“…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 5th 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
No comments:
Post a Comment