Coach Zac Guys High School Highlight tape!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlMFn-FprRw

Gait Cup by the Unknown Knight!

The Gait Cup was the first half of our trip to America and it was undoubtedly a great experience. We were placed in Pool A in the top division, amongst some of the greatest youth teams from different parts of America. The team had mixed reactions about coming up against the best teams there but concluded that we had an opportunity  to impress and up our game. 

Our first game was an evening friendly against 'The Clams' who had a couple of players that were notoriously good. We lost but got a taste for the american speed, and a foresight into the rest of the tournament. The following day, the boys woke with the dread of having to play three games in the humid heat, the first was against the 'Hurricanes'. We lost again but we were still scoring a few goals each game and improving our defence. The  2 o'clock game that day was against a team from San Francisco, the "Alcatraz Outlaws" who were unbeaten so far. We managed to hold a steady game against them despite playing defence for the majority of the first half. We also made the most of our offensive plays, with a skilful around-the-back shot from Jake Howarth (a.k.a. Snakey). The rest of the match was postponed due to thunder and lightning, and the second half was to be played the following morning at 7:00am. For the rest of the afternoon the team pigged out of pizza from the local pizza place. The last day of the Gait Cup lay ahead the next day.  

We woke up stupidly early to face the second half against the Outlaws after performing well in the first half. The defence played well and seemed to be performing well under the offensive pressure from the west coast team. We lost but put in a lot of effort and everyone left the game pleased that we gave the current tournament leaders a good challenge. 

By this point, every player was having a shower after every game, however Ben Reddy seemed slightly less up for one and went to collapse on a mattress. Unfortunately this curly haired warrior had to miss the next two games due to a chest infection. The joker's stick skills and banter were sorely missed as we lost the first game against 'Velocity' in the mid-day heat.

But after this game we started the play off matches, and we were matched up against the 'Minnesota Jaxx'. We were all tired of losing and determined to get the win. After going 2-0 down, we started making better decisions in the offence and managed to win the game 10-4. Unfortunately, the stand-in LSM Elliot Condren had a head to head crunch with another player from the Jaxx, and came out of the game with concussion. Thankfully, he's now remembered how to count to ten without using his fingers. 

It was a fantastic feeling beating an american team, every player came off the pitch with a grin on their face. 

After the game, we reflected on the enjoyment we got from playing and were on a high for the next game.

The evening game on this day would decide whether we would have another game the following morning. We had to play the Velocity team we played earlier in the day. 

Regardless of the end result, we went on the pitch with the intention of having fun and enjoying what could be our last game of the Gait Cup. Ciaran Johnson broke some ankles with his explosive split dodges, Ben Reddy 'came back from the dead' to run the length of the pitch and put it past the goalie. When everyone tried to jump on him he said "Go away, I'm ill". Tim Nicol (Current Top goal-scorer) pinged a shot in, under-arm from far out and the game ended 4-2 to Velocity.

It was easily one of the most enjoyable games for many of the players and Coach Scott declared it was one of the most entertaining matches he'd been a part of.

Scott Dagnanleach was also selected for the All-Star game that was to be played that evening. An achievement the overwhelmed him but the whole team were proud and knew he deserved it. Despite the All-Star game being cancelled 10 minutes in, he managed to get himself on the pitch and dance about with some twinkle toes split dodges. The team were supporting Scott in proper English fashion and he even was asked for a photo afterwards with one of the locals. 

Overall, the Gait cup was a brilliant experience, the team improved massively by giving good competition to the Yanks and it wad definitely a tournament never to be forgotten. 

Next stop, Bucknell University for the Bison Brawl.

Finals & Moving day

Today was mostly comprised of having breakfast clearing out our rooms, watching the semi finals and final and moving to Bucknell for our second Tournament the Bison Brawl!

The final was an amazing game between Alcatraz Outlaws and Looneys of Maryland, the Looneys are made up of teams from powerhouse prep league the MIAA, teams like Loyola Blakefield and Calvert Hall etc watch the final from 2013 at the link below, it was a one goal game with an exciting end, Alcatraz had the chance of scoring on a one on one with 30 seconds left but their Coach called a timeout! Looneys where the Gait Cup winners in 2013!

http://www.bearessentiallax.com/app/Page/?n=65570&snid=&org=bearessentiallax.com

http://www.looneyslacrosseclub.com/app/index/list/?org=looneyslacrosseclub.com

We then checked out on the dorms and returned to the gym to hand in our keys! (Well most of them), The Coach Jancyk thanked us for coming he has had some great feedback about us and is excited about our return in 2015! He was surprised how well we did against the elite competition in the highest division and praised us for our high standard of play!

We got back on the school bus at 4pm which left some time to kill, I discovered that the playstation generation do not like to have nothing to do and can't sit still for too long!

The Bus ride was fine and they played music and had a laugh whilst a number of us slept and arrived at the beautiful Bucknell Campus. I was met by Joe Conner and he showed us around the air conditioned dorms! The lads seemed happy and went off to explore after settling in, it is a bigger campus than Gettysburg but we are finding our feet!

More pizza tonight for the boys! And an early night is in order! 

I'm excited about the tournament as we finished off strongly at the Gait Cup!

Zac and Vav have arrived also.

Look out for the return of the unknown Knight blog today!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DvY-xtdyO3A

All Star Game

All - Star Game

Dags and Austin who wanted to give one of our players a five pound note because he wanted to thank us for coming and enjoyed watching us so much! Thanks Austin!

The Longest Day - Knights vs Velocity

After the Jaxx game we made a fuss of Ben Reddy as he had miss the win and got him up and took him for dinner and to get some air, he felt better and wanted to play the next game that was great to hear as Elliott had to miss this game on medical advice!

We walked up to the Stadium to watch our neighbours the Haymakers (Ohio) that a few of the lads had made friends with, I also know coach Pritchard from All American Lacrosse Camp, on the way we decided to stop at the main tent near the stadium to check if any of our players had been named on the All-Star team, I thought a number of our players deserved it from Alex Winton, Scott Dags, Steve Ewing, Ciaran Johnson, Josh Peachey or Scott Dagnanleach...........we where so pleased to read that Scott had made it, he has dedicated himself to this for two years and was so proud of him as where his team mates and coaches, it was a great reflection on the team after all!

We left the stadium on a high to move to pitch 3 and everyone was laughing and joking and seemed really to be having fun!, we where happy for Scott and we all had fun during the warm up, I wasnt concerned and the coaches decided to let them have fun and keep smiling as it may make them play free loose!

We played our best game yet and had over 15 shots id say, I couldnt pick a player to highlight as everyone did exactly what they should have, Tim Collins was outstanding at Face-off, Ciaran came close to getting a well deserved goal as he has worked so hard for the team hitting the pipe and missing another shot by inches later in the game! Ben Reddy cleared the ball on his own to score which sent the bench wild! I dont think the Americans could work out why the coaches and players where laughing on the sideline cracking jokes, the players on the field pushed to the goal again and again and we just didnt stop,they scored a few goals on us but Elliott Hurry's last line of Defense take out on the crease was amazing and the energy on the bench was infectious!

Will Allsop had a standout game, played solid D and cleared the ball on his own, Will Baxter also cleared and drew a penalty whilst in the oppositions half!

We had finally found our groove and we where no longer nervous of playing American Competition, Tim Nicol capped off a great day with a great low rip and the game ended  but we could have won this game twice over in the end but didnt convert our chances...................but had great fun doing it. Id say this was the most fun I had coaching for a long time!

I think the game ended 4-2!

People stopped us after the game to say how much they have enjoyed watching us and that people have been talking about us all week!

It is semi finals and finals day tomorrow and we move on to the next tournament at Bucknell just as we are getting in the groove...............look out!

No Snurdge Rule Rowarth!

I really better go to bed and will give an update on the All-Star Game tomorrow I have been up since 5:45 and now its 00:37, I wanted to to update the blog so the parents can read this when they wake in the am UK time.

We've had a ball....................on to the next one!

The Longest Day - Knights vs Minnesota Jaxx

So it had come down to the next round and we would play the Minnesota Jaxx on a baking afternoon on pitch 4, there is nowhere to hide on this particular field and we got the sun cream out and I asked the officials for a Water break half way through each 20 min half, the team talk was based around that we had now been here for two days and we needed a good performance, we targeted a win against the Jaxx who had already won one game in normal round play!

The kids seemed to believe but when we went two down it looked ominous! But the team have a lot of bottle as we say and we fought back to 2 all and then 3-2 with goals from Matt Rowarth who has got better and better in the Tournament and deserved his first goal and also Alex Russell who is a dangerous dodging and scoring threat and then Scott Dagnanleach! The new found confidence after going up was infectious and the boys seemed to grow and grow throught out the game and dominated from Goalies - great first half by Elliott Hurry and followed by Will Baxter, Defense and Offense you could tell players wanted to score for themselves but team play came first, Tim Collins dominated at Face off, Tig, Ciaran, Grady and Elliott Condren did a great job from the wings!

Joe Baythorpe scored a great goal from a dodge from x and then diving in front of his Defender to shoot a low to the opposite corner, his first goal of the tournament and well deserved, also Joe Harris scored his first goal from just inside the restraining line.

Alex Russell played his best game and ended with 3 goals and Tim Nicol ended the game with with 2 goals. Alex Winton, Jay Moore, Scott Dagnanleach and Steven Ewing also tallied to make it 11-4!

Ben Smith came close with a low to high shot and Joe Cara was unlucky not to score hitting the post twice!

You could feel the pressure lift and the kids looked so happy afterwards, the Coaches felt so pleased that they got what they deserved and hoped this would carry them through in this tournament and the Bison Brawl.

At the end of the game Elliott Condren picked up an amazing ground ball which is something we had asked the players to concentrate on turned gave a perfect pass but got hit in the head atthe same time, he suffered a mild concussion but when asked the day of the week he didnt know which concerned the trainers a little! but to be honest I dont think any of use knew, maybe we all had one, he is fine now and cant thank the trainers at the camp enough for looking after him!
He said he wouldnt have back out and took one for the team! what a Lad!

It is much better to earn something like this and it shows what staying together as team and determination can achieve! it was all worth it!

We would play against Velocity again for the second time in the next game!

The Longest Day - Knights vs Alcatraz part 2 and Velocity!

Today has felt like 3 days in one so much has happened good and bad, highs and lows, wins and losses, illness and injury and probably the game that was the most fun to watch in the whole tournament!

I will try and capture everything but it feels like a very longtime since I was lay in this bed at 5:45 this morning when my alarm went off! So forgive me I I forget anything! I'm sure the lads will remind me!

We woke very early as I mentioned to play the last 27 mins of the game against Alcatraz Outlaws that was abandoned yesterday!

I had lost my voice and found it hard for the first hour to speak which most people thankful for!!! It returned slowly the lads walked down to warm up whilst I woke the sleeping Coaches Vav and Zac!

We got to the field and it was a beautiful morning in Gettysburg with no sign of rain or lightning! I think the lads where feeling the pressure and the coaches knew we where close to putting together a mistake free game but I think this was hard on the players, but as in life you get what you deserve for hard work and perseverance (that will come later).

So we started the game very well, but they jumped out early with a few goals but the lads didn't stop battling. Vav and Zac are a great help and are a wealth of knowledge, they both have experience of US and English Lacrosse. They both played for me for England U19's in 2008 and we have always been good friends since, Jak is well known to the Knights clan and Zac Guy was an All American in High School, an Under Armour All American and is now playing for Georgetown in the NCAA!

Back to the game Tim Nicol has been one of our top Midfield players and is a very intelligent player, he scored 2 against Outlaws and the game ended 8-4 which I was very pleased with as these guys won the tournament two years ago, the kids still seemed to be playing tight and made some errors! We just needed a win to elevate our play and take the pressure off!

We headed back for Breakfast as the game had finished before 8 O'Clock.........we had one last game in pool play against Velocity at 11am in the main stadium to prove our worth and bump ourselves up the table!

Elliott Hurry was back in the goal and his ankle is getting better so that was him off the injury list and it was great to see him put in a great performance, Willy Baxter also appreciated the rest.

I must tell you the players are never down for long and we where still laughing and joking and having a great time, we sit in the dinner hall together and let the kids entertain us, Tiegan Bancroft is everyone's man of the tour and his name has morphed from Tig to Vanilla, to Tiggie Smalls or the notorious T.I.G, rap battles between Jake the Snake have entertained everyone and Tigs dance is one of the funniest things ive seen!

A few lads went back to bed for a nap and some of us sat outside and chatted and continued the banter!

We met out the front of the Halls again and the lads had decided to wear grey for a change of mind set, Velocity are a strong team and we knew we where in for a hard game, the competition doesnt get easier in this division but that is why we are here!

Before we left Ciaran told me that Ben Reddy wasn't feeling well so went upstairs to see him he didn't look good so made sure he was put in a room on his own with a fan and drinks and hopefully he could rest and sleep it off. This was a shame as he is one of our best players!

Elliott Condren has played great for us and he was happy to step up to use the pole to give Grady a break at LSM, as we always say one man goes down one man steps in his place! Elliott would take one for the team later in the day!

We lost the game 9-4 to Velocity with our scorers being Scott Dagnanleach who was having a great tournament, Alex Russell, Steven Ewing and Alex Winton who have all been key players for us.

We concentrated on face off and wing play as Tim Collins was getting up to pace but wasn't getting enough help from the wings.

The Defense where working hard but hadn't put their best game together yet but for the amount of possessions we had the Offense where still producing and creating chances.

We headed to the air conditioned Gym to gather ourselves and the coaches got behind the lads and wanted them to pull together and be a unit and for everyone to do their part!

We where heading to the next round for a chance to still make the semi's and finals, We would play Minnesota Jaxx on field 4 at 3pm (the same field as we played Dallas in 2011).

We went back to find Ben asleep and still not feeling well........................!

The kids character has got them a long way with people at the Tournament people gifting us Gatorade after games, people stopping the boys to talk to them.........we have become quite the celebs and the boys have been blown away by it, we always make an effort and try to leave a good impression on everyone from the canteen staff, the Tournament Staff and the other teams and their parents! 23 men as promised I hope this has changed them as people, the English Lacrosse community and the players parents especially have a lot to be proud of and you shouldn't worry about these kids in the big wide world, they are a special group!

I live my Dream through them!

Knights vs Alcatraz Outlaws

We sat down outside the dorms before the game and had out team meeting and planned on what we needed to concentrate on against a very large and talented Alcatraz Outlaws team they won the tournament in 2011 and had watched them the night before in their warm up game!

We wanted to not create offense for the other team, play team defense and also play our game! we wanted to compete all over the field and make them work for everything and earn their goals!

The game started in intense heat that would turn into a storm later in the game, we really did make them work for everything but their shooting was at a very high standard and shot past Will Baxter's ear for their first goal and continued to shoot well, we slid well and everyone was up for competing against these guys! Josh Peachey led from the back and handled his match up well, the kid he was marking was a beast!

Alex and Alex played well in attack and tested their defenders on multiple dodges!, Alex Russell coming close on a great inside roll and dive and Alex Winton blasting past his man trying to find the open man!

We got our Goal from Cape Cod and Poynton's own Jake Howarth, Alex Winton drew the slide and found a cutting Howarth, Jake caught the ball in his right hand close to the post and shot around the back and scored!

The heavens then opened and it began to rain!, I thought great we are used to this and it may go in our favour!................the refs had been told to abandon the game because of Lightning and we would have a half hour break to see if the weather cleared, we walked to the gym again to hold up and see what happened!

Unfortunately we never returned to the field but the physios came out and invited us into the training room to watch Wimbledon as they where intrigued by the English lads, we stayed in their for 30 mins and the game had been called off and we would play it again in the morning!

The weather continued to be foul and we also missed out playing at 7pm against Amped up and all the games where cancelled for the evening.

We had dinner in the Cafeteria that gets better and better and Jak Vav arrived after his day of trains and buses to get here and cant say how much I appreciate him coming to help out and has been a part of this since day one. He arrived just in time to eat, the lads where looking forward to seeing him and we have spent the night sitting outside having a laugh talking to the other teams and trading!

We found out later from our good friend Matt Edmund's from Georgia Tech that the game would be re-scheduled for 7:15 in the morning and we would need to be up at 6am!..........you can tell that went down well.

Injury report - Elliott Hurry's ankle is getting better and is treating it himself, he is such a nice kid and not someone you have to worry about losing their key or leaving their meal card in the dorms, we are going to see the physios before tomorrows game to see f he is good to go!

The lads are having a great time together and found that Tig has some crazy dance moves that ill try and upload on video!!! haha they really seem to be enjoying being together and are a funny bunch!

Coach Zac Guy will arrive tonight also and will spend the week with us.

Early night for all tonight..............I am going to need coffee!

Knights vs CT Hurricanes

The day started with an early Breakfast at 7am, everyone one was ittle hazy from the heat and intensity from the day before, nothing a good breakfast and many cups of coffee (for me) wouldn't sort out! the food is great and the boys dont stay hungry for long and seem to be enjoying the selection, it gives them a chance to see what you eat really can effect your game performance and also making the most of your downtime is key! Nothing seems to stop Ben Reddy eating or Alex Russell having energy!

After Breakfast we had our pre-game meeting as usual and they are getting used to my time keeping regime!!! 

We had learned a lot from the day before and where determined to clear the ball better, make sure we stepped it in the box (as per American rules) be more aggressive and play our game. As I said last night its a learning process for the lads and gradual improvement is what we want, you have to get experience some how and the Knights are relishing the challenge in the top division!

We walked down to the field in the early morning heat and after the Wake UP!!! drill (the 2011 lads will know what I mean), we looked good in warm up! we started the game in great fashion with Tim Collins and the face off team doing a great job of winning the ball and Alex Winton scored his first goal of the tournament, Alex has been one of our best players and does not struggle to beat a long pole with his speed and has great vision!

We battled hard but again made a lot of passing errors and created offense for the 'Canes! I had no problem with our intensity and determination but our fundamentals meant that we missed opportunities to score and couldn't get the ball to the offense enough!

The Defense played well and are getting used to the pace, sliding and recovering and Rotating a lot quicker Peachey, Allsop, Charlie, Grady and Ben Reddy have all made great plays and just need to stop respecting the other side too much!

Tig Bancroft had a great game as he has all tournament and is a real engine room in midfield with Ciaran "Hench" Johnson!

Elliott Hurry had an ankle injury this morning and saw the Trainer who told him to sit out, Baxter stepped in and made some great saves and also cleared the ball for us a few times!!! (he now has bruised arms).

Alex Russell, Steve Ewing, Tim Nicol, Matt Rowarth, Jay Moore and Scott Dags tried to create offense and had shots but didn't finish!

We where defeated by a fair few goals in the end and the lads looked a little down after the game, we retreated to the air conditioned Gym where we sat and talked it through, I told them before we came that this would be a roller coaster ride, one game up and another down, its how you react from it that counts and we needed to get back to having fun and being a family! Its only the little things that count and it shows that the boys are there and they will come back better players because of this experience!

I cant thank Alison Cara and the Mr & Mrs Smith enough for what the have done for the boys during the last few days taking them to the store and making sure they are comfortable!

Thank You to Vince Cara for helping me Coach he did a great job!

Tim Nicol and Scott Dags had interest from Coaches today.