaches each and every day that we are a family; it’s even on the back of our shirts.

I play defense, so when the offense and defense break off; I go support my fellow defenseman. An Endicott tradition which I learned my freshman year was to “dap em’ up”. This is a slang word for giving a cool hand shake. Think high-five, but turn your hand around so you high-five with the back of your hand. Everyone on Endicott’s defense daps each other up; a true pre-game ritual.

6:50 - 7:00 – National Anthem & Starting Line-ups announced

Honestly the energy was not high, I can tell you that much. During the National Anthem kids were silently making each other laugh, goofing around..…I felt this lack of focus when we first came onto the field for warm-ups. Endicott has never lost to Wentworth Tech in the history of the school. This is a game on the calendar every year where it is known that “everybody eats”. This means all players from the starters down to the 4^th string guys (freshmen) get playing time. All of us came into this match with this feeling we were going to absolutely demolish this shitty Wentworth team no problem.

7:00 – Opening Face-off

Right off the bat, we notched one. Good sign. Then we each traded a goal until Wentworth got a couple more quickies. Fellow injured player John Siderwitz may have said it best, “Wow are we really losing to FUCKING Wentworth right now….”

End of the 1^st: Endicott 2 - Wentworth 4

The second quarter started with a bang as the Leopards scored right away to make it 2 – 5….this was not good. *Timeout* Endicott. After getting our bearings and talking things over, we went on a little Gull run. Scoring four in a row to tie it was huge for us.

End of the 2^nd: Endicott 6 – Wentworth 6

At half we always head down to a corner and take a knee. Our coaches usually talk to us, give us a debrief, make changes and give us some sort of speech; not today. Today our senior leaders spoke. Everything was said, our coaches didn’t need to say anything at all. We rallied and our spirits could not have been higher.

I had thought to myself the whole game that freshman year we beat Wentworth 22-3, and last year we beat them 17-5….was this year’s team really that bad?

End of half-time

To everyone’s surprise, the 3^rd quarter was all Wentworth. They netted two, and we had nothing to show. This wasn’t a question of effort, it was there. Discipline might explain it though.Through 3 quarters we had five penalties, that’s five minutes of man-down lacrosse, resulting in at least five goals; a rough stat for sure.

End of the 3^rd: Endicott 6 – Wentworth 8

Wentworth once again opened up the scoring making it 6 – 9. We kept up hope. Hope that no way we were going to be the team that finally concedes to Wentworth. We punched in two fast ones making it a one goal game at 8 – 9. With just under 7 minutes left Wentworth would tally a huge goal for them, padding their lead by one more.

This is where hard work and the will to win kicks in. We went on a tear, and scored three goals in two minutes to put us up by a single point making it 11 -10. Playing lockdown defense the rest of the game, we made Wentworth’s offense look anemic the final minutes.

Final: Endicott 11 – Wentworth 10

9:00 – Ride Home

Reflecting. We stole one from a Wentworth team that came to play, and should have won that game. The body language of the entire bus was eerie. It wasn’t that everyone was negative as if we had lost, but disappointed and disgusted rather. A win is a win, but the ride home was not nearly as joyous as any other win was.
On the east coast, as a general rule I have learned from playing lacrosse at this level that you can never win on talent alone. Any team, on any given day, can win. I firmly believe this.
A valuable lesson for athletes in general playing team sports is to know there are ingredients needed for every win, as reiterated time and time again to our team by Coach Sean Quirk. They are:

-You have to be disciplined
-Confident not cocky
-Play as a TEAM rather than a bunch of individuals
-Work hard the full 60 minutes, not just in the last minutes of the game

We fell short of accomplishing all four principles against Wentworth Tech. Once back at campus before we got off the bus, Coach Quirk got on the P.A. system of the bus and announced practice was at 6 a.m. the next day and to bring our running shoes….
God damnit were the first two words out my mouth. My bus-mate took his headphones off and said “I saw that one coming”. I’ve come a long way since being a freshman I thought as I tossed my bag of chips on the grimy bus floor. Then came the classic yells “FRESHMEN, CLEAN THE BUS” – a really long way.

Coast to coast: An exclusive interview with Foster Wisman

“…I have noticed that people on the east coast tend to like to grow out their "flow" meaning they like growing their hair out so it sticks out the back of their helmets or something like that, I couldn’t tell ya why” – Foster Wisman

From the time I started playing lacrosse freshman year in high school, the Wismans were a household name within the Seattle lacrosse community. Mr. Wisman was well known, and ran lacrosse clinics all over the Seattle area. He had one ear pierced, rocked flannels like it was no one’s business, and kept his long hair in a ponytail. I always imagined him at Nirvana concerts in the 90’s; the Seattle grunge scene clearly playing a big part in his life. My impression of Mr. Wisman as this know-all be-all big wig when it came to the sport was extremely appealing. He helped shape how I saw the sport, as a culture that was laid back, hip, and fun. This was opposed to baseball or football where hardo Dads in their macho power stance, had slick streamline sunglasses, gelled hair, and wore tight wind pants. These Dads would roam around the field, vocally letting everyone know their thoughts on the game whether they liked it or not. I loved the sport of lacrosse from the get go, and this alternate culture that came along with it.

Having grown up playing your typical northwest sports of soccer and baseball, it took me forever to get use to having a stick in my hands – it was extremely unnatural. After trying out and making the high school team, the sport was so enjoyable that I decided to try out for a select team, the Seattle Starz.

Now, you must understand; if someone had Seattle Starz gear, that navy blue and yellow penny, helmet, or gloves, it automatically made them legit. The general thought on a person who had any of that gear was simply “Damn, that kid’s on Starz. See that kid? He’s on Starz.” It was honestly nerve racking in summer league games going against kids with that select team gear – that select team “swag”. The mere thought of knowing a kid had experience playing against east coast competition was terrifying. This is because everyone thought of east coast lacrosse overall as being leaps and bounds ahead of the west coast.

Tryouts for Seattle Starz was an event for sure. The atmosphere was almost too much to handle; kids in line waiting anxiously to get a number pinned to their jersey, kids wearing bright gear to stand out, one kid even brought an iHome and was playing music while everyone was nervously putting their gear on. Upon arrival I saw the eminent lacrosse aficionado Mr. Wisman there. I thought he was coaching or had something to do with running the team itself, turns out he didn’t - his kids were there……Mr. Wisman had kids? The guy had a wife? Sure he did. These were two kids who:

a. everyone seemed to know, both players and parents

b. were clearly the best players at the tryout by far

c. joked with the coaches like they had known them for years

d. acted like they owned the place. The “Wiz kids” as they were called that day, were for real.

I got the call back, and to my surprise ended up making the squad.

Now that all the necessary background info has been provided, and the stage has been set, let’s take a closer look at the Wismans. These guys are flat out nasty (skill wise, not personality). Taylor is the older brother in my grade. He is small, pesky, scrawny, quick, shifty, and annoying as hell to guard. Foster is a grade below, but you would never guess it. At 6’ 3” 220 lbs, he is a real presence on the field. His playing style is completely opposite his brother’s. In times of need he’s that go to guy - someone that can seemingly score at will.

All throughout that first season and rest of the time we played together on Starz, I watched these brothers develop. We played on the same team all the way till we were seniors. Over the years we traveled to California, Oregon, Delaware, Maryland, and New York.

The cultural differences from playing in California or Oregon to say, Maryland or New York, is something no one really seems to think about. Yet, it is an interesting subject. It isn’t something talked about due to the fact not a lot of people have really experienced what it is like to play on both coasts, let alone live on each coast long enough to notice and observe contrasts in areas of the sport.

There is a connection between us kids though; a connection between the kids who played Starz with each other throughout high school who now play in college. We PNWers (Pacific Northwesters) all share a bond as we made the leap not only to play college level lacrosse, but to play on the opposite side of the country; a culture leap.

When it comes to personality and playing styles, the Wismans are completely different. Taylor is more reserved, thinks before he speaks, and is a solid, conservative player. Foster is loud, boisterous, and lets his presence be known. One time he showed up to a summer tournament with a new hair cut, a lightning bolt shaved into the side of his hair. Taylor would never get that in a million years. I still remember his words on Foster’s new cut: “Yeah, it’s the new look or something, I dunno. Won’t make him any faster or make his split (dodge) any quicker.” But you know what? Foster wore that lightning bolt with pride.

Foster and his older brother Taylor currently play at Rochester Institute of Technology (R.I.T.) in New York. This Division III School is a perennial power house, currently ranked 5^th in the country. At the top of their game, I respectively chose to interview Foster Wisman for this topic. Having grown up playing the sport with him, Foster’s take on the cultural differences between the east and west coast proved to be interesting and talking to him was worthwhile as expected.

Q: Ok. So. when did you first start playing lacrosse?

A: I first started playing lacrosse in fourth grade for a team my Dad started called the Crease Monkey’s so my older brother and I had somewhere to play

Q: You started in fourth grade? That’s pretty early

A: I mean yeah it is for Seattle that’s for sure but not out here. Out here its like, kids start so much earlier. They have leagues and youth programs all set up

Q: Did many of your friends play or know about the sport?

A: Not a single one of my friends played and none of them had even heard of it or knew what it was before I explained it to them. Almost no one in my high school had heard of or played the game either but as I continued my lacrosse career alotta my good friends became the people I had met through lacrosse.

Q: Like me?

A: Like you Burkey

Q: (laughs) Ok onto Seattle Starz. You think this was critical to raising your level of play, and overall lacrosse exposure?

A: Oh 100%. Playing on a travel team like that, going to California, Oregon, and the east coast for tournaments helped me a ton. The only way to get better is to play more talented kids than yourself, and that’s exactly what I did.  It also provides great exposure to college coaches if you’re looking to play at that next level.

Q: And when did you know you wanted to play at that next level?

A: I knew I had wanted to play lacrosse in College by fifth grade.

Q: Wow that soon huh. So a year after you started playing, you knew you wanted to play in college

A: Yeah, it only took one year for me to figure out that playing college lacrosse was something I wanted to do and ultimately that is what pushed me to be the player I am today.

Q: Everyone knows the majority of great lacrosse is on the east coast. Being from across the country, how was the recruiting process for you?

A: The Recruiting process for me was actually easier than you would thikn. At the time I began playing, select traveling teams like Starz were created by adults that wanted to grow the sport out west. These teams consisted of the best players from each age group, and the teams would travel to recruiting tournaments a lot of them being tournaments on the east coast, which made it easier for college coaches to see the talent that the west coast had. Also another part of recruiting that I found out quickly was the more proactive you are like, with communicating with a coach, the more successful you will be in the recruiting process. Recruiting was fairly easy for me because I would email the coaches of the schools I was interested in and make sure I stayed in touch with them and I feel like this helped me a lot in the whole process

Q: Did you do a post-grad year at like, an Academy or have many of your friends?

A: I never did a post-grad year and there are only a couple of people I know from the west coast that did post-grad years. But I have noticed from going to school on the east coast that a lot more people on the east coast playing lacrosse do a post grad year than on the west coast. Im not sure why it is exactly but it is definitely something that has stood out to me while being here

Q: What about the lingo. Any terms either on or off the field different from back home?

A: Because a lot of the coaches I had growing up in Seattle were from the east coast themselves, a lot of the on and off the field lingo was the same to me

Q: Was lacrosse a school or club sport at your school?

A: Lacrosse was a club sport for me. My school didnt have enough people to have a whole team (laughs) so we combined with two other schools in our district

Q: What’s the difference between the two?

A:  Club lacrosse meant it wasn’t funded by any of the schools so we had to find our own fields and pay for all of our equipment and anything else we needed.

Q: How about the playing style on the east coast, do you find a difference?

A: There is a big difference in playing style between the east and west coasts. Iv noticed my whole career that the east coast is way more disciplined with their "X's and O's." they run a disciplined offense that focuses on getting the best shot possible with the highest chance of going in and west coast lacrosse is much more focused on athleticism than having like, a structured offense and defense. There is a lot less play running and disciplined offense and defense on the west coast and teams and players almost rely solely on athleticism to be successful on the field but as lacrosse gets bigger on the west coast, more teams are becoming more structured and arent relying just on athleticism

Q: Do you find parallels specifically in the playing styles between kids on your team that have played hockey?

A: I have noticed that the kids with a hockey background on the team also tend to have fairly better stick skills in lacrosse yeah.

Q: What about the clothing or apparel or like, gear style. Is that different than what kids wore, or how they rocked it back home?

A: Id say the equipment both on the east and west coast are about the same. Everyone wants the newest and best gear. Although Iv noticed that people on the east coast tend to like to grow out their "flow" meaning they like growing their hair out so it sticks out the back of their helmets or something like that, and I couldn’t tell ya why

Q: (laughs) its all about the flow, I’m tryin to grow it out right now

A: Are you? (laughs) good luck with that

Q: So in your opinion. What would you say is the biggest difference between the west coast and east coast?

A: The biggest difference Iv seen between the two is the community. The lacrosse community on the west coast is much smaller and seems almost like everyone knows everyone else and since we all play this sport we feel like we all have this bond or similarity that brings us together. But thats not the case on the east coast, mostly because the community is so much bigger I assume

Q: That’s a great answer. Anyways, thanks for your time man I really appreciate it.

A: Anytime