Lacrosse

There’s no debating that the widespread cancellation of games, seasons, and championships due to coronavirus precautions has impacted lacrosse players, coaches, and families. The deep disappointment is being profoundly felt by participants at all levels of play.

Our friends at the Positive Coaching Alliance suggest that the lessons we have all learned from athletic participation can now be leveraged to help guide us through the crisis and disappointment. PCA notes that coaches, athletes, and parents are all uniquely equipped to cope with the current situation.

As coaches and parents, one of the things we can do is to encourage athletes to acknowledge their disappointment. Saying to them “It’s not fair to have your season postponed or canceled, and it’s understandable that you feel that way” is completely appropriate.

For athletes, a helpful tactic in dealing with disappointment is to reshape personal focus by controlling what can be controlled. Continuing to practice game skills in the backyard, taking good care of our bodies with proper nutrition, exercise and sleep, and safely communicating with teammates are all examples of taking control.

● Read the full PCA article: Dealing With Disappointment

Sports teaches us that we can overcome whatever is thrown at us, and how we respond to adversity reveals the strength of our character. This is the time to apply the lessons of youth sports participation — resilience, grit, determination, and selflessness, to name a few — to the current challenge we are all facing.
 

Brian Dailey

Brian is an Erie, PA product. He played Division 1 lacrosse at the University of Hartford and has a passion for growing the game through his Digital Content. People refer to him as a Swiss Army Knife on the field and behind the computer. Brian enjoys watching sports and getting active.

Next summer, the United States will try to do what no country has done in the history of the World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship — win gold on home soil.

The United States has enjoyed tremendous success in the event, winning gold medals in eight of the 10 previous championships. However, the two previous times that the U.S. has hosted the event — in 1986 in Swarthmore, Pa. and 2005 in Annapolis, Md. — it fell to Australia in the championship game.

The 2021 U.S. team will attempt to change that history when US Lacrosse hosts the event at Towson University in Towson, Md., from July 7-17, 2021.

The U.S. has won the last three world championships and Jenny Levy was named the head coach of the 2021 team in November 2017. Over the last two and a half years, Levy and her staff have been building towards the world championship and the next phase of the process will be a formal tryout scheduled for July 29-31, 2020 at the national team’s training center at US Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Md.

The application process for this summer tryouts will open on March 30 and run through May 15. A player identification committee, led by US Lacrosse Women’s High Performance Committee Chair Anne Phillips, will evaluate the nominations and select approximately 72 players to participate in the tryouts. Tryout invitations will be extended on June 19.

The player identification committee also includes the current U.S. team coaching staff, a past U.S. women’s team coach, a former U.S. team player and a representative from the Women’s Professional Lacrosse League.

Following the tryout, 36 players will be named to the 2021 U.S. women’s training team. Those players will participate in a number of training opportunities over the next year which will ultimately result in a final roster of 18 players competing in the World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship.

Click here for more information on the selection process. (PDF)

Editor’s Note: This article by Ryan Connors, originally titled “Pop Culture Lacrosse References” was originally published on December 19, 2011, at 11:25 a.m. ET. It has been updated with minor edits and reorganized to include other lacrosse pop culture references. Given the current situation with the coronavirus, there’s a lot more time on everyone’s hands to watch a lot more television. Have a marathon to find all of these references! Is there a lacrosse pop culture reference that we missed? Let us know in the comments or tag us on social media (@LaxAllStars).

Lacrosse Pop Culture References

The Backstory

I was going for a run the other night. While listening to my iPod, Sam Adams, the rapper, came up on shuffle.  Adams is from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and went to college at Hobart and William Smith Colleges for two years. It was while he was at Hobart where he recorded his first single “I Hate College (Remix)”. Now, you may be wondering, “What does this have to do with lacrosse?”

I will tell you.

In the song “I Hate College (Remix)”, Adams says, “I felt lost saw some herbs all wearin’ Lacoste, couple dudes in pinnies musta played lacrosse”.

That inspired me to write this article about all the pop culture references that deal with lacrosse.

Everyone can agree that lacrosse has grown a ton over the last decade or two and the larger media world is even starting to pick up on this. The movie “Crooked Arrows” was one of the first major motion picture that was fully centered around lacrosse.

So, let’s dive into the list of other major lacrosse pop culture references.

Movie References

Sean Parker: Facebook, Napster, Lacrosse?

In 2010, David Fincher’s film “The Social Network” was released. The movie is about the creation of Facebook. There is a particular scene in the movie where Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) and Mark Zuckerberg (Jessie Eisenberg) are talking about Napster. Sean Parker explains that he created Napster to impress the girlfriend of the varsity lacrosse captain so that he could win her over. I checked the validity of that story and couldn’t find how true it was, but nonetheless, even if Arron Sorkin made that part up, it is pretty cool that he chose to use lacrosse.

American Pie

My final reference is both the most famous and probably the most classic lacrosse movie reference “American Pie”. The 1999 comedy is about a group of seniors in their final months of high school.  What is the sport that they all play? You guessed it, lacrosse! A very old school version of early 1990s brand of lacrosse that is, but classic nonetheless. Chris Klein and Sean William Scott are both stars on the team, and the movie includes some good lacrosse scenes. Whenever movie buffs and lacrosse fanatics are on the same topic, “American Pie” always comes up.

I’d also like to point out that the goalie in the movie is a Mercyhurst alum.  Sorry, but I had to get that plug for Mercyhurst in. Although, now you have some extra trivia to impress your friends with.

Mean Girls: Leaving It All Out On The Field

The fictional North Shore High School Lady Lions Lacrosse team is featured at the end of the movie “Mean Girls”, when one of the main characters, Regina George, is shown to have joined the team based on the advice from her therapist that she should take up sports in order to let her anger out on the field. It’s safe to say she did just that.

Just to clarify, we’re not sure what version of the high school rule book they were playing by, but is probably based on a localized version of how athletes in the Midwest tend to play lacrosse (the story of the movie is based in Illinois).

TV References

Introduction

Lacrosse has made casual appearances on shows like “NCIS”, “Modern Family” (where Alex Dunphy plays lacrosse and is also considered to be the family nerd) and “Weeds”.

Archer: Growing The Game, Even Among Pirates

From a major motion picture all the way to a TV mini-series, I found lacrosse references. The main character, Sterling Archer, from the hit TV show “Archer” is a lacrosse fanatic. Archer is the top agent at a secret United States spy agency. He went to a very private and prestigious prep school and was an all-star in lacrosse while there. In years past, prep schools and lacrosse were synonymous with one another. Throughout the two seasons of the show that have been aired thus far, there have been a number of references to the sport of lacrosse. One of these was when Archer becomes a captain of a group of rebel pirates and establishes an intramural lacrosse league.

Teen Wolf: Two Cases Of A Double-Edged Sword

This past summer MTV even produced a new series called “Teen Wolf”.The premise of the series was about a young kid in high school who gets bitten and eventually turns into a werewolf. The big sports team that the main character is trying out for is the lacrosse team. Traditionally, the hero goes out for the football or basketball team to impress the girl. This time it’s the lacrosse team.

The Simpsons: Pointing Out The Obvious By Ignoring It

“The Simpsons” episode called “There Will Be Buds” aired on November 6, 2016. In this episode of “The Simpsons”, Milhouse’s dad, Kirk Van Houten, suggests that the local youth take up lacrosse in place of football after the football season is suspended due to concerns over concussions. Nobody wants to hear it, but eventually, everyone agrees to support the idea even though lacrosse also has a pretty high rate of its athletes sustaining concussions.

Also, Paul and Gary Gait get a shoutout in the show, which Casey Powell wrote about for LaxAllStars.

A youth team is formed, and chaos ensues. You’ll have to watch the episode to see what happens!

Seinfeld: Stirred, Only Slightly Shaken

Were you aware of this one? In the “Seinfeld” episode called “The Hot Tub”, Cosmo Kramer installs a hot tub in his apartment that leads to a whole slew of ridiculous consequences. During the episode, Newman stirs the hot tub with a wooden lacrosse stick.

The Daily Show: Real Recognizes Real

“The Daily Show”, which was hosted by Jon Stewart at the time, had an episode a number of years ago that actually saw lacrosse legend Oren Lyons make an appearance. The show included a climate change rally that was taking place in New York City and Oren Lyons was seen at the event standing next to celebrities like Mark Ruffalo and Edward Norton.

Blue Mountain State

Don’t. Just don’t.

Other Lacrosse References In Pop Culture

Good Mythical Morning

“Good Mythical Morning” is a popular YouTube channel that has over 16 million subscribers. It featured a pair of STX gloves in one of its episodes.

Find Out More!

Take a look at our series called “Spotted” that has featured lacrosse being referenced in different advertisements, TV shows or is found in other places like Bill Belicheck wearing a Warrior Lacrosse sweatshirt. You can find that series by clicking here.

Bonus

Can You Find This Lacrosse Pop Culture Reference In This Song?

I found another musical lacrosse reference, but I am not going to share it with you.  Instead, I’m going to challenge you to find it and tell me what song it is, and what the lyric is.  I’ll give you a hint. There are two performers with one of them being from Canada. Leave a comment with your guesses. Good luck!

Let us know any references we have missed in the comments! Or, tag us on social media using our handle (@LaxAllStars).

At this point in our national reaction to the threat of the COVID-19 virus, the impact on daily routines is everywhere. Schools, restaurants, community centers and many businesses have all closed temporarily. Distance learning, remote work and social distancing are the new norms.

Sadly, the disruption to youth sports, including the traditional spring lacrosse season, is also upon us.

That doesn’t mean, however, that kids should cease all physical activities.

Recommendations from The Aspen Institute’s Project Play encourages parents to facilitate opportunities for children to move in order to ensure physical and mental well-being. 

According to Sara Poehlman, a care expert who works on emergency education and parent programs, this is especially important if kids are now engaged in distance learning via computer.

“Movement in between periods of study is essential to ensure focus, concentration, and sustained attention,” she said.

Physical activities recommended by Poehlman include running around the block, jumping jacks, yoga, or a dance party. Screen time may seem like a solution to keep children occupied, but it can be detrimental to their mood and energy when used for a prolonged period of time, she said. Poehlman recommends short intervals of screen time (no binge watching) and selecting content that motivates physical activity.

“Boys and girls need free, unstructured time for play,” Poehlman said. “If they do have worries, play can be a strategy to work them out.”

Project Play recommends individual activities such as running, riding bikes, or in the case of lacrosse players, wall ball or shooting practice. The focus should be on playing in an isolated environment and avoiding settings where equipment is shared, including gyms and playground installations.

Many of Project Play’s movement recommendations are consistent with US Lacrosse’s Athlete Development Model, including some of the free play activities and exercises highlighted in 60 Ways to Play. 

The current shutdown of youth sports, while painful, could yield a positive benefit in the future.

“In the long term, I hope this shutdown sparks the return of free play for more kids,” said Jon Solomon of the Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program. “I’ve been pleasantly surprised in my neighborhood to see so many kids outside riding bikes and scooters, shooting baskets, and going for walks – while keeping appropriate social distancing. With no organized sports taking up their time and energy, they’re playing on their terms. The key will be parents recognizing this happening and allowing it to continue in the future.”  
 

(Philadelphia, March 18, 2020)- The National Lacrosse League today unveiled a new logo to honor all constituencies during these challenging times. The logo contains images from all areas connected to the league and will be updated periodically as fans, players, and other interested parties send in new images.

The copy accompanying the image that was posted on the NLL social platforms and communicated to their email database was:
“We cannot celebrate our games, but we can celebrate our fans, our players, and our sport. Thanks to all in lacrosse and beyond; together we will keep growing!  Stay safe, stay smart, stay engaged with us.  Cannot find yourself in our new look? Send us a picture and we will add you to our team. Just tag #NLL and stay tuned.”

The NLL is providing original content from players and teams during the current stoppage of the season, all of which can be viewed on NLL Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as well as its YouTube channel.

For More Information Contact: Katie Lavin (klavin@nll.com)