40 LACROSSE MAGAZINE March 2012 a Publication of US Lacrosse
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40 LACROSSE MAGAZINE >> March 2012 A Publication of US Lacrosse EVOLUTION Hybridof the An influx of Canadian-born players in NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse has some advocating a new model of youth development in the U.S.— thinking outside the box by playing in it. By Joel Censer “Playing time reflects where you come from; the greater the field reputation, the greater the playing time. It’s a shame, because box players could and will have a big influence on the field game in the future. I know it.” — Former Syracuse attackman and box lacrosse player Emmett Printup Sr., in American Indian Lacrosse: Little Brother of War, published in 1991 yle Wharton didn’t think twice. As Wharton split behind the cage to his right hand, his Johns Hopkins line mate Zach Palmer — a 5-foot-7, 160-pound lefty from Oshawa, Ontario, brought his stick close to his chest and started shaking it. KDespite being blanketed by Maryland defenders, Palmer wanted the rock. Wharton flung the ball inside. Palmer handled the pass and immediately felt Terps defenseman Jesse Bernhardt on his ball-side shoulder. Cradling away from his body and feeling no pressure over his right shoulder, Palmer whipped the ball behind his back from eight yards out and past Maryland goalkeeper Niko Amato. The Canadian’s crafty response awed the rain-soaked crowd at Byrd Stadium and tied the game at 9 in the fourth quarter. The Blue Jays went on to defeat the Terps 12-11 in overtime on April 16, 2011. Up in the press box, veteran analyst Paul Carcaterra marveled at Palmer’s handiwork. “Are you kidding me? Look at this shot,” Carcaterra said. “Unbelievable... Can you say SportsCenter?” Carcaterra’s slack jaw eventually gave way to an explanation, connecting Palmer’s behind-the-back heroics with his north-of-the-border background. “You look at the type of kids that can do this — it’s the Canadians who have that box lacrosse background,” Carcaterra said. “Wow.” Maryland head coach John Tillman called Palmer’s goal a turning point. (The Terps had led by five.) “He’s probably one of two people in the country that can make that play,” Tillman said. Actually, there’s plenty more where that came from. ©MOJO STUDIOS A Publication of US Lacrosse March 2012 >> LACROSSE MAGAZINE 41 Numbers Don’t Lie Division I lacrosse players in 2011 when the Canadian Lacrosse Canadians making an impact in NCAA lacrosse isn’t a new Association (Canada’s US Lacrosse equivalent) reported around phenomenon. Ontario native and Cornell legend Mike French 8,000 people in the entire country playing field lacrosse. According helped lead the Big Red to the 1976 national championship. to the US Lacrosse Participation Survey nearly 380,000 males Oshawa’s Stan Cockerton was a three-time first-team All- played field lacrosse in the U.S. Despite the disparity, the Canadian American for N.C. State in the late 1970s and remains third on national team won the FIL World Championship in 2006 and lost the NCAA all-time scoring list. British Columbia’s Tom Marechek by just two goals to Team USA in the 2010 final. and Gait twins Gary and Paul dominated at Syracuse during the Said Virginia head coach Dom Starsia: “When you watch late 1980s and early ‘90s. Canadian kids score, when you see their skill level around the But over the last decade, college coaches have more actively cage, you wonder to yourself, ‘Jeez, are we teaching kids [in the pursued north-of-the-border box players. In 2001, there was just U.S.] the wrong things?’” one Canadian (Loyola’s Gavin Prout) among the top 40 scorers in Said Denver head coach Bill Tierney: “If I was US Lacrosse, I Division I. In 2010, there were 15. wouldn’t let any kids play field until they were 10 or 12. Until box C) It’s not just a smattering of slick inside finishers. Brodie Merrill lacrosse grows in the United States, it’ll continue to be this way.” T of Orangeville, Ontario, reinvented the long-stick midfield position N ( W at Georgetown. Kevin Crowley, Busy Rinks and an end-to-end midfielder from MADE IN CANADA British Columbia, was a 2010 EORGETO Slicker Sticks G Tewaaraton Award candidate How do you draw fans to C); © at Stony Brook. Last season, stripped hockey rinks in the M Denver midfielders and Ontario summertime? For hockey natives Cameron Flint and promoters in Canada in the Jeremy Noble wreaked havoc early 1930s whose gate between the stripes. receipts melted with the ice But even as college coaches every spring, the question C); ©LEE WEISSMAN ( drove them to invent a sport R outsource skill positions to CARTER BENDER, HARTFORD ROBERT CHURCH, DREXEL Canadians, youth lacrosse in Hometown: Caledon, Ontario Hometown: Coquitlam, that would suit the rinks’ IO ( the United States has rarely All-American senior midfielder/ British Columbia playing surfaces during CC attackman is a bruising 6-foot-3 Junior attackman can feed (22 tried to adopt or mimic the warmer months. swing player with hands to match. assists) or finish (27 goals), with a same setting or techniques penchant for game-winners. Box lacrosse is considerably that make former box players different than the field game. It REG CARRO G so proficient around the net. has boards for boundaries, it’s This seems peculiar. six-on-six instead of 10-on-10, IN (CB); © Why should Palmer and crosschecking is legal, there L his northern brethren be are no long sticks and the more adept at catching and goals are significantly smaller. LAUGH depositing the ball in tight There’s also a 30-second shot MC spaces? Numerical evidence clock and, at higher levels, TEVE suggests that early indoor MARK COCKERTON, TRAVIS COMEAU, fighting is just a five-minute S VIRGINIA GEORGETOWN major penalty. exposure makes better Hometown: Oshawa, Ontario Hometown: Red Deer, Alberta lacrosse players. Sophomore midfielder had a coming Only 5-foot-8 and 155 pounds, the Johnny Mouradian, an According to Canadian out party championship weekend, All-Big East junior attackman shot 47 Ontario native who played including a three-goal, one-assist percent last season. businessman and lacrosse lacrosse and hockey at Ithaca outburst in the NCAA semifinals. enthusiast Jason Donville, in the 1970s, was one of the there were 119 Canadian first box players to migrate into ©MOJO STUDIOS (CC); © 42 LACROSSE MAGAZINE >> March 2012 A Publication of US Lacrosse the U.S. field game. Even the way Canadian kids practice against American Indoor Lacrosse Association co-founder Bill Shatz took the boards gives them an advantage, he said. his Tampa Bay Fire U19 club to the Onondaga Reservation for a true box lacrosse experience. Pictured: Goalie Crews Chambers “Our first cradle is below the waist. We roll the ball off the (far left) and runner Matt Menendez (above). boards and pick it up so the stick’s automatically in our fingertips,” said Mouradian, now the general manager and head coach of Lacrosse, which focuses on player development using a hybrid the NLL’s Philadelphia Wings. “In the U.S., kids in the same age box-field approach. group often pass and catch with their stick in their palms. They It’s not a seamless transition from box to field. Many Canadians end up pushing the ball instead of throwing it.” are almost exclusively one-handed, have never dodged long sticks Repetition also develops slicker sticks. Because the boards and are prone to too much run and gun. (The internal shot clock ensure the ball stays in bounds and because there are only five never stops ticking, it seems.) They also don’t shoot as hard. “runners” in the rink at a time, everyone gets more touches. “They’re not perfect,” Munro said. “They’re just better players Moreover, the shot clock and confined space encourage more then they would’ve been if they had grown up in the U.S.” consistent mechanics. Threading a pass to a partially covered C) T teammate with a few seconds left on the shot clock means Canadian-American Pipeline N ( snapping the wrists and whipping the ball overhand. Catching W Box players have benefited from increased exposure to that pass under pressure the outdoor game. While requires hand-eye coordination Canadian kids still start EORGETO and keeping the stick tight to G MADE IN CANADA indoors, some programs the body. now have a mandatory field C); © M The smaller goal (4 by 4 component. Club teams even feet in most leagues) also travel to the U.S. to compete has ramifications. To put the against American kids. ) ball past padded goalies that The Hill Academy outside N (J take up most of the cage, box Toronto is a one-stop shop for LL players learn how to fake and Canadians preparing to play C); ©LEE WEISSMAN ( R shoot with deception. When NCAA lacrosse. Under Merrill’s REG WA IO ( Canadians get outside and see CAMERON FLINT, DENVER MARK MATTHEWS, DENVER G direction, it has become one of CC Hometown: Georgetown, Ontario Hometown: Oshawa, Ontario ); © those inviting 6 by 6 goals, the premier high school field N Effective off the dodge and on faceoff The 6-foot-4, 210-pound, toe-dragging they “might as well be shooting wing, Flint scored 27 goals as a dynamo is on the short list for the teams and a hunting ground at the ocean,” Tierney said. sophomore All-American in 2011. Tewaaraton Award after All-American for college coaches. “We want IENA (B REG CARRO S There’s no specialization campaign in 2011.