Underage Coaching: Playoffs in February
By Will Patton
Playoffs are in the air in Oregon, and it’s only the first week of February.
With crucial rivalry games scheduled for the first week of the season, it’s win now or pray later for 4 teams in the PNCLL D2 South Division. That’s life with the new format where only intra-divisional games decide playoff seeding. Games between North and South will have no bearning on league standings. Longtime heated rivals Western Oregon and Southern Oregon will meet Saturday at 1PM in Monmouth, Oregon, in a game that pre-season prognosticators would tell you will decide the #1 seed for the division in playoffs. Willamette and Portland meet at 4:30 at Portland’s Delta Park in a game that could lead the loser scrambling for W’s late in the season. On Sunday, Western Oregon hosts Portland, and if either had a bad game the day before they could be out of the playoffs entirely with a second loss here.
The hotbed of lacrosse in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area will finally feature multiple teams with the addition of Portland State University to the PNCLL D1 and University of Portland to the PNCLL D2. Both these teams have fielded teams for the past couple years, but this season marks the first within sanctioned MCLA play. Given their proximity to the 27 varsity programs in the Portland metro area, it could be only a matter of time before these programs become established and perennial playoff contenders. And who knows, with some breaks they could easily be looking to the playoffs this year, I’m glad Portland has college lacrosse again and the high school players in the area can watch some high quality game action with college athletes.
Michael Phelps got you shaking in your boots coaches? Well he should. Not because what he did was wrong in my mind, but just look at the reaction it caused. It doesn’t matter that marijuana is even legal in several states through prescription, it carries with so many combined stereotypes and social stigmas that it can kill an image, and a lax program, in seconds.
Have you checked your players facebooks lately? Have you even thought about it? Chances are it might look a little something like this:
Or it could be worse.
My point is simple, I don’t tell my guys to not live their lives, it’s college they’re gonna do stupid stuff. But I do tell them to be aware that what they do in their free time affects their teams, sometimes negatively. Several years back Linfield College (McMinnville, OR, PNCLL D2) lost their team for a season because of them hot boxing vans and drinking on the way to Walla Walla. Granted that was on a team trip, but in this hyper-sensitive liability-aware college administration age we live in, you can’t be too careful. Talk to your kids now, don’t think it can’t happen to your program.
And based on what may or may not be happening at ASU, the warning can’t be more relevant for all MCLA teams. In order to brush off past stereotypes about club lacrosse we must attempt to present a squeaky clean image. One misstep could drag us all back years.
24-year old Will Patton is the Head Coach for the Willamette Bearcats Men’s Lacrosse team in Salem, Oregon. He was a four year starter at Willamette, but that honestly isn’t saying much. When not stressing over lacrosse, he dominates his peers in NCAA Football 2009 and works for the Portland Trail Blazers.
February 6th, 2009 at 12:06 am WordPress abc
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