Sammamish Lacrosse Club

The first person who can EMAIL me and correctly identify the four Sammamish players in the photo above wins a lax T-shirt! HINT: Paul Rabil doesn't play for SLC. Not yet anyway.......

Check this page for all sorts of lacrosse info! Throughout the season we'll have game recaps, pictures and other related stories! If you have something you want to contribute send Coach Kimmell an email at coachkimmell@gmail.com

Check out these tips for your stick!

Breaking in your stick
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Taking care of your stick
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First off, my visor is off to the 7/8th grade Black Team! Tonight they beat Mercer Island 10-3! It was a great game and our kids played a solid 4 quarters! We got off to a strong start and quickly took away their Plan A. We had them on their heels for the rest of the game and I was very impressed with the play of our newer players.

Last Saturday was a busy day for me! I started out with the 3/4th graders as they played on the best field in town, Wilburton Park! It's quite the improvement from last year! I had to leave their game early but they were playing hard and ended up with the win! I had to hustle over to Robinswood Park to warm up the 7/8th grade Red team. I guess we could call them the Unified Team because Spring Break had hit their roster pretty hard. Special thanks go out to Cooper Horton, Ian Weiss, Andrew Pana, Jacob Carmichael and Harry Keeran from the Black team for filling in the gaps in the Red team's roster. The Red team played a tough game without subs and ended up with a well earned tie.

After the first quarter of the Red game I was off to Interlake High School for my 7/8th grade Black team. We too were running low on subs but we were able to start the game with ten kids and once the Red game ended, we had 5 subs on the way over! The ten kids who started that game played as hard of a quarter as I've seen all year! Not to mention we had guys filling in outside of their natural positions! We put Eastlake on their heels from the opening whislte with a tremendous team effort. We were relentless on the ride and Eastlake couldn't seem to clear the ball despite their depth on the bench. It was a little weird being all alone on the bench in the first quarter! I kept looking around for subs but none had magically appeared! We ended up losing the game in the last minute despite a shot of ours that rang off of the post in response to their eventual game winner. It was a good retrospective moment for the Black team to learn that we aren't invincible. We've scored a lot of goals in previous games but we failed to play a solid second half and it allowed the game to slip away to an opponent we decided we could and should have beaten. I think it was good for us to be able to refocus before our game tonight against the always mighty Mercer Island. We played a solid four quarters and we accomplished our goals on the field tonight.

What are you doing for Spring Break? If your answer doesn't include "and lots of wall ball", consider it wrong! This is a great time to work on your stick stringing skills since most teams have the weekend off. I'm getting ready to schedule some team wall ball/pizza party nights to keep everyone excited about lax! So far our club has gotten off to a great start and I want to keep that momentum going for as long as we can. This is also a great time to work on your off handed stick skills! Remember, it's perfectly fine to use a tennis ball for wall ball if your parents complain about the constant thud, thud thud. In fact, the Ohio State mens team ONLY uses tennis balls for wall ball. Because of the weight difference, it forces your to develop softer hands which will take your game to the next level! When I hit the wall, I start with about 15 minutes of dominant hand work and then do 15 minutes of non dominant hand work(sometimes it gets ugly). After that I work on just my top hand and just my bottom hand for 10 minutes each and then do it for my non dominant side. I know guys like Paul Rabil at least double my efforts on the wall and if you want his skills then you have to have his work ethic. Spring Break is a great time to show your lax dedication to your team mates and your coaches. We can tell when someone is putting in a solid effort on the wall. With all of the distractions of a break from school it's easy to lose focus and it's important that we don't lose our competitive edge! I'll see you on the wall!

Hello! Sorry for the Week 1 absence in the blog! I've been busy with our youth program and there's been lot's of great college lacrosse on TV! Throw in the fact that I'm a Red Wings fan and they're battling their way into the NHL playoffs and several of my fantasy teams are doing well, I've been quite busy indeed! If anyone is interested in the college games, I'm happy to copy them to DVD for you. They're in MP4 format now and I can adjust them so you can play them on portable devices!

In week 1, both of our 7/8th grade teams worked hard and earned victories over Redmond and Mercer Island. Both teams saw great contributions from our new players as they are quickly grasping our great sport. Our 5/6th graders are working hard at implementing skils learned in practice and we are already seeing great strides on the field! 3/4th grade practices are underway and they still have a week to get ready for their first game of the 2010 season!

Our Varsity program started off their season with a win yesterday! Check out the great article on www.walax.com! I had the honor of working with the High School kids during their preseason practices and I'm not surprised with their early victory! The 7/8th grade Red Team had the day off and the Black Team played a solid game and beat Snoqualmie Red 17-2! Snoqualmie is a new club but they are an off shoot of Issaquah Lacrosse and I expect them to improve quickly. We saw a few kids get their first goals and everyone played a great complete game. We spent the latter part of the 4th quarter concentrating on left hand work and switching up our positions. I'm a firm believer in not running up the score and once we were ahead by ten goals, we changed our focus and the kids showed great sportsmanship! I was VERY proud of their effort on the field, especially the way our new players worked themselves into the action! I want to thank the members of the Red Team who showed up to cheer us on! I'm glad we were able to put on a good show and we'll return the favor later in the season!

Last Sunday 20 or so 7/8th graders from Sammamish Lacrosse Club competed in the 2nd annual Middle School Mash-Up at Marymoor Park. We competed last year against a half dozen other teams and it was a lot of FUN! This year's tournament was no different! We started the day playing a team from Portland whose name escapes me at the moment, Lincoln perhaps? Regardless, the game got off to a quick start for SLC, we won the opening draw and didn't look back! We stayed in the lead in a back and forth match that saw our young defensive unit play together and communicate well as the game went on. We had offensive support from returning and new players and a solid performance in goal. I don't remember the final score but we were in the lead when the clock ran out and the kids were really excited! We had a several hour break for lunch and a clinic from Ned Bowen. I've coached with Ned before and was able to get our goalie a private lesson with John Chrissmer from Ned's ALL OUT coaching staff and it started to show in the second game! A few of our defensemen found themselves using some of Ned's communication tips without even intending to! The second game was against Mercer Island(they beat us last year). Not just any Mercer Island either. They were there in their fancy Arapahoe tournament jerseys. They were a focused team but so were we. They got off to a quick three goal lead before our defense could settle down and take control back. Our middies worked hard and our transition game was quite smooth despite not giving them a clear to use! After we settled down we tied up the game and it turned into a defensive battle with some outstanding goalie work for both teams! Going into the last minute the score was tied at four and we brought the ball into Mercer's end on transition and scored the go ahead goal! We then one the face off and maintained possesion until the final whistle! So far we were 2-0 on the day! The kids were really excited about beating Mercer Island and so was I! Our final game of the Mash-Up was against a very skilled Bainbridge Island team. They too got off to a quick start but we were able to once again, regroup and that enabled us to slow down their offensive talents. We ended up losing the game but winning many smaller victories in accomplishing our goals for the game. We did a great job of communication on defense, our middies worked well as a unit and our attack did a great job of moving the ball around and setting up some nice shots! Our Mash-Up MVP goes to Morgan White, our goalie. He did a great job with a new defense in front of him and the private lesson really seemed to pay off in our last two games! All in all it was a great day for SLC!

Over the past weekend a few SLC kids attended the Ned Bowen ALL OUT Lacrosse Clinic at Marymoor Park. I was there resuming my coaching role with ALL OUT. Last Summer, Ned and crew were in town for a three day lacrosse camp that was a lot of FUN! They will be back this Summer and I'll give you all the info when I get it. Ned Bowen was a standout defenseman at the University of Virginia where he won a NAtional Championship! The other coaches were Jason Leneau(also from University of Virginia) and John Chrissmer(Washington College). The three hour clinic started with a focus on conditioning. Ned had a bunch of cool toys, uh, I mean training tools to make the workout more fun! There were several harness/water ski tow lines for running with a person creating resistance behind you, a harness with a small parachute attached and a harness with a large bungee cord attached that would pull the anchor person with a jolt! After that it was on to 10" hurdles and the speed ladder! 7/8th graders should expect to see a few new agility drills that I "borrowed" from Ned! After a quick water break we split up by positions and worked on the skill part of the game. At the end of the clinic, Ned, Jason and John answered lots of questions and awarded a few T Shirts to the clinic MVP's who were going ALL OUT the whole time!

Hello SLC! I can't wait for our season to start and to meet all of our new members! We're in our second week of youth practices and the High School guys are enjoying a lively conditioning stint! 3/4th grade will be starting practice soon and I'm excited to be helping them out again this season. This should be a great season for all of SLC, we have a lot of talented kids returning and joining our club and our new lacrosse players are picking up the basics quickly!

This weekend some of the 7/8th graders will be playing in the 2nd annual Middle School Mash-Up Tournament! We competed in this last year and it was a lot of FUN! This year it will feature twice as many teams, appearances from the 6-0 Washington Stealth(hopefully they will be 7-0 when they are there following Saturday night's game in Minnesota) and several clinics from Ned Bowen and his ALL OUT Lacrosse camp and clinic series coaches. This should be a great time for everyone involved! Item give aways, raffles and cool gear for sale will be going on all day.

The other cool event this weekend is the Ned Bowen ALL OUT Lacrosse clinic. I coached for Ned at the 3 day camp version last Summer and everyone had a lot of fun. This clinic features some outstanding coaches who have dominated at every level of play throughout their careers. Groups of 3 or more can get a discount with early registration and walk up registration is fine as well. Check out WALAX.com for all of the info.

A few of you guys have already heard parts of this speech from me but I wanted to share it with the whole club. There are many things that I love about our great sport. Lacrosse is more steeped in tradition than any other sport on the planet(aside from running and swimming!) and it is native to our country! I love the honor associated with lacrosse. Our sport is different from most others because of its heritage.

One of the things I love most about lacrosse is the individual nature of our sticks. In no other sport is the primary piece of equipment hand made. I'm talking about the pocket of your stick. No two are the same and each is tailored to its owner(it should be anyway). You don't make your own baseball glove or bat nor are you forced to whittle a hockey stick. The lacrosse pocket is completely unique to all other sports because as long as the pocket is attached to the head, essentially you have strung it properly. Some heads have many holes for different stringing options(these I prefer). There is no wrong way to string a head and this leads to an infinite amount of possibilities in creativity. Our sport is unique because you can't just buy a head off of the shelf and use it in a game with any success.

It wasn't until the 1970's that the plastic head was introduced, before that it was up to a few skilled craftsmen scattered throughout the country. In the last 40 years we have lost some of the uniqueness of our sport with the plastic head but that has lead to reduced manufacturing cost and time and there for more lacrosse sticks in more kids hands! Last season I bet I strung half of the heads used by the 3/4th grade team and it was great to see the excitement in their eyes when they realized that they could throw all along, there stick was just kind of goofy! 99.9% off all new strung heads are not strung well and need to be adjusted.

Learning how to string a lacrosse stick can be a rewarding and even profitable venture! Every team needs a few stick wizards but it's my opinion that everyone learns how to string their own stick. If you can fine tune your stick it's much easier to stay on top of your game. Our club is proud to have Matt Young who offers his stringing services on our site listed somewhere to the left. I'm happy to string your stick as well or better yet, teach you how to do it! It's much easier than you think with the mesh that is available today! SLC will have official stringing kits for sale at the Kick Off Party on Feb 24th. They feature red hard mesh with black lacing or black hard mesh with red lacing. They look pretty cool and I worked hard at assembling them so go buy them and show your team colors! They will be $10 per kit and will be available with our other SLC gear like sweats, socks and more!

This Fall we are proud to help create TRILOGY LACROSSE! In early September, SLC joined forces with Kirkland Lacrosse Club and Redmond Lacrosse Club to offer weekly practices for the developing player at a fraction of the costs of other options! "How did we do it?" you ask, we found some of the better youth coaches in the area and we all decided that we would forgo salaries in order to offer the best experience for the kids. We have our first games this Sunday against PCLC. We will have one game for our 5/6th grade team and a game a piece for our two 7/8th grade teams! We have a great turnuot from Sammamish at the 7/8th grade level, we could field our own team if we wanted to! We are going to have more games through November and I will keep updating this part of the blog as our Fall season goes on! Good Luck TRILOGY LACROSSE!

Check out this story on walax.com! It's a great tale of determination and respect for the game that we could all use a little more of.

http://www.walax.com/?q=maple_valley039s_tyler_johnson_19812009

I appologize for the late posting, perhaps I'm still in awe. On Saturday we saw our 7/8th graders split up. Some woke up early to play here in Bellevue on a beautiful morning and some woke up EARLY to drive over the mountains for a tournament. Congratulations are in order for both of our squads and their parents for all of their efforts this past weekend! Our players all exhibited the kind of sportsmanship we are trying hard to create. At the Tri-Cities Tournament after one game the refs complimented our coaches on our good sportsmanship. They played a very inexperienced team and before the opening face-off, our middie was showing their middie how to properly do it and gave them enough tips to eventually win the opening face-off! Maybe too much good sportsmanship! All kidding aside, it is a great honor to coach for a program with this kind of integrity. A new item that came in to play was "Braveheart Rules Overtime"! This is completely new to me as I hale from the MidWest and this sort of thing isn't done. But I like it! This format has one player and one goalie from each team. Goalies take their positions in the cage and the opposing players do a face-off for possession and the run down and hopefully score! This is done on a best of 5 series. Our first three middies won their face-offs and promptly ran down and stuffed the ball into the goal thus winning a great game in overtime! Wow!

Hopefully these kids will take that on into the rest of their lives. I was here in Bellevue coaching our home game. We started of with twelve players, one only just coming back from an injury. Right off the bat our newly formed defensive unit started stepping in front of shots and backing up their new goalie. Within the first few minutes we had blocked five or six hard shots off of helmets and knees! Our goalies did a fantastic job, especially when you factor in them starting their goalie career during the last hour of our Thursday practice before the game! We played great team defense despite our lack of fresh legs on the bench. Even though we lost the game, never once did we allow a multi goal run. Our team held them to only 2 goals per quarter, 3 in the third. We faced 30 shots! I assume that means at least 20 circular bruises on chests, arms and legs of our kids who refused to give up! Our lack of depth eventually caught up to us after playing great defense for sometimes four minutes at a time. By the time we moved the ball up field we were so tired we had to slow up the progress of the game to recover. Unfortunately the other team was well stocked and was waiting for us when we were ready. When we did attack we passed the ball well and had a few great looks at the cage! The thing that still grabs at me is their consistent dedication to each other and the game. I saw a lot of those kids really take their game to a new level. We had some new leaders emerge and they really put the team on their backs and wouldn't let anyone quit. Not that anyone was ready to mind you. I had a hard time taking the kids out to rest because most of the time they didn't want to! Even our guys nursing injuries were probably going a little harder than they needed to! At one point one of our players took an errant stick to a less than desirable place and only sat out for a few minutes before he was hounding me to get back in the game and help his team! I've never seen twelve kids more focused on working together despite enormous odds, let alone a full team of kids who are used to playing with each other. Once again, thank you for your efforts, I'm very proud of all of you!

I was lucky enough to catch three of our games on Saturday, with much better weather I might add. The first game was our 7/8 Red team against Kirkland White. At the moment, I don't have the stats in front of me but the boys played very well and there was definately an improvement in our ground balls and face offs! They ended up winning a well played game despite the bits of rain. Our first attempts at the 2-3-1 offense saw some signs of life and we wil work harder on that in the upcoming practices. The second game was my 7/8 Black team. We played Eastlake White in slightly more rain but the with same effort and determination our organization takes pride in. We were great in the face off department and our ground ball skills are coming along nicely! Our defense did a better job of collapsing back in to help out our goalie and that showed on the scoreboard as we went on to win with help from our tenacious attack. We too started implementing our 2-3-1 offense and with time we will execute it very well. The third and final game was the 3/4 team against Kirkland. I think, I saw a lot of lacrosse that day. Those boys showed more determination than I've seen in a long time! The field was pretty sloppy but they hung in there and made some niice plays and ended up with the win! Way to go SLC!

3-7-09

This past Saturday we saw our youth teams in action! As well as mother nature! I can't remember playing in such miserable conditions but the 7/8th grade Red team took to the snow covered field with pride and determination! I think this was partly due to them being used to the mud at Wilburton Park so anything else would be an improvement! Seriously though, our kids played with their hearts on their fozen sleaves. The conditions improved slightly(though the temperature went DOWN) for the 7/8th grade Black team's game. We got off to a slow start but quickly refocused and got back in the game.  As a coach, I couldn't be more proud of the determination and effort shown by everyone on the field. Way to go SLC!