Archbishop Spalding head coach Zach Burke will lead a team of Baltimore Private School players in the battle to be the first adidas National Lacrosse Classic champion, this weekend at the Maryland Soccerplex.
Once considered impossible because of isolated pockets of popularity and participation, there has never been a national proving ground for high school lacrosse. That will all change this weekend, however, as 16 teams, comprised of the nation's most outstanding underclassmen talent, representing nearly every corner of the country, will gather in Maryland for a ground-breaking event -- the adidas National Lacrosse Classic.
Developed by Level 2 Sports and its president, Joel Franklin, the ANLC will feature 31 games over two days at the Maryland Soccerplex in Montgomery County, culminating with the National Championship Game, at noon on Sunday. Play begins at noon on Saturday, as the teams have been divided into four brackets of four, where they will engage in round-robin competition through the evening. The last set of face-offs are slated for 9:00 p.m. The top two teams from each bracket will all return at 9:00 a.m. Sunday, as the final eight teams battle in a single-elimination bracket leading up to the championship game.
Crowning a national champion is an exciting proposition, but according to Franklin there is a higher goal at stake.
"There is a wide diversity of lacrosse talent throughout the United States, but many of these kids are not receiving the exposure they deserve," said Franklin. "Recruiting budgets for most college programs have not grown at the same pace as the game's popularity and it is very difficult for coaches to find opportunities to actually meet these kids and see them play. We wanted to provide that platform and we are grateful to the folks at adidas for helping make this a reality."
Franklin and his organization truly left no stone unturned in searching for the best of the best. As a prelude to this weekend's competition, Level 2 recruited some of the nation's top high school and college coaches to organize and execute 16 regional tryouts, throughout the country. More than 900 players participated in the open competitions and it was from this pool that this weekend's teams were selected.
All of the tryouts were open to college coaches and every event, which included drills and scrimmages, was videotaped and made available to college recruiters. Thus, even the players who did not make the final teams will have an increased opportunity to play college lacrosse. Likewise, all 31 games being played this weekend will be taped and available to college coaches.
The growth and popularity of lacrosse throughout the United States, in recent years, is undeniable. Once the near exclusive property of the Northeast, particularly Baltimore, Long Island and upstate New York, the number of high schools offering the sport has nearly doubled during this decade and surging lacrosse hotbeds have sprung up in Denver, Southern California and throughout Florida and Texas.
Locally, the MIAA has proudly carried the banner as the nation's premier high school league for many years. From top to bottom, most experts would agree that the MIAA's lofty status remains intact, but this spring proved that there are more than a few out-of-state teams capable of coming to Baltimore and winning.
Loyola Blakefield entered the 2008 season as the nation's top-ranked team and the Dons would eventually go on to win their second consecutive MIAA crown. In March, however, Loyola had a 15 game winning streak halted in a 7-5 loss of Haverford School of Philadelphia, three days prior to suffering an 11-8 defeat to Cherry Creek of Denver, Colo. These were not isolated incidents.
Earlier in March, Fort Collins (CO), a Colorado state champion, came to Baltimore and defeated St. Paul's, another long-time MIAA power, 8-5; LaSalle, also of Philadelphia, defeated McDonogh, 9-8 in overtime; and other MIAA A Conference teams suffered losses to squads from Ohio, Florida and Virginia in 2008.
"What was on the line today was proving that even though we're from Colorado, that all of our guys are as good as anyone else," said Fort Collins goalie Jack Nye, in an interview with DigitalSports, following his team's win at St. Paul's. "It kind of shows we're good enough to play with anyone out here."
Two Baltimore teams, one representing the public schools and one representing the private schools, will look to defend the area's honor this weekend at the "Classic" and there will also be public and private school teams representing Washington, D.C. The other 12 regional squads will represent Atlanta, Chicago, Columbus, Ohio, Dallas, Denver, Greensboro, N.C., Long Island, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Orlando, Rochester, NY and San Francisco.
Zach Burke, head coach at Archbishop Spalding and the DigitalSports Baltimore Coach of the Year in 2008, will lead the Baltimore private school team and he knows the great opportunity available for his players.
“This event gives high school underclassmen the rare opportunity to play with other great players from their area and join together to try to become the best lacrosse region in America," said Burke. "Bragging rights are on the line and the best talent in the country is going to fight for the title of Best lacrosse town in the country. It should be an unforgettable experience for all of the players that get a chance to play in this tournament.”
According to Charlotte (NC) Catholic High Head Coach Dirk Lambertson, who will lead the Greensboro team this weekend, the event is a critical door opener for many talented players.
"Adidas is giving these athletes the access to colleges, universities and lacrosse programs from throughout the country whom they normally would not get to see," said Lambertson. "This tournament gives hundreds of players nationwide the opportunity to travel and play against the best players in the nation. If a player is exposed to the best players, is playing and practicing against the best, the performance level of all the players will rise."
For the winning team, the focus will ultimately shift from regional bragging rights to national pride. This is because the adidas National Lacrosse Classic champion will travel to Orlando in December to face the top team from Canada for the Brogden Cup, a tradition steeped award which used to be reserved for the North American champion of the best post-collegiate club lacrosse teams from the U.S. and Canada. In recent years, it has gone to the winner of a three-game challenge series between top American and Canadian high school age all-star teams.
"To tie in with an international event such as the Brogden Cup, gives the adidas National Lacrosse Classic even more prestige," said Franklin. "We are so appreciative of the support shown by adidas Lacrosse, and others, that have allowed us to create this unique and exciting event."
Link to complete ANLC schedule for this weekend.
Links to all 16 ANLC rosters for this weekend.