First of all thank you to Coach Weddell for getting everyone up at 5am, nobody has ever been up at this time, but we all managed it.
Bill and Tom Hardy drove us down to Gettysburg at light-speed, checking out the ladies all the way. The Nando's Shark was going on for the 100th time (video will be uploaded) and we found out tha Chris Cook can breakdance.
We finally arrived at the campus and went to sign in to the tournament only to find the seven foot hybrid American Lax bro's in there, but the Knights werent phased. When the game time arrived we proved everyone wrong against the Cheasepeke Rock Lime, losing 7-5 but showed that England players can play Lacrosse against these American hybrid lax bro's. Ryan got 3 goals putting his blinged out Chrome stick to good use. Jamie and Dane also scoring some nice goals. Ed had a great game getting 57.6 save percentage (Shout out to coach Gaebel and Dan), Adam got two assists and Jake got one.
The lads are happy with the way we started and we are looking to improve throughout the tournament. Big day tomorrow, three games and an early start.
Lets go show the people what we can do.
The Unknown Knight.
Thursday, 30 June 2011
The Game - Coaches Comments (now includes Coach Armstrong)
We arrived at Gettysburg at 12 (thanks to Tom and Bill Hardy) just in time to register, we booked into our rooms at the beautiful campus and took in a game before we had to get ready for our exhibition game against Cheasapeke Rock Lime from Baltimore (on Pitch 3). The lads where excited to play and we walked down to the game with the cross of St George flying, we drew quite a crowd and it was great to see our own fans Bob and Aca Carney, Jane Ford and Mick cheering us on.
We had a great start but went 1-0 down, but the knights fought back with Goals fom Dane Carney from an assist from Adam Jordan and then a text book fast break goal from Jamie Tomlinson, assisted by Jake Weddell to make it 2-1 to the Englanders. The Knights had to get used to clearing within 30 seconds and it took some getting used to, we played a lot of Defence in the first half but Eddie Thornber made some amazing saves and the D managed to keep them out for the most part, we just couldnt get the ball in our half enough and we went into half time 6-2 down.
We wanted to make this a positive expereince for the lads, making supporting each other a key point as we knew this game would be a learning process. The guys played a lot better and Jon Clowes stepped up and stripped the ball a number of time to put the ball on the Turf, then enter Ryan Hunns who went into over drive with three unanswered goals the first off a dodge for a fake and finish, then a stunning high bouncer off the hard dry turf and finished off the hat-rick with high to low shot on the run that stung the bottom corner.
The game finished 7-5 and we had learnt a lot, if we had had more posession in the first half we would have been closer to the win but the real tournament starts tomorrow in the main stadium at 9am, the warm up has got us excited and we are looking to make every game close with the experience we have gained today.
The games are fast and intense and the lads relished the new style and are excited to play again.
Goals
Ryan Hunns 3
Dane Carney 1
Jamie Tomlinson 1
Assists
Jake Weddell 1
Adam Jordan 1
Tomorrow's Games
Group Pool Games:
Game 1 vs Buffalo (9am/Pitch1)
Game 2 vs Shore Skipjacks (3pm/Pitch 2)
Game 3 vs CT Hurricanes (5pm/Pitch 4)
Check back for photos from Bob Carney soon.
We had a great start but went 1-0 down, but the knights fought back with Goals fom Dane Carney from an assist from Adam Jordan and then a text book fast break goal from Jamie Tomlinson, assisted by Jake Weddell to make it 2-1 to the Englanders. The Knights had to get used to clearing within 30 seconds and it took some getting used to, we played a lot of Defence in the first half but Eddie Thornber made some amazing saves and the D managed to keep them out for the most part, we just couldnt get the ball in our half enough and we went into half time 6-2 down.
We wanted to make this a positive expereince for the lads, making supporting each other a key point as we knew this game would be a learning process. The guys played a lot better and Jon Clowes stepped up and stripped the ball a number of time to put the ball on the Turf, then enter Ryan Hunns who went into over drive with three unanswered goals the first off a dodge for a fake and finish, then a stunning high bouncer off the hard dry turf and finished off the hat-rick with high to low shot on the run that stung the bottom corner.
The game finished 7-5 and we had learnt a lot, if we had had more posession in the first half we would have been closer to the win but the real tournament starts tomorrow in the main stadium at 9am, the warm up has got us excited and we are looking to make every game close with the experience we have gained today.
The games are fast and intense and the lads relished the new style and are excited to play again.
Goals
Ryan Hunns 3
Dane Carney 1
Jamie Tomlinson 1
Assists
Jake Weddell 1
Adam Jordan 1
Tomorrow's Games
Group Pool Games:
Game 1 vs Buffalo (9am/Pitch1)
Game 2 vs Shore Skipjacks (3pm/Pitch 2)
Game 3 vs CT Hurricanes (5pm/Pitch 4)
Check back for photos from Bob Carney soon.
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Coaches Diary Day 3 of Camp.
Rain stopped play tonight, huge storm, we had an amazing recruitment talk by the college coaches at camp and the players got an idea of what level they should be playing, how much to expect to pay, other options like Post Grad years at the Hill Academy and also Junior college and what the process involves. The feedback I have received is amazing and I have been blown away by how impressed everyone is with our boys. The players are tired so no Players Blog tonight as an early night is in order.
The pinneys came in today and they look amazing, great job by Tom Hardy and Graph tex. The boys also received mouth guards for the tournament.
I had a visit from Justlacrosse.com's Dennis Pettit today it was great to see him and I really appreciate the support he has given me and the knights over the years.
Last day tomorrow and a day of Games only, lets see who wins the championship game and makes the All-Star team.
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The pinneys came in today and they look amazing, great job by Tom Hardy and Graph tex. The boys also received mouth guards for the tournament.
I had a visit from Justlacrosse.com's Dennis Pettit today it was great to see him and I really appreciate the support he has given me and the knights over the years.
Last day tomorrow and a day of Games only, lets see who wins the championship game and makes the All-Star team.
Game day and rain stops play!
The Knights Uniform by Graph-tex! see us at
The Gait Cup, Gettysburg, PA.
Toby, Tom B and Jo
Monday, 27 June 2011
Player Blog Day 2
Today was a good day for the Knights we improved session after session and had great success in some of the challenges set in the shooting drills this afternoon.
Lewis was the winner of the fastest shot competition followed closely by Jon C, Ryan and JT.
We where also split into teams for games during the last session today, we worked well together and with other campers.
As the days pass we are becoming a team and its starting to look really good.
Some of us had Player video interviews for Warrior/Brine which may appear on the web at some point in the future. Thanks to Dan Holdridge and Chris Davis.
Overall we are all having a great time as a group, having fun and improving day by day.
The other Unknown Knight.
Lewis was the winner of the fastest shot competition followed closely by Jon C, Ryan and JT.
We where also split into teams for games during the last session today, we worked well together and with other campers.
As the days pass we are becoming a team and its starting to look really good.
Some of us had Player video interviews for Warrior/Brine which may appear on the web at some point in the future. Thanks to Dan Holdridge and Chris Davis.
Overall we are all having a great time as a group, having fun and improving day by day.
The other Unknown Knight.
Coaches Diary Day 2 of Camp
It was a hot day in Upsate NY today but the lads seemed a lot fresher, the jet lag has passed
and they seem to be picking up what the coaches are telling them more each day, ive had a lot of nice comments about the lads from coaches at the camp and hope we have suprised a few people!
Lewis sat out the morning with a strained back, but made a dramatic come back this afternoon to shoot 88 mph in the shooting comp, each day they are improving and seem to be having more fun with each other on and off the field.
Coach Beville (Cortland State) arrived today and was an LDO at Timperley back in the day, a great coach and he passed on some valuable advice to our D men.
We had a shooting demo from players like Matt and Mike Abbott, Brice Queener, Merrick Thomson and
Coach Beville (with a long pole), it looked like scary prospect for Dan Distefano in the goal but he held his own with these guys blowing shots past him from 10 yards!
The boys also had a sneak peak of next years Warrior and Brine equipment from Dan Holdridge with free give aways and a breakdown of how the equipment is made and put together.
In the afternoon the guys where split into teams and tonight we played some games under the lights in the stadium, on the way back the guys seemed happy with their day and the usual banter was flying, we had some bumps and bruises today and some players where supporting Ice Bags...................a big thank you to Cindy the Camp trainer for looking after them!
Every player seems to be relishing the challenge and im sure are loving everyday, the coaches at the camp are amazing and make it fun but they teach so well and concentrate on the little things, this is why they are so good at this game and hopefully this will rub off on our guys and they will bring this back home with them to improve the national game.
Picture - Eddie Thornber with his Goalie Coach Ben Gaebel (National Champion 2006) and Dan "never lost a high school game" Distefano JD high school who will be at Vermont in the fall. Eddie looks like a different player and these guys have helped him so much over the last 2 days!, a big English thank you to them both.
I better watch my spelling tonight as Coach Gaebel is a follower of the blog and will critic this in the morning, except he doesnt know how to spell Colour (the English way).
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and they seem to be picking up what the coaches are telling them more each day, ive had a lot of nice comments about the lads from coaches at the camp and hope we have suprised a few people!
Lewis sat out the morning with a strained back, but made a dramatic come back this afternoon to shoot 88 mph in the shooting comp, each day they are improving and seem to be having more fun with each other on and off the field.
Coach Beville (Cortland State) arrived today and was an LDO at Timperley back in the day, a great coach and he passed on some valuable advice to our D men.
We had a shooting demo from players like Matt and Mike Abbott, Brice Queener, Merrick Thomson and
Coach Beville (with a long pole), it looked like scary prospect for Dan Distefano in the goal but he held his own with these guys blowing shots past him from 10 yards!
The boys also had a sneak peak of next years Warrior and Brine equipment from Dan Holdridge with free give aways and a breakdown of how the equipment is made and put together.
In the afternoon the guys where split into teams and tonight we played some games under the lights in the stadium, on the way back the guys seemed happy with their day and the usual banter was flying, we had some bumps and bruises today and some players where supporting Ice Bags...................a big thank you to Cindy the Camp trainer for looking after them!
Every player seems to be relishing the challenge and im sure are loving everyday, the coaches at the camp are amazing and make it fun but they teach so well and concentrate on the little things, this is why they are so good at this game and hopefully this will rub off on our guys and they will bring this back home with them to improve the national game.
Picture - Eddie Thornber with his Goalie Coach Ben Gaebel (National Champion 2006) and Dan "never lost a high school game" Distefano JD high school who will be at Vermont in the fall. Eddie looks like a different player and these guys have helped him so much over the last 2 days!, a big English thank you to them both.
I better watch my spelling tonight as Coach Gaebel is a follower of the blog and will critic this in the morning, except he doesnt know how to spell Colour (the English way).
Breakfast in NY
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Knights Blog featured on www.justlacrosse.com
Thank you to Dennis Pettit and his amazing website justlacrosse.com (upstate NY's best Lax website) for running a feature on the team and blog!
Coaches Diary day 1 & Player Diary Day 2 (day 1 of Camp)
Coaches comments - After a two hour delay in Philly we made it to Syracuse and then to Hamilton (40 mins away) the home of All American Lacrosse Camp at Colgate University, our base for 4 days.
After Pizza and the new Gear give out which included Helmets, stickers, Maverik Socks and Apparel by Graph Tex the boys stayed quiet for five mins and began the painful application of Helmet Stickers, tis went pretty well with only one set having to be thrown in the bin!..........result! the lads seemed really happy and I think Toby was very close to sleeping in his new helmet. by this time the adrenaline that had got us through the day had began to wear off and the lads hit the hay (well it was 4am UK time).
All is well with the knights lets see what tomorrow brings
Player Diary: Day 1 of Camp
After getting the kit last night, it has become obvious that we have gelled so well as a team, we are all getting on so well and the banter is flying!
Today we found out that the Americans struggle to pronounce Bracegirdle at the Registration this morning and after numerous attempst we had to help Bill Hardy (the owner of the camp) to say it.
We also found out that Josh Kinder could potentially have O.C.D and Eddie may be colour blind.
After a hard first day it is obvious we are all still jetlagged and in need of some well earned kip before Breakfast and a plate full of streaky bacon (or ten for Tom B and Ed) and hash browns mmmmmm..................! at 7am (12pm UK).
The Unknown Knight!
...............................
Coaches Closing Comments - The guys had a great time today and impressed a lot of players and coaches at the camp, the lads are getting used the US brand of Lacrosse and coaching, the knowledge and advice that the coaches are passing on will be invaluable to us at the Gait Cup and beyond.
The lads spent a lot of time at the Camp store today and lets just say made a few purchases! dont worry they are being sensible as they know there may be other things they need to spend their money on later in their 9 day trip, they are a great bunch of lads who have got to know a lot about each other and im sure they are missing you all, but for know they are enjoying being in the US and Lax'in all day everyday.
I couldnt be prouder of the way they get behind each other and am sure in the future they will look back on this as an amzing experience, its not just about learning about Lax but about other cultures, themselves, their team mates and what its like to be away from home.
They are a credit to you and this team.
back tomorrow - Scott
Thank you to Mr & Mrs Hardy, Tom Hardy, Graph Tex and all the coaching staff & trainers at the Camp.
After Pizza and the new Gear give out which included Helmets, stickers, Maverik Socks and Apparel by Graph Tex the boys stayed quiet for five mins and began the painful application of Helmet Stickers, tis went pretty well with only one set having to be thrown in the bin!..........result! the lads seemed really happy and I think Toby was very close to sleeping in his new helmet. by this time the adrenaline that had got us through the day had began to wear off and the lads hit the hay (well it was 4am UK time).
All is well with the knights lets see what tomorrow brings
Player Diary: Day 1 of Camp
After getting the kit last night, it has become obvious that we have gelled so well as a team, we are all getting on so well and the banter is flying!
Today we found out that the Americans struggle to pronounce Bracegirdle at the Registration this morning and after numerous attempst we had to help Bill Hardy (the owner of the camp) to say it.
We also found out that Josh Kinder could potentially have O.C.D and Eddie may be colour blind.
After a hard first day it is obvious we are all still jetlagged and in need of some well earned kip before Breakfast and a plate full of streaky bacon (or ten for Tom B and Ed) and hash browns mmmmmm..................! at 7am (12pm UK).
The Unknown Knight!
...............................
Coaches Closing Comments - The guys had a great time today and impressed a lot of players and coaches at the camp, the lads are getting used the US brand of Lacrosse and coaching, the knowledge and advice that the coaches are passing on will be invaluable to us at the Gait Cup and beyond.
The lads spent a lot of time at the Camp store today and lets just say made a few purchases! dont worry they are being sensible as they know there may be other things they need to spend their money on later in their 9 day trip, they are a great bunch of lads who have got to know a lot about each other and im sure they are missing you all, but for know they are enjoying being in the US and Lax'in all day everyday.
I couldnt be prouder of the way they get behind each other and am sure in the future they will look back on this as an amzing experience, its not just about learning about Lax but about other cultures, themselves, their team mates and what its like to be away from home.
They are a credit to you and this team.
back tomorrow - Scott
Thank you to Mr & Mrs Hardy, Tom Hardy, Graph Tex and all the coaching staff & trainers at the Camp.
Map of the Campus (well half of it)!!!
Check in
Check in at camp.
The boys have their new gear and Helmets a big thank you to Stockport, Cheadle Hulme and Bramhall councils and the parents committee, this wouldnt have been possible without you"
Saturday, 25 June 2011
Friday, 24 June 2011
Knights Captains Announced
Monday, 20 June 2011
Sunday 19/06/11 Farewell BBQ
Everyone that attended & provided food.
Didsbury Cricket Club
Judith Burns
Diageo
House fo Fraser Manchester
The Kinders
Rob Nicola
We raised a huge £859 on the Raffle!!!
Monday, 13 June 2011
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