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HONOR THE GAME!
 MOJLC
 PO
BOX
743
VOLUME
I/ISSUE #3
 FLANDERS
NJ
07836
MAY/JUNE
2005
LACROSSE ROADS!
The 2005
campaign is underway and we already have set new milestones for the Club and the
Mt. Olive lacrosse community.
Lacrosse has
officially made its debut at Mt. Olive High School this year. Our Club is very
excited to see the sport finally take shape at the competitive level for both
girls and boys. We congratulate the players, parents, coaches, and
administration for introducing the sport at the high school level and wish them
longevity and success.
Our Club
successfully introduced a 3rd/4th grade Clinic level this
year. We were unsuccessful in the last two seasons to put together a team for
that age group, but finally have seen the interest.
Special thanks
goes out to Tim O’Connor and the members of Vasa Park for allowing us to utilize
their field space this season. Vasa Park is a private community, and we are
very appreciative of their kindness to our request. It alleviates a lot of our
field availability concerns, in an effort to provide adequate field space for
all teams in the Club.
As the numbers
continue grow at each level, it is promising that the “alternative” sport in
town may eventually become the “norm.” Our best wishes go out to all of our
players, including our past players now in the high school and all of the
parents and coaches who have supported us through our third complete season.
JV PLAYER MAKES
U-13 NJ ALL-STAR TEAM!
Peter Shaver,
sixth grade attackman from the Jr. Varsity team, has made the NJJLL U-13 NJ
All-Star team. He was selected after attending a tryout held at West Essex High
School on Wednesday, May 4th. Coach Chris Killian nominated him on
behalf of Mt. Olive. “Peter has been playing lacrosse since the 3rd
grade. He started out with the Chester program before our Club came into
existence. He’s been playing for Patriots Lacrosse elite teams in the
off-season and has shown the skills worthy of a tryout for the elite NJ travel
all-star team. He deserved this opportunity and obviously proved it by earning
a spot onto the 23-player roster.”
The US Lacrosse
U-13 All-Star Jamboree will be held this year in Binghamton, NY from June 17th-19th
at Binghamton University. Teams from across the country will field rosters of
their most experienced players in an effort to promote the game and their
state’s passion for the sport.
This event gives chapter teams a
venue to come together to "Honor the Game" of lacrosse. The format of this event
is designed specifically to allow chapters and/or programs to send a team of
players that will represent them with dignity and class both on and off the
field. The ideals of respect, sportsmanship, connection, team spirit, trust,
leadership, and carrying on the traditions of the game are at the core of the
philosophy behind this event. There are no champions crowned or MVP awards given
out – this event is about the experience each player gets by participating both
on and off the field.
Peter will join other players from
Roxbury, Millburn, Chatham, Morristown, Kinnelon, Ridgewood, Summit, Wyckoff,
Maplewood, Westfield, West Essex, Caldwell, Florham Park, Chester, Glen Ridge,
and Madison as they represent the North Jersey chapter of the NJJLL and US
Lacrosse. Good luck, Pete!
NJJLL/NJGLL
CONFERENCE ALL-STAR REPRESENTATIVES
The Mt. Olive Jr. Lacrosse Club has been invited to
participate in the annual NJJLL/NJGLL 8th Grade All-Star Showcase. 3
boys and 4 girls were selected to represent Mt. Olive on their respective
all-star teams. Danny Alexander, Matt Merkle, and Zachary Newberg have been
chosen to represent the Club this year for the boys. Amy Priest, Kayla Dyer,
Gina Carmina, and Ariella Rosenzweig will represent the girls. For the first
time, the girls will be sending selections to this annual all-star event. Both
NJJLL and NJGLL Conference All-Star games will be held on Sunday, June 12th
at Ridge High School in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Contact your program VP for
more information, including game times and directions, if you wish to attend.
We highly encourage you to make an effort to attend and support our Mt. Olive
representatives, as well as enjoy an afternoon of exciting all-star lacrosse.
Congratulations also goes out to Garry Merkle, who
was appointed head coach of this year’s boys 8th Grade All-Star team
for the Western Conference. The team will be placed as the Far West, which
represents all 8 teams in our conference.
MLL
ON ESPN 2
Major League
Lacrosse is coming to television with a slew of games scheduled this summer on
ESPN 2. The following are the games available for viewing: (All games broadcast
on tape delay – all times Eastern)
06/07 –
Rochester @ Boston 4PM 07/19 – Rochester @
Philadelphia 4PM
06/14 –
Philadelphia @ Baltimore 4PM 07/26 – Philadelphia @
Boston 4PM
06/28 – New
Jersey @ Boston 5PM 08/02 – Rochester @ New
Jersey 4PM
07/05 –
Baltimore @ Long Island 4PM 08/09 – Long Island @
Boston 4PM
07/12 – Long
Island @ Baltimore 4PM 08/15 – New Jersey @
Philadelphia 4PM
07/16 – MLL
All-Star Game 6PM 08/21 – MLL Championship
Game 5PM
LAX
ILLUSTRATED
Lacrosse was
the subject of a main feature article in
Sports Illustrated,
which hit the newsstands back on Wednesday, April 20th. The article,
"Get on the Stick," was written by Sports Illustrated senior writer Alexander
Wolff and includes special reporting from Julia Morrill.
The main
feature article also included a number of sidebars, including "The New Breed"
chronicling Colorado’s statewide interest in the sport and "Warrior Culture"
looking at technology in the sport. The entire package on lacrosse covers nine
pages and includes several quotes from US Lacrosse Executive Director Steve
Stenersen.
Johns Hopkins
sophomore attackman Jake Byrne appears in an inset photo on the cover, which
highlights the National Basketball Association playoffs. The picture carries the
caption "The Fastest Growing Sport in America."
You can link to
the article from the US Lacrosse website @
www.USLacrosse.org.
LAX ONLINE
US Lacrosse's newest "publication" - Lacrosse Magazine Online - is now available
at www.laxmagazine.com. The site is updated daily with scores and news and
offers a regular schedule of features throughout the week. Check out the Monday
Morning Midfielder, the Tuesday Features, the Wednesday National Notebook, the
Thursday High School Notebook and The Friday Tailgate. Make Lacrosse Magazine
Online your source for all the scores and news during the upcoming college
championships.
MAN UP
US Lacrosse is
currently accepting youth award nominations. Is there an exceptional coach or
individual involved in your lacrosse program that you would like to recognize
for their contribution to the sport and impact on youth lacrosse players 15
years and under? Now is the time to nominate these individuals for a national
US Lacrosse Youth Award. US Lacrosse offers nine different Youth Awards
annually to outstanding contributors in all aspects of the game of lacrosse
including coaches, officials, and program administrators. Award winners are
honored at an annual breakfast at the 2006 convention and in US Lacrosse
publications. For information about the awards and to download nomination forms
go to www.uslacrosse.org/programs/youthaward. Nominations will be accepted
through June 15.
BIRTHDAY
BALLERS!
The
Club wishes to send out birthday greetings to the following registrants that
will be celebrating their special day during the months of May and June:
Emmanuel Akpan
Ethan Hendrickson Tyler Notillo
Timmy Bahnsen
Darrien Johnson Jimmy Pastena
Amanda Bellanca
Alexandra Kolev John Prasisto
Ashley Bernero
Hannah Kolev Matt Rafferty
Connor Bouye
Kristen Kovats Ned Ryan
Andrea Campoli
Connor Lloyd Anthony Salierno
Anthony Colabella
Chris Lorenz Brynne Verbel
Joseph
Gates Mike Lyons Devin
Verderber
Sarah Giansanti
Cheyanne Mathusek Kristin Viscarra
Stephanie Halonski
Brandyn Merkle Jennifer Vodola
John
Harper Austin Niblett Ethan
Weiss
CH-CH-CH-CHANGES…
As the lacrosse program has grown at a great pace, we have had difficulty this
year keeping up with all the tasks that keep the program running smoothly.
As the end of the season draws near, we all looked tiredly at one another and
realized that we had grown beyond the ability of a small group of people to run
the program. You probably have seen some indications of this.
Next season we will be losing a lot of the individuals who have helped us shape
this program into what it is today. Most of the members of our current board of
directors will not be returning. This is cause for concern, simply because
without those individuals, there are currently not enough involved members of
the Club able to fulfill all of the responsibilities that have been handled by
them in the past.
Therefore, in the coming months the Club will be changing the structure on how
we currently operate. We will be looking to you as parents to step up to assist
us in continuing the philosophy of the Club and offering a viable program for
the youth of our community.
To continue to make this a functional Club, we will need volunteers, and that is
where you come in. We will need a little of your time and energy to support the
program. You will be receiving a letter from our General Trustee Jack Isler,
who will be accepting nominations for our upcoming board of director vacancies.
Most of the roles will be open come June, when the new board is elected to serve
for next season.
PURPLE
CARD PROGRAM
The US Lacrosse
Youth Council and the Men’s and Women's Division Officials’ Councils have both
taken pro-active steps to help insure a positive culture for the sport at the
youth lacrosse level.
A MDOC/WDOC
“Sideline Manager” and “Purple Card” concept have been designed to be
preventative tools at youth games. Sideline Managers help to maintain a positive
environment and issue the Purple Card as a warning to an individual coach,
athlete, fan, or group of fans. Most often,
the Purple
Card program will correct the unacceptable, unsportsmanlike behavior that
threatens to ruin the game, but is also available to support the unfortunate
circumstance of game termination as a consequence of an initial incident of or
continued unsportsmanlike behavior.
The MDOC/WDOC
Purple Card is a resource for men’s and women's officials working youth games,
designed to work in conjunction with and to help clarify the NFHS Boys’ High
School Rules and the Official Rules for Girls’ & Women's Lacrosse. When used in
conjunction with the rules, the Purple Card procedures serve as an effective
deterrent to abusive behaviors and create a set of constraints that should: 1)
eradicate the "unsportsmanlike behavior" that is creeping into sport, 2)
strengthen sportsmanship, 3) contribute to the retention of officials, and 4)
honor the game.
Information for
officials about the Sideline Manager and Purple Card concepts was distributed at
the 2005 US Lacrosse Convention and informational resources for coaches, players
and fans have since been completed. Written into the Boys’ Youth Rules for 2005
and running as a pilot for girls’ youth lacrosse, the success of the Sideline
Manager and Purple Card concepts will be as strong as the commitment of
organizations and individuals to implement them — thanks for doing your part!
 
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