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 10
th-12
th, and early-bird registration is on until November 30
th, $95 ($115 after Nov. 30
th). 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 16
th: 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 1
st. Like last year, applications will be accepted up to 5pm, Friday, November 1
st. 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 1
st.
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 22
nd – 24
th, 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 14
th 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”
Lawrence Taylor, MSc
Technical Director
Lacrosse Nova Scotia
104 Green Village Lane, Unit 106
Dartmouth, NS, B2Y 4V4
(902) 266-0677
lacrossetechdirector@sportnovascotia.ca
Twitter - @Lawrenc70370068
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