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EMass Minutemen and Laxachusetts Merger

By Inside Lacrosse , 05/01/10, 9:33PM EDT

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EMass/ Laxachusetts Lacrosse Club Merger

Eric Gurnsey April 20th, 2010 1

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Massachusetts is getting a face lift in the high school club lacrosse circuit. The meshing of EMass Lacrosse and the Laxachusetts Clubs hopes to bring the best talent that Massachusetts has to offer while making the efforts to expand the athletic as well as academic integrity of lacrosse in the State of Mass.


EMass Minutemen Lacrosse Club Director Dan Chouinard and Laxachusetts director Mike Connelly were able to bring “two of the strongest club teams in Massachusetts” to formulate EMass Laxachusetts squads. This combination was an attempt to bring together the best players in the state to be able to compete in the top tournaments while keeping the integrity of the players at heart. Co-founder Mike Connelly explains that the organization strives for more than aiding young men to play at a collegiate level, they also preach keeping good moral fiber.

“We have strict rules about character in the program, and our hope is that we can educate the players on guidelines to live your life by…Hopefully that will translate into more opportunities for our athletes, because coaches will admire their behavior.”

They are also trying to maintain and build on their already impressive coaching staff. Last fall’s addition of the Brown University alum and Boston Cannons’ all-time goal leader, Dave Evens along with other instructors such as Tim Shea, Brendan Glass, Sean Morris, and Brett Queener give both Chouinard and Mike Connelly great confidence in their staff.

Chouinard selected his Director of Recruiting for the EMass organization, Dave Evens to better the process by aiding players to the right institutions for each individual.

“Dave Evans is our Recruiting Director and will use his background as a top blue chip recruit, All American college player and college Asst Coach to help both the players and parents find the right school —academically and athletically.”

This non-profit organization is trying to implement some new incentives to equally influence and reward the young athletes who choose to join their program as Director Chouinard explains.

“In 2010/2011 seasons, we are introducing an academic rewards program where players will be rewarded for a high GPA with program fee refund, based on GPA. For example, if a player has a 4.0, his parents will receive a full program fee refund. We want to find ways to stress to players how important academics are and this is a way we can reward them and push them to strive for the highest GPA they can get”.

The EMass Laxachusetts founders did want to put their goals in priority which makes the expansion of lacrosse even more rewarding.

“The merger has been tossed around for the last couple of years. Both groups were founded to be about development in a state and region where development was deeply in need. It made no sense to separately tutor groups about concepts we all felt so strongly about. Our goal was to develop a pyramid of players in every grade. And if we were going to be true to our mission to provide THE BEST coaching and opportunities possible for the kids, we absolutely HAD to join forces" says Mike Connelly.

To get more information about the EMass Laxachusetts merger and their commendable work with their players visit the Jr. Minutemen Lacrosse website.