NS Coach Newsletter Vol 1(7) July, 2012

Volume: 1 Edition (7)

Posted: Monday, July 23^rd, 2012

“Players should expect the best - We can deliver”

 

News: “Be Heard! The Future of Lacrosse in Nova Scotia”

On Sunday, July 22^nd, the LNSS board and key stake holders held the first Strategic Planning session to help guide lacrosse in Nova Scotia for the next 3-5 years. All key stake holders will have a chance to give their input and that should include the province`s coaches. If you`d like more information or would like to have your ideas heard, please forward written comments to lacrossetechdirector@sportnovascotia.ca .

News: “Field Coaching Clinic”

LNSS will run a Men’s Field Competitive Intro Clinic August 24^th and 25^th. The course is open to all coaches who have completed Comm Dev. For those coaches who have a strong background in field and box lacrosse as a player, instructor or coaching experience, find out how to take the Comp Intro clinic by emailing lacrossetechdirector@sportnovascotia.ca . Coaches must register for the clinic through LNSS’s website under the “Camps” menu tab and invites coaches from across Atlantic Canada. Updates on locations and times are posted on LNSS newslider and calendar.

News: “Coaching Summer Camps”

New coaching opportunities are being made available through summer camp programs within the HRM at Dalhousie and Saint Mary`s Universities: A great opportunity for certified coaches to share their lacrosse passion and experience with new players.

News: “Games Online”

WWW.SportSteam.ca has begun to provide online game footage in real time for lacrosse enthusiasts. The first broadcast occurred during the Lobster Trap championship game, but ran into a few technical difficulties from an errant baseball at an earlier event. Not to be discouraged, the ECJLL Junior A games are going to be streamed for this year`s championship best-of-five games at Spryfield starting July 17^th.

News: “Coaching Staff Registration Form”

Congratulations to Martin Hickey for being the first to submit his form and to Tim Muise for following up with all of the St. Margaret`s Bay Storm`s coaches. With the box season almost complete, please send in your Coaching Staff Registration Form as soon as possible. The forms (Word and PDF) are available at www.lacrossens.ca on the “Coaches” menu pull-down and should be sent to LNSS’s Technical Director.

News: “Coaching Achievements”

Pleased to announce that Ian Squires is now a Certified Community Development Coach. With the end of the box season, coaches can now complete their workbooks. Congratulations also go out to those coaches and managers from the Garnet Knight and Lobster Trap tournaments, as well as those in MMLL Club and Select playoffs.

Column: “Tips from the Crease”

“Tips form Technology”

A Google search for ``sport video analysis`` tools can quickly produce an array of software companies promoting their wares for PC and Mac laptops. These systems can run from $50 to thousands of dollars depending on the complexity and archiving abilities of the system. What a nice surprise to find a couple free Apps for the iPhone. For the Apps listed below, see http://thevideoanalyst.com/iphone-sports-analysis-apps/ for details.

Over the years, Dartfish has been a leader in video analysis software to analyse athlete footage for skill development and analyse game footage, but the cost of the software can be significant. Now Dartfish is offering ``Dartfish Easytag`` for free as an iPhone App. This is a great tool for producing game stats that you can set. Not sure that this tool can be used by a coach during a game, but certainly a parent of player sitting out the game could make the analysis.

``Golf Swing Analysis`` looks like a useful free App for analysing video footage but requires iOS 5 and could not be tested on this author`s iPhone. This is the case with a number of Apps found in that they needed iOS 5.

If you have any tips you’d like to share, email them to lacrossetechdirector@sportnovascotia.ca

Column: “Alumni News”

Congratulations to this year`s graduating Junior A and B players. For those drafted to Senior box teams, best of luck for the season. It is also Lacrosse Nova Scotia`s hope that you will now return to your clubs and help pass on your knowledge and passion in the upcoming seasons.

News: “Next Month”

Keep track of up-coming events on LNSS’s website newslider and calendar.

• Field Try Lacrosse, Wanderers Grounds, July 29^th
• Men’s Field Competitive Intro Clinic, August 24^th & 25^th, see LNSS website
• Box Nationals, August, see LNSS website calendar

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NS Coach Newsletter Vol 1(6) June, 2012

Volume: 1 Edition (6)

Posted: Monday, June 25^th, 2012

“Players should expect the best - We can deliver”

 

News: “Using our Heads”

Lacrosse Nova Scotia is developing a concussion awareness program and has made references available on the “Coaches” menu at www.lacrossens.ca. The downloadable files are primarily from www.ThinkFirst.ca and coaches should review and have references available on the bench for all practices and games. At this time courses for coaches/trainers, players and parents are available at http://www.concussioneducation.ca/PreRegister.php  for $9 each.

News: “Coaching Staff Registration Form”

Coaches, the deadline for the Coaching Staff Registration Froms was June 8^th, 2012. Many have still not completed the form and need to as soon as possible. The forms (Word and PDF) are available at www.lacrossens.ca on the “Coaches” menu pull-down and should be sent to LNSS’s Technical Director.

News: “Box Coaching Clinic”

Pleased to announce that Catherine Delaney, Garry Giddens, Taylor Giddens, Ian Squires Stephen Johnston, Harry Lamont, Shawn McDonald and Peter McNutt completed the box Community Development clinic June 1^st and 2^nd. That’s six more coaches for Truro and two more for Dartmouth. Best of luck coaches with the rest of your season.

News: “Miners and Kingston conclude, but Kentville just gearing up!

It’s hard to believe, but the Miners and Kingston box lacrosse programs just wrapped up this past week, completing their 1^st and 2^nd season, respectively. With the help of LNSS’s Annapolis’ Director, Clarke Oliver, gear and coaching support is heading to Kentville for their June 26^th and 27^th start. Interest is high and a multi-week program will be held at the Kentville hockey arena from 6-8pm. Potential coaches and players should contact Robert Martin (rkmartin@eastlink.ca ) for more details.

Column: “Tips from the Crease”

“Volcanoes and Bowls Warm Up”

A great warm up game for younger players is Volcanoes and Bowles and all you need are the disc cones or round pylons that can be flipped over. Create two teams and assign one as Volcanoes and the other Bowles. The object of the game is to have more volcanoes or bowls for your team after a specific amount of time. Mini-tykes really like this game and it gets them running and bending as a warm up.

“Crabs!”

A fun drill for players with adequate upper body strength is “Crabs”. Divide the team up into groups of three or four and put similar number of cones on the floor. If you have odd numbers, just have the extra players work their way in after each session. Cones are laid out in a triangle or square and a player sits outside their cone. For the first round, player sit down then raise themselves on their hands and feet, then on the whistle crab their way around all the cones back to their starting point (Do the same drill but with stomach facing ground). If a player catches up to another player they can knock them over without injuring their opponent. This drill works core muscles and shoulders.

If you have any tips you’d like to share, email them to lacrossetechdirector@sportnovascotia.ca

Column: “Alumni News”

Congratulations go to this year’s lacrosse Ricoh winners who include Ryan Brewer (Coach of the Year), Sean Harrison (Official of the Year), Haley Glazebrook (Female Athlete of the Year), Paddy Quinn (Male Athlete of the Year) and Brian Thompson (Volunteer of the Year).

For all you old coach laxers, do come out and play or support the Masters Exhibition game at Shannon Park Arena, Sunday, July 1^st. The exhibition game is a long standing tradition of the Lobster Trap Tournament. Newbies will play from 11:30-12:30 and old, old timers from 12:30-13:30. Helmets, gloves and sticks are all you’ll need.

News: “Next Month”

Keep track of up-coming events on LNSS’s website newslider and calendar.

• Coaching Staff Registration Form, check LNSS website
• Lobster Trap Tournament, June 28^th-July 1^st, check LNSS website.
• Garnet Knight Tournament, June 29^th-July 1^st, check LNSS website.
• Crooked Arrows Movie fundraiser, July 9^th, see Provincial Bantam Women http://www.lacrossens.ca/lns_12967.html
• MMLL Select and ECJLL Playoffs
• Women’s Provincial Box Teams head to Nationals July 27^th.

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NS Coach Newsletter Vol 1(5) May, 2012

Volume: 1 Edition (4)

Posted: Monday, May 28^th

“Players should expect the best - We can deliver”

News: “Coaching Staff Registration Form”

With the MMLL season now in full swing, as of May 1^st, a Coaching Staff Registration From was sent out to box lacrosse coaches across Nova Scotia May 24^th. The form is to be filled out by all Head and Assistant coaches and Trainers and is due June 8^th, 2012. A word and PDF document were provided and is available at www.lacrossens.ca on the “Coaches” menu pull-down. Completed forms are to be sent to LNSS’s Technical Director. The form was designed to help update LNSS’s Master NCCP database and cross-check it with CLA’s online database. Amongst other benefits, the up-dated database will help LNSS better plan its 2013 pre-season coaching clinics.

News: “Second Box Community Development Coaching Clinic”

There is still time to register for this week’s coaching clinic that will be held Friday and Saturday, June 1^st and 2^nd in Truro from 6-10pm and 9am-3pm, respectively. The clinic’s address is 40 Douglas Street, B2N 2E3. Please contact LNSS’s Technical Director as soon as possible to register and receive the required ID pass code. Pre-clinic online work must be completed to register for the course.

News: “Truro Milk Sport Fair a Big Splash!

Sport Nova Scotia estimated that over 2,800 students participated in the Milk Sport Fair held May 2^nd to 4^th at the Colchester Legion Stadium rink. Volunteers Chris Taylor, Brendon Smithson and Greg Knight were kept extremely busy coaching what felt like every student through at least two shots at the big field net. The Milk Fair was a great opportunity to reach out to students from East Hants to Truro to the Valley and eastward towards New Glasgow and many of the Indian Brook, Mill Brook, East Hants, Miners league and U16/U19 players dropped in to show lacrosse to their friends and say hello to the coaches.

News: “No Miner or Minor Season, its all been Major activity so far”

The start of the 2012 MMLL league was not the only venue keeping coaches busy this past month. Late in April the Privateers were off to Prague for the 19th Annual Aleš Hřebeský Memorial to which the team placed extremely well, 3^rd, and beat their old nemesis the Boston Megamen. Provincial coaches, both box and field, have been working hard with their final roster of players in preparation for this August’s and September Nationals. In the Majors, Junior A and B coaches were back at it and united under the ECJLL banner. From the new to the old, the Miners Lacrosse League kicked into gear in the New Glasgow area, while the Maritime Masters were back at it for their third season. For coaches and their teams interested in some tournament play, New Brunswick hosted the Spring Slam Tournaments -A very busy start to the box lacrosse season.

Column: “Tips from the Crease”

“Simple and effective Warm Up?”

The three-man shuttle is a great way to warm players up. Start the ball on the side with two players and have them work through a series of tasks. Start with placing the ball in front of the next player so they have to bend down and pick up the ball. Move on to rolling the ball, bounce passes and then general passes. Make sure players don’t come too close together, especially for older players. Pace of footwork does not have to be fast, the idea is to warm up the body. For passing and catching, make sure players are releasing quickly and not spinning the stick head.

You can finish this drill with a more intense session. Two players, one at each end of the shuttle stand still while the third player passes to one end and goes around behind the player they passed to. The player with the ball passes to the opposite player so that as the runner comes around the screen, they receive the ball. If the runner is a right shot, they should run counter clockwise around the standing players, a left shot running clockwise. Ten catches should be made by the runner and then a new player takes over.

If you have any tips you’d like to share, email them to lacrossetechdirector@sportnovascotia.ca

Column: “Provincial Scene”

All six Provincial box teams are practicing weekly and running special scrimmages against club teams to help provide competition. The two field teams have just completed their tryout sessions run at SMU, Truro and East Hants Sportplex’s new indoor turf field -Lots of hard work ahead for all the teams including fundraising.

Column: “Alumni News”

Lots of events celebrating active and retired members within Nova Scotia’s lacrosse community including: Brian Thompson’s Ricoh Volunteer of the Year nomination; Dartmouth Bandit’s Junior A jersey day; and, Scott McMullen’s Royal Bank of Canada’s celebration of his upcoming officiating at the World U19 Championships in Turku, Finland. For all you old time laxers, don’t forget to dust off your sticks for the up-coming annual Lobster Trap Masters Game.

News: “Next Month”

Keep track of up-coming events on LNSS’s website newslider and calendar.

• Maritime Senior Lacrosse Draft, Friday, June 1^st, Email: msmll2012@gmail.com
• Community Development Coaching Clinic, June 1^st-2^nd, check LNSS website
• Fundy Riptide Tournament, Saint John, June 1^st-3^rd, www.fundyriptide.ca
• Coaching Staff Registration Form due Friday, June 8^th, check LNSS website
• Lobster Trap Tournament, June 28^th-July 1^st, check LNSS calendar
• Garnet Knight Tournament, June 29^th-July 1^st, check LNSS calendar

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