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Hollywood could not have written a script like
this for an audience believing in fairy tails come true. The stage was set,
the backdrop lit, and when the curtain came up, it was All Starz.
This past summer, the West Coast Starz attended
U of Massachusetts�s Classic for their first trip together. Ten hours of
travel across country on a Red Eye from West, the Starz of this passion play
were a group of young athletes who had no expectations of grandeur. Their
simple hope was to hold their own and compete against the top high school
lacrosse players in the country, in the University of Massachusetts�
(Amherst) hosted national recruiting tournament.
Over 50 high-powered club lacrosse teams from
all over the east coast assembled for one of the premier college lacrosse
recruiting events of the year. Attending were coaches and recruiters from
the nations top Division I, II and III schools. Harvard, Princeton,
Syracuse, Ohio State, Albany, Virginia, Massachusetts, Providence, Navy,
West Point, and so on were all represented.
All the odds were against these newcomers to the
sport from California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. East Coast
lacrosse establishment voiced comments like �Isn�t it nice that lacrosse has
found its way to the West Coast� and, �Aren�t they cute, those surfer boys.�
and other proverbial pats on the head from players, parents and coaches. But
then the storm hit.
Under the most oppressive weather conditions of
an East Coast summer storm, the unthinkable occurred. Two days of
competition, 10 games and then, pouf, this band of gypsies from the West
Coast shattered the East Coast lacrosse establishment�s world.
Lead by an All-American coaching staff that
included 3 time All American Scott Hochstadt (new Offensive coach for the
MLL San Francisco Dragons) and his equally talented assistants, Alex Cade
(Notre Dame All-Amer), Dallas Hartley, Mike Wein, Tarik Ergin (Cornell All-Amer),
this band of West Coast Lacrosse Starz compiled a 9-1 record, beating
perennial powerhouse teams from Syracuse, Buffalo, Maine, Massachusetts,
Long Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and all parts in between. They didn�t
just beat these teams; they crushed their opponents with an average winning
margin of better than 6 goals per game.
College recruiters and coaches took notice
immediately of the incredible athleticism and determination of the two
squads. One head coach from a traditional East Coast powerhouse Elite Club
program was overheard explaining to his players, following a 8-1 beating,
�Don�t get down on yourselves boys, you just got beat by probably the best
team here.� The recruiting charts for some of the nations top lacrosse
programs suddenly had a very different look. One prominent college coach was
asked how many D-1 recruits he thought were on the Starz Varsity squad. His
answer stunned the Starz coaches and players. He replied,�How many players
were there on your squad?�. � Twenty-one�, replied Hochstadt. �All
twenty-one then�, replied the coach.
Round Two - Wow!
The band of gypsies known as the West Coast
Starz made a curtain call to the East Coast this November, participating in
the University of Maryland hosted �National Invitational Fall High School
Lacrosse Tournament�.
In front of over thirty-five NCAA Division I, II, and III coaches, including
representatives from Syracuse, Virginia, John�s Hopkins, Harvard, Yale,
Dartmouth, Duke, Univ. of Maryland, St. John�s, Cornell, Salisbury State,
Towson, Navy, West Point and too many others to mention, the boys from the
West Coast came through again.
The West Coast Starz #1 team, competing arguably
against the number one and two club lacrosse teams in the nation, as well as
other top teams from Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Florida, complied
an amazing 5-0 record. The two Starz Teams combined for an 8-2 record (with
one loss in overtime), causing quite a stir among the players and coaches
present.
The head coach from the nation�s previously ranked �number one club team�
was overheard at halftime telling his team, �Boys, these Beach Boys are
beating the s _ _ t out of you! � The halftime score was 4-1 in favor of the
�Beach Boys�, not something the East Coast lacrosse establishment will soon
forget. By the time it was over, the boys from out West were surfing their
Lacrosse Sticks on a tidal wave of success.
Dave Pietramala, head coach of the 2005 NCAA
Division I National Champion Johns Hopkins, said in an interview on national
television during this year�s NCAA Semi Finals that the biggest untapped
resource for top lacrosse players in the country is in the West.
Well, Coach Pietramala was right. In the days
following the West Coast Starz trip to Maryland, recruiting inquiries were
received by many of the teams� players, from every top lacrosse school in
attendance.
Within 2 days after the tournament, we have had
kids contacted by Hopkins (3 kids) , Princeton, Maryland, Butler, Towson,
Navy, Army, Colgate, U of Penn, Bucknell, Hofstra, U of Virginia, UMBC,
Cornell, and Salisbury State, to name a few.
This is the most exciting news in West Coast
Lacrosse history!
Can�t wait to see what comes next! West Coast
Lax is officially here!!!!! |
