Posts tagged lacrosse

Being a player/coach isn’t easy

Being a player/coach isn’t easy, be it sports, business or life in general.

Last weekend was the annual Cape Cod Lacrosse Tournament. For the past four years, my buddies have registered a team and I just showed up to play. I did my part to lead on the field, but I didn’t feel responsibility as a coach.

This year, I stepped it up. I designed our jerseys (and picked the team socks!), worked on the roster a bit more, communicated to everyone, decided the starters, influenced our style of play, (even took some videos to thank our sponsors) etc… all while trying to play defense and have a great time with friends I only see once a year.

It wasn’t easy.

I’m competitive and I like to win. Last year, we did not win (the championship, nor many games). This year, I was determined to change that.

But in the process, I realized it’s a really tough position - being a friend, a teammate and the coach. I wanted to win and yet I also wanted all my buddies to get plenty of playing time. I wanted to coach, but I also wanted to just let my team play the game - purely and free - the way it’s meant to be played.

I know I blatantly made some mistakes as a coach (and as a player!), and it was scary in Game 1 when we lost badly, but I’m really proud to say we won every game after that to bring home the 2010 Championship!

I think the winning formula was a balance between leadership and letting go. When you put the right team together, give them a problem to solve and the tools and trust to do it… good things are going to happen.

And really important, we emphasized having fun on the field. The team we beat was swearing at one another by half-time, while we coolly joked about the previous night’s shenanigans. 

The best compliment on the weekend though was this: 

I heard a lot of people on the sidelines saying how funny you guys were and how much fun you all were having during the game…must be legit if you can have fun and win at the same time!

Be passionate about what you do, have fun doing it and it’ll never seem like work. While I know I learned a lot of this through my career in sports, I’ve had a similar experience in business.

When we started working on HomeField, I know I had a tendency to micro-manage, which isn’t great as a friend, co-worker or ‘CEO’ to my cofounders, Dan and Joe, and our new guy, Henry. But I’ve learned to let go and the results have been phenomenal. It wouldn’t be possible without the trust that we all have with one another.

This week, we’re in my hometown on Cape Cod to get some great work done on HomeField, but also to think big and have fun building a great company together.

So here’s to Beach House Lacrosse - the 2010 Cape Cod Lacrosse Champions - and to my buddies - Dan, Joe, and Henry - for being awesome teammates, letting me be a player/coach.

[Photos by Leslie].

The Season is Here… it’s Always Here.

Lacrosse, per NCAA definition, is a “spring” sport.  I know it’s February and there’s snow on the ground outside my window, but games have started so to me, it’s spring.

Five years ago, I’d be cranking through classes all day before a team lift (always legs on Monday), then I’d put in 2.5 hours battling through drills on a turf field on the roof of the Brown gymnasium, (Yes, on the roof.  No, it wasn’t cool.  It was cold, windy, and half the field was covered in building exhaust… ok, yeah, we sort of relished it), then we’d head inside to watch game film for 30 minutes and finally sit in the ice bath to soak up the soreness.

The coolest part was I did all of this surrounded by 40 other guys who all had the same mission as I - win game #1.  Then #2, #3, #4 and so on…

These days, my competitive career is entirely different.

I probably stay more active in lacrosse than my teammates on the NYAC.  Already this year I took a trip to Miami to play in a tournament.  I had a blast playing with some other amazing players, the competition was solid and I even took an 80mph shot in the ribs that has been painfully reminding me of the trip for a month now.  (Seriously, this bruised rib is one of the most nagging injuries I’ve ever had).

And last weekend, I headed back to Brown with some other alums for a preseason scrimmage against the current Bears team (Unsurprisingly, Providence hadn’t warmed up since I graduated.  Wind chill had the temp around 7 degrees).  Still, it was a great day and us veterans were able to pull out a close win over the young pups.

The win was fun for a moment, but there was still a fundamental lacking for me and I’m realizing how much I miss the bonding of a team working towards a common goal and the inherently high level of competition on a daily basis.

Sure, when my NYAC team starts up soon we will all be focused on winning our 4th straight A.L.L. Championship, but we don’t even practice.  We just show up on Sundays and play.  It’s easier on the calendar, but I know deep down every teammate of mine, and every true competitor out there, needs that battle and that feeling of true team.

But since my lacrosse career won’t last forever, I’ve assembled a new team (different “sport”), uber-competitive, we all have the same mission… and this game is played 24/7.

Brown Lacrosse Compliment

We’ve started partnering with a few other sports/lacrosse communities online - in particular LacrosseAllstars.com - and so far the relationship has been fantastic. You’ll hear a lot more about this partnership in the coming months, but yesterday I had a conference call with a student-athlete at Brown and one of the guys from LacrosseAllstars who followed up with this:

“So far it seems like Brown students/players know how to get sh*t done. Love it!”

I really appreciate that comment personally, but even more so because I know it’s true of most of my teammates. The Brown Lacrosse program produces some really high-caliber young men, and I’m proud to be a part of it.

Original post at the Overtime Media blog.

Re: @LaxAllStars post “Where’s the Love?”

I left this comment on a recent LacrosseAllstars.com post discussing the reputation of lacrosse around the sports community.

“There has been a ton of damage to the reputation of lacrosse over the years - starting with its appropriation from the Native Americans, its niche community hold in prep schools and the Ivy League giving it that snotty air (which is still healthy with that horrible A&F video), a situation made worse by the Duke Scandal, certainly not helped at all by the NLL (which makes it uber-violent) or the MLL (which just makes it uber-desperate for ___________ [Fill in the blank: fans, $$, a website that works, players who care…]) and finally made worse by tragic marketing (here and worse here) by the likes of Warrior.

Lacrosse is one of the truly great games on this planet and lacrosse players are real athletes.  While it’s a shame that we have a bad reputation around town, it’s not insurmountable.

The fix(es)?

- Be a great lacrosse player.  Play hard on the field and outwork every other team around you, regardless of sport.

- And be a great person, too.  Sure, start your usual shenanigans, but when you tally it up at the end of the day, don’t be a douche.

- Coach younger kids!  Help improve play at every level and we will all be better for it.

- Be an ambassador!  I was once somewhat ashamed to be a lacrosse player, given the reputation on campus at the time.  I didn’t tell people I played, because I didn’t want it to reflect poorly on me.  Wrong approach!  If you’re a good guy, there’s no reason to be ashamed!  Tell people you’re a lacrosse player and next time you invite people to a game they’ll say “Oh I know one of those guys, he’s cool.  Yeah, I’ll go to their game.”

These are just a few things we can do.  I don’t have the time to write out the solutions for the NLL/MLL/marketing debacle (though I’ll find some soon).”

Weekend Highlights

I realized I neglected to post last weekend’s highlights. Here they are:

Friday night: A sunset walk, a nice birthday dinner for @daisyames in North Beach, San Francisco and a great stay at the Olympic Club.

Saturday morning: Beating the Olympic Club with just a skeleton crew from the NYAC.

Meeting John Gagliardi, founder of Maverick Lacrosse, and talking about the industry.

Driving through the night, all the way to LA, and catching up with friends from study abroad Australia at Canter’s Deli.

Mowing a Canter’s grilled cheese at 1AM.

Sunday morning, driving up the Pacific Coast Highway to hang by the beach and talk about life, change, and progress with an old friend in Malibu, before jumping in the ocean for a bit.

A new found appreciation for late night dinner options in NYC - precipitated by a long, hungry walk around Berkeley.

Spending Columbus Day working on Berkeley campus, checking out their entrepreneurship program at Haas B-school and scouting their lacrosse team.

And this weekend…

Another birthday celebration for @daisyames, this time with a few friends at b-bar.

Sleeping in and getting some work done on a rainy Saturday.

NYAC lacrosse - beating Team England AND Team Ireland in back to back games on a coldddd and rainy day.

One last birthday dinner for @daisyames, this time with the family at Barolo in SoHo.