EMASS Jr. Minutemen Lacrosse

I was not sure if we would be able to top the performance and championships that our 2006/2007 teams accomplished in the winter last year, but we had teams in the finals in almost every tournament we entered this year.

Last year all of our teams had 22 games during the winter session and this year we had teams play a minimum of 26 games and 18 practices. We were also able to bring in a few more MLL All Stars this year to work with the players occasionally at practice times. This year we had Sean Morris and Billy Daye return and we added face off specialist Anthony Kelly, midfielder Nate Evans, and defensemen Jack Reid.

I also decided to add 1 or 2 fall ball tournaments to everyone’s schedules this year and it gave us a chance to get together in an outdoor tournament setting and give the coaches, players and parents a chance to get to know each other a little earlier in the season.

So, all in all with the fall and winter tournaments, we had 8 tournament/league champions, 5 tournament/league finalists, 3 tournament/league semi-finalists, and a program record of 164 wins, 62 losses, and 5 ties for a 70% winning percentage.

Winning tournaments, league championships, and games is great and I put in these stats above because so many times a program is judged solely on wins and losses. Although I am very proud of the accomplishments and want to recognize the teams for their success,
I also look at this program and feel there is so much more than wins and losses as to how this program is defined? It is a simple formula; bring in top coaches with the experience in developing players who want to take their game to the next level. This is only the second year of the program, but there is nothing better when I compare the players/teams at our first practice and playing together in the fall to when we finished our last game/practice last week. You would not even know they are the same players or the same team. All the players improve in so many ways in the short time we are together over the winter, that it is such a tremendous feeling as a coach. Players develop confidence, an off hand, a stronger shot, a better dodge, a better understanding of the game, or the importance of communicating as a goalie.

I have been asked so many times regarding what is the definition of this program and this is what I see it as; 1. Develop players, 2. Showcase players, 3. Win games. This is the formula I believe leads to success, some may disagree but I feel when a coach spends time developing a player, that player then gets the opportunity to showcase himself and then when the game is on the line, the coaches duty is to put the best players on the field to give the team the best chance of winning that game. At the end of the day, if the players have done everything the coach has asked of them and those players gave 110% effort on every play, every pass, every ground ball, every shot and every check, then that work ethic and determination will take them further in life than a Win or Loss. As my late coach and friend Tony Manzelli used to say when we faced a weaker team, “if there was
not a chance that we could lose the game, why play the game at all?”

I feel we are different than the other club programs because of our dedication and commitment to develop players in a practice setting with full time dedicated coaches. Anyone can take a team of all-stars and win games; I want to be the program that takes a team of athletes and turns them into great lacrosse players who win games.

All of our players have now returned back to their respective town youth or high school programs for the spring season and I expect every player to continue playing at a very high level and to be one the best players for their respective program. I look forward to having all the players return in June after a very successful spring season prepared to get back on track and train for the summer showcase tournaments. Keep up the great work boys and remember to play with passion.

Coach Chouinard
 

U13 Red Team – 20 Wins, 5 Losses, 1 Tie
Brown Shootout Semi Finalists

U13 Blue Team – 24 Wins, 2 Losses
Brown Shootout Champions

U15 Red Team – 15 Wins, 13 Losses, 1 Tie
Turkey Run Tourney Semi Finalists
Light It Up Tourney Finalists

U15 Blue Team – 22 Wins, 5 Losses
Brown Shootout Finalists
Turkey Run Tourney Champions
Light It Up Tourney Champions
Achieve Lax League Finalists (JV Division)

U16 Team – 20 Wins, 8 Losses, 1 Tie
Light It Up Tourney Champions
Achieve Lax League Champions (JV Division)

U18 Red Team – 20 Wins, 16 Losses, 2 Ties
Providence Fall Classic Semi Finalists
Achieve Lax League Semi Finalists (Varsity Division)

U18 Blue Team – 33 Wins, 9 Losses
Bryant Fall Classic Semi Finalists
Turkey Run Tourney Champions
Light It Up Tourney Champions
IAS Pre Season HS Shootout Finalists
Achieve Lax League Champions (Varsity Division)

U19 Team – 10 Wins, 4 Losses
Bryant Fall Classic Finalists

Emass Coaches Team – 4 wins, 1 loss
Light it Up Tourney Semi Finalists – (College Division)
 

Well, It's hard to believe I am writing this already. It seems like I just got finished writing the indoor (fall/winter) wrap up and here we are with the 2007/2008 season now behind us. I cannot believe how fast that summer tournament season went (it certainly was a sprint).

I cannot thank all of the coaches enough for all of the hard work, dedication, commitment, passion and energy they brought to the field every time the teams were together. I want to thank all the parents for believing in our program and also for taking the time to build what I believe are long lasting friendships. I want to thank the entire player's for making this very big commitment to the coaching staff and your teammates. There are so many things that I love about the program that we have.  But one of the best for me is when I see our players who are from rival towns able to put all of that aside except for the 60 minutes when they face each other during the youth or HS season. Then when that last whistle blows, there they are laughing and joking together, the strong bond of teammates is a wonderful thing to be able to be par t of.

I would also like to send out a special thank you to all of the parents that helped out while we were at our tournaments this summer; this includes setting up social gatherings, team tents, directions, car pooling, assisting coaches whenever needed, organizing team parties, and everyone who was just awesome to hang out with.

Our summer season, It definitely had its bumps and bruises but overall I believe all of our teams and players played great. We certainly had games where we could have had more intensity or emotion, but the overall play was very good from what I saw. It certainly can be tough trying to get the teams into the correct bracket at times, since every tournament seems to be running the age and skill brackets differently. One of the most frustrating parts for me as the Director, are the few club teams that will play down a division so that they can win and use the wins to market there program. Unfortunately wins and losses are what measures many of the club teams and many people will go with the team that wins and many people do not look at the competition they are playing. I got caught up in the wins and losses myself last year, but went back to my coaching roots.  Players often will learn more from a loss from a very skilled team, than they will from a win over a weaker team. So although wins and losses will always define a program, myself and the coaching staff judge each game based on how we play as a team and individuals, and determine if it was a good game despite the W or L.

With all of that being said, each of our teams did have winning records for the summer, and that includes games where we were short players, in the wrong age brackets, and having players playing injured. Speaking with the coaches and parents from each team, it seems that everyone feels that the teams and more importantly, the players all have continued to improve through our program design. That is the best way to judge the success of our program, evaluating the players and how much that they developed their game since we started, and I truly believe every player that has committed to the program is now a better overall player than when they began.

I want to wish our 2008 graduating Emass JRM Seniors best of luck playing at the Collegiate level in the fall/spring.  Your hard work and commitment paid off!  Congratulations to continuing your education and also now being able to play at the next level of lacrosse:

Andrew Brown, Marshfield, Southern New Hampshire University, DII

Dom D'Allassandro, Weymouth, Southern New Hampshire University, DII

Ryan Barney, Weymouth, Southern New Hampshire University, DII

Mike Balaschi, BC High, Southern New Hampshire University, DII

Brian Magner, Thayer Academy, Babson, DIII

Jeff MacCune, Thayer Academy, Babson, DIII

Matt Bak, Marshfield, Bridgton Academy, PG Year

Chris Walker, Marshfield, Wagner, DI

Ben Stephens, Needham, Dickinson, DIII

Conor Keefe, Weymouth/Bridgton Academy, Providence, DI

Brian Josephine, Archbishop Williams, Umass Dartmouth, DIII

Dan Higgins, Milton, Hamilton, DIII

DJ O'Brien, Rockland, Arch Bishop Willimas, AIC, DIII