New England West 2024

[Laxxal22]

If they can figure out the goalie position, they could be pushing for a top 25 spot in 2024, wouldn't be shocked to see them pull off an upset over one of the "Big 3" (Salisbury, Taft, Brunswick).

Intentional or unintentional shot at the Deerfield faithful on here?

Down year for sure in 2023, but I do believe they finished #1 in the country in 2021. Should it be the "Big 4" instead?

[Finster]

If they can figure out the goalie position, they could be pushing for a top 25 spot in 2024, wouldn't be shocked to see them pull off an upset over one of the "Big 3" (Salisbury, Taft, Brunswick).

Intentional or unintentional shot at the Deerfield faithful on here?

Down year for sure in 2023, but I do believe they finished #1 in the country in 2021. Should it be the "Big 4" instead?

2021 was a bizarre year for lacrosse. Deerfield to its credit went undefeated but not in any manner that would suggest it was a juggernaut. Three very close wins over programs that all had off years.

Inside Lacrosse ranked the Big Green #1, but their mathematical rating came in at #9.

That all said and frankly I don’t care about then, I expect Chip to rise to the challenge of the NEWest competition which in the last two years has distanced itself from Deerfield. Reading this thread, it appears he went and got more PG’s than usual for next year.

[Laxxal22]

I expect Chip to rise to the challenge of the NEWest competition which in the last two years has distanced itself from Deerfield.

Deerfield beat Salisbury and Taft in 2022, and had three total losses (1 to Brunswick, 2 to Lville which isn't a part of West 1).

[Finster]

I expect Chip to rise to the challenge of the NEWest competition which in the last two years has distanced itself from Deerfield.

Deerfield beat Salisbury and Taft in 2022, and had three total losses (1 to Brunswick, 2 to Lville which isn't a part of West 1).

It’s hard to look too far past this seasons 21-10 Brunswick beat down of DA, though I’m seeing that Chip has gotten some big PG talent for next year, notably Peter Buonanno of Rhode Island.

[3rdPersonPlural]

In Re: Taft new coach

Is this a preview of the holistic approach Max Rosner had been injecting into the team culture?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qh2bS0bffo

I have been pondering this, and conclude that getting an all-star squad of 16 to 19 yo jocks to play together well enough to win NEWest1 games seems to be the main challenge. Is this the right way to coach them? It's not like a NEWest1 coach needs to spend half a practice teaching kids how to pick up a ground ball in traffic...

Thoughts?

[pcowlax]

In Re: Taft new coach

Is this a preview of the holistic approach Max Rosner had been injecting into the team culture?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qh2bS0bffo

I have been pondering this, and conclude that getting an all-star squad of 16 to 19 yo jocks to play together well enough to win NEWest1 games seems to be the main challenge. Is this the right way to coach them? It's not like a NEWest1 coach needs to spend half a practice teaching kids how to pick up a ground ball in traffic...

Thoughts?

My thought is I have no idea what that drill/stretch/kink is at 1:31 but yowza, we never did that! Certainly getting a team of all-stars (who did not grow up together playing on town/rec teams and then local clubs but who come together from across the country) to play team first ball is a huge challenge. Creative approaches to this are always good. Lifting the beams looks like something from the Highland Games. I’d say they should wear a kilt for that but wouldn’t want to be mistaken for the Deerfield bagpiper.

[MA Lax Fan]

Just watched the above video, well I tried to watch the above video but I had to stop due to the cringe.

This idea of an out of shape, 40 year old man in a turquoise Patagonia jacket, treating an elite prep school team like they are Delta Force is so painful.

Endless lines like “you can only rely on your brothers to your left or right when things get hard” and then making them mount each other and run across the field is both funny and painful to watch.

I personally think that this approach to building a team seems forced & manufactured.

[Brohan]

Just watched the above video, well I tried to watch the above video but I had to stop due to the cringe.

This idea of an out of shape, 40 year old man in a turquoise Patagonia jacket, treating an elite prep school team like they are Delta Force is so painful.

Endless lines like “you can only rely on your brothers to your left or right when things get hard” and then making them mount each other and run across the field is both funny and painful to watch.

I personally think that this approach to building a team seems forced & manufactured.

This, lol.

[Laxxal22]

I'm kind of torn on it. At my age it's almost impossible not to see that guy as a major hardo and laugh at the whole thing, but 17-19 year olds are easily indoctrinated and this is the type of stuff they eat up. Making content/marketing out of it is more cringe imo, but once again I'm not the target audience. I did think the kids interviewed for it are pretty impressive though.

[MA Lax Fan]

I agree, the players interviewed seem put together. I also think kids today are pretty savvy and can smell manufactured bs.

If you are an old grizzled coach, with a tradition of turning out successful boys (and teams) then maybe this approach is embraced but not for a new coach who introduces himself with this video on social media.

This is my opinion and my take could be proven incorrect.

[3rdPersonPlural]

I'm kind of torn on it. At my age it's almost impossible not to see that guy as a major hardo and laugh at the whole thing, but 17-19 year olds are easily indoctrinated and this is the type of stuff they eat up. Making content/marketing out of it is more cringe imo, but once again I'm not the target audience. I did think the kids interviewed for it are pretty impressive though.

Well, I’m kind of torn too, Laxxal.


I remember when a friend’s son went to AOF as a PG back in 2017, and I watched a lot of games. What bothered me was that AOF team was crazy talented but played like a summer All-Star team that had barely a warm-up together.

I guess that we all know that you can’t win in NEWest1 games if you have a splashy team that plays a season full of All-Star ball, but I honestly wouldn’t know how to coach a NEWest1 roster. Those kids have all had more grueling practices and meaningful games than I’d encountered by the end of my PO-CO career.

The Taft approach features teamwork building and teaches lots of tools that help kids see the open guy and trust the system. Maybe team building is more important than the skill refinement and muscle memory stuff we all recall from our years of lax? At least once the kids get that good?

Maybe not.

Like Laxxal22, I’m torn.

[pcowlax]

One thing I think we can all agree on is not to do whatever abomination was going on at 1:31.

[MA Lax Fan]

Taft should have a man up play called “1:31”.

[3rdPersonPlural]

You guys are mean.

The worst news for Taft is that Cam Kelly '25 has defected to Salisbury

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K-sGkmd3sI

But now he shows up on his PrimeTime club page as a Salisbury kid, and he's gone from the Taft roster.

Dammit!!

[pcowlax]

Must have been that drill.

[3rdPersonPlural]

Must have been that drill.

Yeah....that or he likes to go coat and tie in class, and likes the absence of girls....

[NNELax]

Does Taft go back to being the Taft before Casey D?.....

[Laxxal22]

I know there's been a couple of prep school fair/showcase events for the past few years where kids play and then can meet/chat with a bunch NEPSAC coaches to learn about the different options and start conversations. This is the first I've seen of an individual school having a "prospect day". $175 for a practice, game, yoga class, lunch, school tour, and an AOF pinney... My guess is the boys they actively want to bring in don't have to go to this or don't have to pay for it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cvxd0mbLZjc/

[pcowlax]

Does Taft go back to being the Taft before Casey D?.....

I guess that depends on how far pre-Casey you mean. Rhinos were of course national champ and a buzzsaw power well before he arrived. They will stay upper echelon West-1 but certainly don't see them consistently finishing ahead of Wick and Bury (Deerfield is at an interesting inflection point) even if they keep running the Randy Rhino drill.

[NNELax]

They were not very good leading up to his arrival....