Lacrosse

I am taking a few days off. Not from the gym (hell no!) but from writing.

My son Cooper is playing in the California Junior Lacrosse Association State Championships this weekend.

We will take off on Friday afternoon and drive to Santa Rosa, just north of San Francisco. Most of the team arrives Friday night and will be going to see a movie that opens that day nationwide, called Crooked Arrows.  Keep in mind that many of these players live and breathe lacrosse; some have been playing since they were very young and some, like my son,  will continue on in college. I am trying to arrange some group tickets to see the movie now, so none of the boys will miss this opportunity, here is a short trailer (email subscribers will need to navigate to the blog to view this):

A bit of history that many are not aware of:

Lacrosse, a relatively popular team sport in the Americas, may have developed as early as AD 1100. By the seventeenth century it was well-established and had been documented by Jesuit priests, although the game has undergone many modifications since that time. 

In the traditional Native Canadian version, each team consisted of about 100 to 1,000 men on a field that stretched from about 500 meters to 3 kilometers long. These lacrosse games lasted from sunup to sundown for two to three days straight. These games were played as part of ceremonial ritual to give thanks to the master. Lacrosse played a significant role in the community and religious life of tribes across the continent for many years. Early lacrosse was characterized by deep spiritual involvement, befitting the spirit of combat in which it was undertaken. Those who took part did so in the role of warriors, with the goal of bringing glory and honor to themselves and their tribes. The game was said to be played "for the Creator" or was referred to as "The Creator's Game".

David and I will go to dinner at Willie’s Wine Bar instead; we can watch the movie at home later.

Willie’s is a great small restaurant, with a fantastic wine list and stunning food. We went there last summer when we drove up to purchase some grape vines. David has fresh sardines, he will always order these if they are on the menu, I won’t. Although they are good, they are basically skinny little oily fish to me! I always opt for the beef….

I have a very nice room for the weekend at the Hyatt Vineyard Creek Hotel and Spa. I know, a little pricey but we are making a vacation of it all and if I have to be there all weekend, I want a nice place to stay.

I already know where the Gold’s Gym is, I won’t miss a beat, believe me.  I will quietly crawl out of bed and train, Roy said to continue with GVT Squats, at 125 pounds. We de-loaded Wednesday, so I only did four sets instead of the usual ten, and when I had finished, I did several sets of walking lunges with a 65 pound e-z curl bar held in front like a front squat. Then I pushed the sled, but the weight was lower than usual. He asked if I could have finished all ten sets and I told him I didn't know. With my head "thinking" I only had three or four, that's what I did. It's all in my head. Weight training is a mind game, at least for me. He understood, and he said it looked like I could have done all ten, so he thought I could have.


If the boys wake up before I return from the gym they can wander down to the buffet and have their fill. I might be able to lounge by the pool, or spend some time in the spa, I suspect we may do some wine tasting too, after all, we are in wine country! After the game, we are free to roam, at least for a short while.

We have a big team dinner planned Saturday evening; you cannot imagine the energy and excitement that everyone is feeling right now. There are 37 players, each is coming with at least one family member, most with more. The group is large, over 100 of us. 

The top four boys Varsity teams in the state of California will be playing, we (the #1 Varsity team in Northern California) will play the #2 Varsity team from Southern California at 2:00 on Saturday, and, if we win, Sunday afternoon is the actual championship game against the winner of the other game from Saturday afternoon, (the #1 Varsity team from Southern California against the #2 Varsity team from Northern California). 


Otherwise it’s a consolation game on Sunday morning. Even if we do not win, the fact that our team has been undefeated and come this far is fantastic. But to go out your senior year, as the State Champions, would be something that not one of the nine senior “boys” would ever forget. Although they are referred to as “boys” they are mostly grown men now, here they are with their Nor Cal champs medals.

Wish us luck, you can be sure I will keep you posted as to the results. Or better yet, check back at the link here to find out the standings as the weekend progresses, they might just keep it updated!

Sports

Sports are very important for the development of the whole person. Team sports and individual sports, each has it's own pluses. People ask me all the time if I was athletic when I was growing up, and the answer really was no. I didn't do much at all...I danced quite a bit in high school, but although that is physical, it isn't really a sport. and looking back, I wish I had. 


There are many things that I wish I had done earlier in life, especially my passion of weight training, but I didn't so all I can do is go forward and enjoy every moment I have left!


This is the philosophy that I have held onto for most of my adult life, I only have this one life on earth, and I never know when it may end, so I don't plan to play anything "safe" or be "proper" or make sure I am "wearing clean underwear in case I get into an accident"...ha ha! What if I just happen to have NO underwear on and I get into an accident huh? LOL!


My mother gave me my zest for life, for enjoying every single experience, (some better than others), that I can.


Some things I still want to do are take a hot air balloon ride; go back to Italy for longer than a couple hours (yes, I took a train there from France once just for pizza and gelato); scuba dive in the Caribbean (I am a certified NAUI diver); oh my, I am off track...


The picture above was taken on Saturday, May 12. These are the seniors on my son's lacrosse team. My son, Cooper is the red head crouching down in front, with the blackened out mouth guard to look menacing. 


I am the team mom, and have been for two years. I make sure all the players and their families know where to be and when. I assign people to bring food and water, make sure we have scorekeepers, timers, equipment set up and tear down, and transportation home. I really don't need the extra work, I am busy enough, but it ensures I am involved in my son's passion.

Above you can see the entire team running to the goalie. If you notice the score on the board, it is 11 (home) to 10 (guest). We were the home team and had just won the game at the very last moment.


We are near the end of the season, this game determined if we would go to Treasure Island the following weekend to play for the #1 or #2 spot in Northern California, the NorCal champs.


The guest team scored 7 goals the first quarter, in fact we were down 5 goals when only 10 minutes were left in the game. We thought we lost, there was no way to recover.

The parents around me were holding their breath. Some very very sad. This looked like it would be the last game they ever watched their son's play, we would end the season right there that very day, in only ten minutes. I heard one mother saying she would never see her son play lacrosse again. Another said she would never see these guys together again, and was already planning to get them together in the summer, when they all came home from college. I had tears in my eyes, but it could have been my allergies.


My son is going off to college in the fall, and will be on the Chico team, but it will be different, I cannot go to every game, or even many of the games. Actually, I haven't gone to every game he has played at this level, my training and competitions got in the way many times, but David went. To all of them, he never missed one in 5 years.

Somehow, we won this game, scored 6 goals in under 10 minutes, it was unheard of. I got a headache from jumping up and down and screaming so much in the hot sun, parents lost their voices, the noise of the crowd was amazing. The entire team and all the family membres lingered on the field for a long, long time dumbfounded. It was a game that none of us will ever forget.


We go to Treasure Island Saturday, May 19. I have already planned my training to get my German Volume Training in, then zoom home to get to the game on time, I will not miss this one. Then in two weeks we play for the State Championships, against the best of the best from Southern California. I have our hotel reservations already, we will be there two nights and I will have to find a gym there, I can manage.


Below is a 30 second video of the winning gaol, scored by Cooper! The fast pace of the video showcases the excitement of the entire game.




I will miss organizing my guys, and how the parents depend on me for all the information, but there will be another team mom, who can take my place when my son moves on, on to college and me on to my own hobbies.

If you have kids, be sure you support their sports and encourage their physical passions, it creates a confident and healthy soul. Get them involved and pay attention! Show them how important it is. It will develop their self esteem, their physical being and also help them stay focused on more productive things in life and not get sidetracked the way they can at this age.


Wish us luck on Saturday! You can find us in the Gaelic bar between games....