Volume: 2 Edition (2)
Posted: Monday, February 25th, 2013
“If we can make things better,
how cool is that!”
News: “Catch the Early Bird”
We are two weeks away from the Early Bird deadline, March 8th,
to register for the 2013 Atlantic Coaches Conference, Halifax, April 26th-27th
(Friday & Saturday). Leading edge topics will include how to build a world
class program, measuring performance, mental imagery & visualization,
coaching female athletes, developing your coaching philosophy and much more.
The full schedule of events and registration can be found at the following
link:
This is a very special event that`s going to
inspire you and provide networking opportunities to elite coaching educators,
which you can apply to all your coaching duties, lacrosse and beyond.
News: “Nothing Mellow with the
Mellotones”
A great time was had by all who attended the Founders’fundraiser Saturday, February 16th,
with the Mellotones. The room was packed at the World Trade and Convention
Centre, just like the dance floor. Congratulations to all those who volunteered
and a big hand to Angela and Tony Quinn for their stellar effort. Hopefully
this will become an annual event, it surely set the bar high for all
fundraisers.
News: “Free Try Lacrosse”
St. Margaret’s Bay Storm kicked off the Club Try
Lacrosse season with an All Girls event February 14th. Do let
potential players, aged 7-12, know about sessions in your area and the Super
Session at Exhibition Park, Tuesday, March 12th. Check www.trylacrosse.ca (“Dates” link) for your club’s dates, or if it’s not set, get in
touch with you club/program President and offer to help out and get things
rolling.
Technical Director’s “My 2 Cents”
Over the past month I’ve had a few lines jump out at me at the meetings
I’ve attended and I thought I’d share them.
A line that really struck home at last weekend’s Provincial lacrosse Head
Coaches’ meeting was, “how do we get to the next level?” It doesn’t seem like a
monstrous overachieving statement, but if you dig just a bit under the surface,
you’ll soon realize how broad reaching a statement it really is: And after
identifying a number of issues that would meet National standards, the second
major statement emerged that struck a nerve. At this time we may not be able to
match the offensive power of the Iroquois or team Ontario, but we should be
able to set a fitness standard that is second to none.
I really enjoy my meetings with all the provincial and technical
coaches from each athletic discipline, some of whom work with Olympic athletes,
because their idea of moving to the next level can come down to millimeters or
one-hundredths-of-a-second. When asked to develop a Gold Medal Profile, hard
facts and stats play a crucial role. Test, retest and be consistent from
year-to-year is a theme I’ve heard often. As part of the profile, coaches were
also asked what their most successful athlete was capable of doing and could
they communicate it in quantitative and qualitative terms?
During Cindy Tye’s Podium Performance presentation, “Men coaching
Women”, the soccer Hall of Famer had some great take-home lines regarding
coaching female teams, let them know “I saw you here today and care” and “I
don’t do drama, so don’t bring it here”. On the subject of raising a team to
the next level, Cindy’s motto is simple, positive and straight forward, “we
will be better”.
Reaching the next level can involve very sophisticated technology and
data crunching, but it’s been said that the coach of the Canadian Women’s
National soccer team credited their Olympic success on a multitude of
continuous small wins and gains. “We will be better”, seems to fit right in and
the trick is to find every last one of those little gems within every element
of your game and why I’m looking forward to a lot more stand-out lines at this
April’s Atlantic Coaching Conference.
News: “First Round of Coaching Clinics”
The first box coaching clinics have been set
for April 5th-6th and 12th-13th for
Competitive Introduction and Community Development, respectively. The clinics
will be held in Halifax, but the locations and times have not been set. Check
LNSS’s website calendar for updates.
News: “Junior and Senior High School Lacrosse”
Most of this year’s Junior and Senior High
schools that have created a men’s field lacrosse club team will be hitting the
gyms and practicing for the up-coming season. This is a great first, as there
will be two tiers for Seniors based on experience and a single division for
Juniors. Brendon Smithson is leading the charge, but is still looking for some
available coaches so if you’re interested do get in touch.
News: “Provincial Program”
Very pleased to announce that Brendon Smithson
and Neil Ingraham are the Head Coaches for the Men’s Field U16 and U19 teams,
respectively. LNSS is also pleased to have Patti Brown on board as the
Provincial Coordinator.
Column: “Tips from the Crease”
“Lacrosse Crossfit”
Here’s an interesting link
regarding Crossfit training for female lacrosse players. Some exercises have YouTube
links with instructions on how to perform the drill. Keep checking ILWomen.com
for more workouts from Marino as well as updates about the crossfit box she is
planning to open.
“Soccer to Lacrosse”
We are always looking for new drills and this
came from a soccer drill being run with grade three aged students. The basic
game is 2-on-2 with fast transition. Two teams are created in which the first two
players at the bench area closest to the goal-end of the line go onto the
floor. The pair go up the floor and are challenged by man-2-man defense with no
contact. There is no goalie and the goal can be of any size depending on the skill
level. The goal could be a bench or a taped off area using painter’s green/blue
tape.
The key, the team with the ball takes a shot
and a Fast Break results for the defenders if a goal is scored, or they pick up
the ball after a missed shot on goal. The shooting team must then run back to
their bench area to release the next two players closest to their net. The
shooting pair must both be past half in order for a goal to count. For larger
gyms you could go 3v3 or 4v4, just figure out a way to make sure everyone gets
a touch of the ball. Another soccer drill that could be adapted for lacrosse
can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_YqRh3cVt4 .
If you have any tips you’d like to share,
email them to lacrossetechdirector@sportnovascotia.ca
Column: “Alumni News”
Excitement continues to grow for the Lobster
Trap’s 40th anniversary. At this time several teams from Ontario are
planning to come, one as far away as Sudbury. If you are interested in helping
with the tournament, do get in touch (lacrossetechdirector@sportnovascotia.ca). Help is needed with the tailgate party, game operations,
promotion and other tasks.
News: “Next Month”
Keep track of up-coming events on LNSS’s
website newslider and calendar.
- Super Free Try Lacrosse at Exhibition Park, March 12th
- Contact your club and see how you can help with up-coming Try Lacrosse sessions.
- More Exhibition Park, Halifax, lacrosse activity: Provincial ID Camps, Masters, Seniors and Privateers.
“Players should expect the best - We can
deliver”
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