Volume: 2 Edition (8)
Posted: Wednesday, September 25th,
2013
“If we can make things better,
how cool is that!”
News: “Canadian Championships – That’s
All Folks!”
It was a very exciting Labour Day weekend for the men’s U16 field team
at the Canadian Nationals held in Montreal, which wrapped up Nova Scotia’s 2013
provincial program roster. Trying to up their achievement, where the U16 team
won its first game ever in 2012, the 2013 team came back from a 0 -6 deficit to
beat Team Manitoba, 14 – 12, to win the Red Pool Bronze medal.
Come backs and tight games where the norm for the U16 team this year,
which was not reflected in their 1 -3 round robin record. A chance at the gold
medal game was still possible, but the team just fell short against Saskatchewan
in their 14 -9 playoff loss. In addition to the team’s bronze achievement, Cole
Davis, was named to the tournament’s U16 All-Star team because of his face-off
dominance.
Over the next two years the U16 and U19 teams and coaching staffs will
be very focused on the 2015 Canadian Championships which will be held in
Halifax. They will also have their eye on Team Canada U19 tryouts for the 2016
World Championships in BC. For players and coaches who want to be involved, don’t
wait until 2015, get involved next year and be part of the building process.
Building on this year’s bronze medal achievement, the next goal is to beat
one or more of the top tier teams during round robin action over the next two
years, but for now, that’s all folks for this year’s Canadian National
Championships.
News: “The Biggest Field Event, Guaranteed!”
For those coaches very serious about their
field lacrosse game, men’s or women’s, the US Lacrosse Conference is a must, as
it is the biggest gathering of coaches, officials, administrators and
exhibitors in North America.
As it was last year, the conference will be
held in Philadelphia, January 10th-12th, and early-bird
registration is on until November 30th, $95 ($115 after Nov. 30th).
In order to register for the conference you’ll also have to purchase a US
Lacrosse membership, $50, which comes along with a great subscription to US
Lacrosse magazine. Also, those who register for the conference can go back for
one year and see and/or hear the seminars and live field demonstrations online.
For more details, go to the “Events” tab at www.uslacrosse.org and click on the “2014 National
Convention and Fan Fest” link. Also, explore any possible grant funding
opportunities by getting in touch with Greg Knight, lacrosse@sportnovascotia.ca. This
is truly a great event for coaches and you’ll be all jazzed up ready to get
going with your new found insights and tricks after this conference, guaranteed!
News: “LaxPath”
A very interesting statistic being
circulated after the NLL draft, September 16th: The top 16 drafts
all came from US College programs, whether they were born in Canada or the US.
So it doesn’t appear career-wise that leaving Canada to play NCAA field
lacrosse hurts strong NLL prospects. Also, every member of Team Canada’s U19
2012 team was a US College prospect or had already played a year of NCAA ball
before the 2012 Worlds.
Over this past year, several Nova
Scotia players, male and female, have been approached by US Academies and
Colleges to head south to play lacrosse within their academic institutions. But
if you’re a coach trying to help a player along this path or a parent wondering
about the professional scouting businesses, you might want to take a look at
some of the resources online. Within Linkedin.com’s, “Lacrosse Partnerships
& Business” group, the question was asked, “what’s the best college (US)
recruiting software for lacrosse players and why?”: One suggestion was,
“LaxPath”.
Don’t be fooled, but anyone
offering recruiting services usually has some financial angle of some sort, so
it’s very important to dig under the surface of any of these resources. A good
place to start with LaxPath is its FAQs section. Like many other recruiting
businesses, they’ll help players and coaches network, edit and/or display game
footage, display bios which will include academic standings as well as physical
fitness status, even review academic transcripts.
All-in-all, get to know these
recruiting tools, as they can help when dealing with Academies and Colleges in
asking the right questions and knowing what expectations these institutions
should have. At this time US players are likely more savvy about developing a
portfolio of their academic and athletic achievements, a skill Nova Scotia
players would do well with, whether for lacrosse or future endeavours like job
applications.
News: “A Bit of Online Fun”
For smart phone users, there are
two more ways to enjoy field lacrosse. The US College video game has been out for
several years and are presently asking for beta testers for their iOS and Android
versions on Facebook, “College Lacrosse, The Game”. You can also download Brine’s
free app, “Shootout” and jack up your scoring stats, although we’re not sure
they’ll hold a lot of weight for recruiting purposes. Enjoy!
News: “Calling Team Nova Scotia Head Coaches”
For some it may feel like Nationals weren’t
that long ago, but the Head Coach selection process will start gearing up in
just under a week, when applications become available Tuesday, October 1st.
Like last year, applications will be accepted up to 5pm, Friday, November 1st.
Since this year’s LNSS AGM will be held early in November, coaches won’t be
announced until the last week of November.
Teams requiring Head Coaches for 2014 include:
Girls’ (box) bantam, midget and juniors; Boys (box) peewee, bantam, midget and
Founders; and, men’s field U16 and U19. If you are interested in coaching any
of the other potential provincial teams (eg. President’s Cup), please state
your intentions, and submit your application, before November 1st.
Technical Director’s “My 2 Cents”
Twice a year Sport Nova Scotia runs
the Sport Milk Fair, a three-day event that introduces students to organized
sports within the province. This fall, October 22nd – 24th,
the event will be held again at Exhibition Park and will be another great
opportunity for MMLL, and NSFLL Clubs and Coaches to interact with registered
players, as well as potential new players. As with each sport fair, Lacrosse
Nova Scotia will sponsor a booth with a table for promotional and display
materials and nets will be set up with soft lacrosse balls and sticks for
students to try their hand at shooting.
The lacrosse booth is always packed,
as each fair draws close to 2,000 students over the three day event. Please get
in touch with your club president or LNSS to volunteer. You can volunteer for the
entire day, but typically the heaviest activity is between 9am to noon. Lets
get started talking about next year’s season now and show these students how
much fun they could have playing lacrosse.
News: “NCCP Certification”
A very successful women’s field lacrosse
Community Development coaching clinic was run Saturday, September 14th
by Learning Facilitator Joanne Stanga from Ontario. Coordinated by Julie Finck
and Greg Knight, Anne Johnson, Caroline McNamee, Kathleen Dehmel, Haley
Glazebrook, Jenn Banks, Charlene Cisakowski, Danica Cooley, Kerry Costello and
David Kehoe worked with NSFLL’s morning girls’ program at Burnside, then
completed the classroom session at Sport Nova Scotia. Julie Finck also completed
her first requirements in becoming Nova Scotia’s first female Community
Development Learning Facilitator. Congratulations to all.
News: “Next Month”
Keep track of up-coming events on LNSS’s
website newslider and calendar.
- Applications available for Team Nova Scotia Head Coaches, Oct. 1st
- Turkey Shoot Tournament, Thanks Giving, Oct. 12th-13th
- Sports Milk Fair, Exhibition Park, Oct. 22nd-24th
“Players should expect the best - We can
deliver”
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