With college lacrosse in Idaho well underway, high school try-outs beginning today, and youth next week, there is no better time to come out and enjoy a weekend packed with lacrosse. Next weekend, March 1st-3rd, two top 10 MCLA teams will be coming to town for a three-game weekend on the blue, followed by a Pro Skills Clinic right next door.

Friday night, Boise State University will take on the #5 University of Colorado at 4 PM. Saturday,  Colorado will take on the #8 University of Oregon in a top 10 showdown at 1 PM. Finally, on Sunday, Boise State will cap off the weekend with a game against Oregon at 2 PM. All games will be played at Bronco Stadium, you can see the full schedule of games at MCLA.us.

Full Schedule at MCLA.us

Ticket prices are $5 per adult per game, $3 per kid per game and students are free. You can also purchase weekend passes for $10 for adults and $6 for kids.

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Following Friday night’s game, Malcolm Chase of Around the World Lacrosse will be coming to down with MLL players Justin Smith (New York Lizards), Owen Smith (Boston Cannons), and Jeremy Sieverts (Denver Outlaws).

They will be conducting a Pro Player Skills Tune-up for players from the 5th to the 12th grade from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at the Caven Indoor Facility. This is a great opportunity to get some extra practice in and learn some excellent advice from some of the brightest minds in the game.

Photo Credit: Shawn Carman

The focus for this clinic will be kept primarily on stick skills and footwork – both essentials for becoming a great player.

Stick Skills
- Wall Ball Drills
- Dodging
- Shooting
- Ground Ball Technique
- Takeaway Checks
- Set-up and Execution

Footwork
- Approach
- Angles
- Transition Offense & Defense
- Positional Work
- Special Situations

Malcolm told me that they are also offering a team discount for teams that have more than 10 guys sign-up, nothing wrong with a good deal! Once the players clinic is finished, there will be a Coaches X’s and O’s discussion to follow.

Find out more and register at BoiseStateLacrosse.us.

Come out and enjoy a weekend full of great lacrosse! We’ll see you there!

Local youth players in attendance were able to get their very own buddy from the Vandal Lacrosse program, and enjoy a morning practicing and playing alongside college players from the University of Idaho’s lacrosse program.

It is definitely worth reading the full article, but here are some of the key takeaways.

People living in the surrounding areas are worried about four main things:

1. Light from the fields
2. Noise from the fields
3. Traffic from the fields
4. The above three will subsequently drive down property values

While I obviously hold some bias in support of the creation of these fields, all of these potential issues are VERY resolvable and should definitely not be what holds these fields back from being developed.

The positive in all of this though, is that this isn’t a simple yes or no vote. The board could very well pass some parts of the plan and not others, or even just change some of the details.

For example, the proposed plan calls for 70 ft. lights to allow use of the field after sunset. While these lights are actually better than shorter 50 ft. lights because they shine directly down onto the field, a lot people seemed to be affixed on the fact that they are 70 feet tall.

As just mentioned, the reason is so they shine directly down on the field and not anywhere else, but to critics, they just see lights that are 70 feet in the sky.

I was thrilled to see the newspaper acknowledge that lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in both the nation and in Idaho. Last year, Boise’s youth program, the TVYLL, fielded 54 youth teams (just on the boys’ side). The need for fields is more critical now than it ever has been and the creation of these fields would be a huge relief for the youth and high school leagues.

How can YOU help?

You could pull together any number of solutions to solve the problems and keep property values up in that area, I really don’t think that is a major issue at all. That said though, there is a petition going around the surrounding neighborhoods, trying to rally support against many aspects of the field project.

The biggest and best thing the lacrosse community is able to do at this point, is continue to show and voice their support for this project.

You can email feedback and comments to the project manager, Kelly Burrows at KBurrows@CityofBoise.org.

You can also show your support by attending the next meeting that will be discussing the fields. It will take place this Thursday, February 21st at 4 PM in the Fireside Room at the Boise First Community Center on North Eagle Road.

Click here for directions on getting to the meeting.

Make sure to ‘Like’ the McDevitt Lacrosse Field of Dreams on Facebook to stay current on news, meetings, and other important updates regarding the project.

The Coaches College was an idea that has been thrown around for a few years now as younger coaches begin to come back to the Valley with more and better knowledge of the game. It was finally put together this year into a two day format, with several topics being discussed throughout the two-part event.

The event lasts from 8:30 AM to 1 PM, with the instructors being high school and college coaches from the around Idaho.  The cost is FREE, I will repeat, the cost is FREE.

Last Saturday, Jon Mundy, Blake Gaudet, and Sean St. John took the stage to discuss practice organization, sideline management, passing, catching, ground balls, dodging, feeding, and several other topics – giving every coach in attendance a wide array of knowledge, skills, and drills to take to their own practices.

I asked Timberline Head Coach Jon Mundy what his impressions were from the event.

“It was very exciting to see so many coaches willing to come out and better their own coaching. I heard from several coaches, that their biggest concern is always being able to ‘do it right’. After today, the coaches are now able to go away with a wealth of new knowledge and drills that they can use to help get their players on the right track.”

Bishop Kelly Head Coach Blake Gaudet also had this to say about the event:

“The one biggest obstacle we’ve had in the Treasure Valley is the lack of quality coaching at the youth level.  We’ve always been lucky to have dads that were willing to step up and volunteer their time, but they haven’t had the resources necessary to increase their knowledge of the game.  By putting something like this together we’re providing these volunteers with the support they deserve.

It makes a huge difference when a kid comes in to your program with a quality skill set.  A clear knowledge of the basics gives Idaho freshman a leg up against the other kids in their program.  The more we can support the youth coaches, the more the youth players in our area are going to benefit both now and when they reach high school.”

Next Saturday, they will move on to the new rules being emphasized this year, offensive and defensive play, goalie work, face-offs, and man-up and man-down work. Make sure to head on over to Elite Lacrosse next Saturday morning and improve your knowledge of the game.

Personally, I was really excited about this. At the ripe young age of 24, I would never think that so many fathers would be all ears when you were discussing something, but that was just the case. I was asked to chime in a couple times while I helped run a few of the demos and it was so cool to see all the coaches jotting down notes and completely tuned in to what you were saying.

Even Coach Gaudet caught some of the excitement from the coaches in attendance.

“It was exciting to see so many volunteers so eager to learn more about the game.  We’re extremely lucky to have people willing increase their own knowledge for the sake of the kids. Their enthusiasm rubbed off on me a bit.  I’m more pumped for the upcoming season than I was before last Saturday.”

Make sure to pencil in the event for next Saturday (February 9th), so you don’t miss out on this great opportunity. The boys side of things will be held at Elite Lacrosse and the girls side will be two doors down at Lacrosse Idaho from 8:30 AM to 1 PM. See you there!

Recently, Boise State’s Head Coach Paul Rocchio was sharing a story with a few local players and coaches at the annual Lacrosse Summit about a local father’s dying wish to see his son play lacrosse before he passed away from brain cancer.

The father, Tyler Henderson was suffering from terminal brain cancer, and his son Tyson had made the top item on his bucket list that his father would be able to see him play lacrosse.

Coach Rocchio helped make this wish a reality, making Tyson and two of his friends honorary Broncos and even captains for the day, and for his father to be there so he could watch from the sidelines.

Marni [Tyson's mom] says, “When Tyler decided to stop treatment because of his quality of life was declining, the boys both made wish lists that they wanted to do with their dad. And this is probably the biggest one on Tyson’s list.”

A local news station captured the story and it is certainly one that will really tug on your heartstrings and help you to remember the important things in life. KBOI2 did a wonderful job capturing the very special day and put together a touching video on the experience.

For Tyson, the most memorable moment of his big day with the Broncos was when practice was over and the players look to their Coach of the Day for inspiration.

“Tyson, make it count,” one of them said as they prepared for an end-of-practice ritual. And then, with their sticks raised, and Tyson standing in the center of the circle, they all yelled, “1-2-3, Broncos!”

Tyson looked over at his dad and knew it would be a cheer to last a lifetime.

Read the full story and KBOI2.com. Lead in photo property of KBOI2.

Tyler Henderson passed away on January 23rd, 2013, two days after the interview in the story above. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and we wish Tyson the best in all his lacrosse career.

Pro-Tuff Decals was the company that printed out these bad boys after being designed locally by Elite Lacrosse. Enjoy!

The new helmet decals feature a sharp looking over-sized chrome wolf logo with a chrome to royal fade mohawk and back panel decals. The Timberline ‘T’ is also represented on the back panel.

Coach Mundy let us know that they will be giving out chrome wolf paws helmet stickers for great play throughout the season.

Good luck this season Wolves!

Have some new gear you want to show off? Send it to Idaho@LaxAllStars.com and let us help!

It will feature U11 through 19 age groups for Boys and U15 through U19 for girls, with a Jamboree style format for gameplay.

Registration is officially open now through Sunday, May 19th. Register your team at IdahoLacrosse.org.

Last weekend, we had our first chance to honor the local ‘founders of the game’. The people that started it all in the state of Idaho. The ones who paved the way for the rest of us to have an opportunity to play this amazing game. The ones who, while maybe in an indirect way, are probably part of the reason I even have a job today.

There are so many people in Idaho that have played an integral part in the growth of the sport here, so it was a very special experience to be able to be in attendance at the inaugural ILA Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

The first three gentlemen inducted into the Idaho Lacrosse Hall of Fame were Stan Swanson, Peter Anderson, and Jim Elliot.

From left to right: Jim Elliot, Stan Swanson, and Peter Anderson.

Stan Swanson has basically been known as the ‘Godfather’ of lacrosse in Boise. Like the other inductees, Stan is a man with many irons in the fire. He has been a player, a coach, a commissioner, and every other position under the sun. Stan played lacrosse not too long ago at the Naval Academy and earned All-American honors, as well as the Schmeisser Award in 1954 (the same award given to Brodie Merril and Ken Clausen for you young bucks).

Even outside of just the endless amount of effort he put into the game off the field, Stan was a legend locally for his efforts on the field, and no, not at Navy. Stan would show up to our local Summer League games and suit right up to play alongside high school and college players without a glint of fear in his eyes. He would show up, greet everyone, grab his old hickory d-pole and head right out onto the field. It didn’t matter if you were 16 or 31, you would feel every ounce of that old hickory as Stan laid a perfect check across your arms.

You learned quick not to look past his age and doubt his abilities and it was something that no one who ever had the opportunity to play Stan could forget. Stan’s efforts both on and off the field and helped shape lacrosse to a break-out sport in Idaho.

Peter Anderson is a HUGE part of the reason that lacrosse is even in Idaho, especially at the collegiate and youth levels. I remember coming across an article that ran on LaxMagazine.com about Peter and some of his contributions to lacrosse in Idaho.

If you check out the article, you will see that Peter started working to build up the sport as far back as 1992. He put flyers up all around Boise, trying to convince people to play the sport, or even try it out. He came to the Induction Ceremony with a folder full of these flyers and even a receipt from the pipe he used to make his homemade goal.

The first flyer may have not drawn much interest, but the second one definitely did. Maybe it was the wording…

How it all began…

Peter helped create the Boise State lacrosse team, the youth leagues, he worked as a referee, he established the Idaho Lacrosse Association and even spent a couple years coaching. I gained an incredible amount of respect that night just listening to some of his stories about both his early frustrations and fond memories of the sport. Most importantly though, there was one thing still very prevalent in his feelings for the game, he still had the bug. That bug that we all get as soon as we pick up our first stick and fall in love with lacrosse.

Jim Elliott has played the role in lacrosse not many will even consider – an official. At times our best friend and just seconds later, our worst enemy. Jim not only helped to organize and build up the officiating base in Idaho, he still regularly officiates games throughout the Valley and his efforts are still seen each year as acting Vice President of the Idaho Lacrosse Officials Association.

You have to respect anyone who has been willing to take the heat as an official as their way of contributing to the growth of the game. To my knowledge, Jim was also one of the first officials in Idaho to be eligible to referee collegiate games. As a product of Idaho lacrosse, I can vouch to how much that helped out both the University of Idaho and Boise State University in their development as MCLA squads.

The inaugural Idaho Lacrosse Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony was another step in the right direction for Idaho lacrosse and I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of it. The Idaho lacrosse community shared a very special evening and I am already looking forward to next year to see who we can honor for their efforts to build up lacrosse to where it is today. Lacrosse in the state of Idaho is constantly growing and people are endlessly working to make Idaho the next big hot bed, both in the north and the south. I look forward to the day we can have our own Tewaaraton winner and 1st round MLL draft pick, until then, back to work.

Congratulations again and thank you so much for everything you have done for lacrosse in Idaho!

From the Idaho Statesman…

The Charles F. McDevitt Sports Complex is a 20-acre special use park located at 5101 N. Eagle Rd. The primary area to be discussed is a 10-acre undeveloped corner of the park next to Eagle Road. The current master plan features a community center at the site.

Read the full article here.

The best part about the plan so far? The fields (as of now) should only have lacrosse lines on them. Lacrosse-specific fields? In Boise, Idaho? If this sticks, it should be HUGE for the growth and development of the sport in Boise and Meridian.

There will be a public meeting on January 24th at Lowell Scott Middle School at 6 PM to further discuss the proposed plan. Make sure to be in attendance to show your support for this awesome plan.

Find out more on the plan and see the full blue prints here.

A few things would change for the Yotes after that season, they would get a new head coach and would begin to rebuild for the future.

Now going into his fourth year as Head Coach with the program, Matt Gier has remained a very constant figure at the helm of the program. While they may not have the best record to show for their efforts, there has certainly been moments of brilliance in the program’s past few seasons.

College of Idaho has been progressively improving each season- making the PNCLL playoffs in 2010, running lacrosse camps for local youth throughout the summers and now in 2013, making big improvements for the team, both on and off the field.

On the Field

The Yotes are looking for the phrase, look good, feel good, play good to help this season with some fresh new uniforms and apparel thanks to Nike Lacrosse.

Off the Field

It takes more than just on-field talent for a program to be completely successful. College of Idaho recently earned the 2012 James “Ace” Adams Award, only one of 11 total programs nationwide to receive the award. This is a huge honor for the Yotes, as it is given out to the best lacrosse programs among NCAA Division 1, 2, and 3, as well as MCLA Division 1 and 2 teams. Some of the other recipients of the award were Maryland, Lehigh, and Mercyhurst. Congrats Yotes! Check out the full press release below.

PERRY, N.Y. – The College of Idaho lacrosse team was honored today as the 2012 District 11 recipient of the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association James “Ace” Adams Sportsmanship Award.
The Yotes were one of 11 programs to receive the award – one for each district nationally, encompassing teams from the NCAA Division I, II, II and MCLA Division I and II.  Other teams that received the award this season include Maryland, Lehigh, and Mercyhurst.

The James “Ace” Adams Award honors the lacrosse program that best embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and creates a model game environment. The award is voted on by active collegiate lacrosse officials, and is awarded through the Collegiate Officials Committee via U.S. Lacrosse Men’s Division Collegiate Officials Committee. The award is named in honor of James “Ace” Adams, a National Lacrosse Hall of Fame member who served as head coach at both Army and Virginia. Adams was not only renowned for his positive sideline demeanor but also for the exceptional strength of character that was exhibited by his teams. The James “Ace” Adams Award recognizes a program’s coaching staff, team, administration and fans for their displays of sportsmanship and for creating a quality environment for the game of lacrosse. The selection was based upon Hartford’s sportsmanship of the coaching staff, team, administration and fans, in addition to facilities available to the officials and treatment of the officials prior to, during and after games.

Good luck this season Yotes, time to get it done!