Google AdSense
US Lacrosse Drives Golden Spike in Richland: East Meets West in Washington
Submitted by walax on Mon, 2006-11-20 07:21.
On the same weekend as the Apple Cup, a group of US Lacrosse coaches traveled to Richland to help the Tri-cities and surrounding areas develop through a coaches clinic. What they got out of it was a view of the passion of a start-up company committed to growing the game of Lacrosse.
Ian O’Hearn, Jim Anderson and Fred Wilmot joined several local coaches from Richland, Wenatchee, Bonner’s Ferry, and Spokane Friday night to share some coaching tips and ideas. The coaching clinic covered fundamentals, the challenges of starting new programs, and how to side-step some of the mistakes made on the Western side of the pass during the growth process.
Some of the lessons learned included, infusing Lacrosse into school gym classes to grow organically the interest in playing. Some other ideas included what may be called “Modcrosse” at the youth level- soft balls, and plastic sticks for younger kids in a modified Lacrosse game.
Growing the game may require drawing kids from other sports, but may also require taking in kids who are not athletes but may be excited to start a team. In addition, problems facing the East side folks are similar to the West side problems: no fields, no coaches, and no officials. Some other problems stemming from the shortage include: geographic separation of Eastern Washington, the question of alignment with a school or development as a separate club. Regardless of some of the growth challenges and inhibitors, growing the game through the youth and doing it in each community was an underlying theme.
Other questions included how best to develop a well-rounded community of Lacrosse that “honors the game”, and how to encourage growth correctly without dissuading involvement or enthusiasm. Topics of discussion reflected the focus on a community approach proactively supporting good sportsmanship in players, coaches, and fans. Following discussion of organizational and “start up” recommendations from the growth in western Washington Lacrosse, the coaches ran through a practice plan and a myriad of drills focusing on various parts of a practice regimen working on a wide range of skills. The coaches also discussed how to keep a practice flowing, methods for engaging players, and add-on ideas for common drills to spice them up.
“One of the nicest things to experience, was the enthusiasm for growth and development this Eastern Washington movement exhibited”, said Fred Wilmot. Jim Anderson spoke about the ability of each club to control the level of play both of players and fans, and the community development to honor the game. He also communicated techniques to focus the youth through a variety of practice drills. Glenn Morley added emphasis on the importance of ball to player ratio for younger players as well as the drill diversity. “I never like to do line drills the same way twice in a month of practice.” Morley, previously working for the equivalent of the presidential fitness board in Australia, also recommended reducing the amount of time spent standing in any drill, and focusing on the concept of “games” rather than drills for younger players.
Closing the session, a question and answer session led to more drills and the message that Western Washington not only sees the development of Eastern Washington as a priority, but that it is a necessity to continue state-wide development necessary to achieve WIAA acceptance. The coaches thanked all of the participants for their time, and encouraged them to get more training in the coming months, with level I coaches training in Seattle, officials training and the Washington Chapter’s local coaches convention held in January.