2009 Maverick equipment review

Due to the amount of manufacturers that make lacrosse equipment I was reluctant to invest in the Maverick line but I eventually gave in and decided to carry Maverick. My first shipment came in the other day and I have to say it is very impressive. Everyone knows the Wonderboy shafts are top notch, have cool graphics, are light and have a great grip. What has been more impressive than the shafts for 2009 are Maverick's protective wear and the Juice head. I've been around lacrosse for over 30 years so I'm not usually impressed with new gear but I must say, the Juice head is awesome. The Juice side walls are a little wider than most heads so you don't have to have a super deep pocket which helps release and control. The head is pretty stiff so I think it will be a great faceoff stick and even defenders will like it. The throat has a slight off set which helps with ball control so I think it is a great head for any position. I'd highly recommend the Juice and just as impressive are the Dynasty and Legacy shoulder pads. Sometimes when I see players try on pads at my store I can see the flaws in the design right away. Today I sold several pairs of Dynasty and legacy shoulder pads and as soon as they go on you can tell that they are comfortable, protect crucial areas and are well constructed. I'm very impressed with Maverick so far and it is obvious that lacrosse players designed this gear not like some of the the other garbage out there. Gloves are due in next week so I'm anxious to feel them but I'm sold on Maverick shafts, heads, shoulder pads and apparel so I'm sure the rest of their gear will be awesome as well.

Shocking lacrosse news

Former University of Virginia lacrosse player Will Barrow was found dead in an apparent suicide.
The 22-year-old Barrow was a defensive midfielder for the UVA squad that won the 2006 National Championship. He was recently drafted 11th overall by the Chicago Machine of Major League Lacrosse and played five games for the team. Barrow was also a standout football player in high school.
News of Barrow's death has come as a shock to friends and family, who knew Barrow as a community leader who worked tirelessly to teach lacrosse to young African-Americans.

I can not believe the news, Will Barrow was supposed to be in grad school and had considered trying out for the Virginia football team since his lacrosse eligibility was over. His death had to be some type of accident, one report I saw said he died of strangulation which would appear to be suicide but you never know. Barrow played in the MLL and I'm sure could have had a promising career in whatever he decided to pursue so a suicide is just truly unbelievable. Barrow was a great athlete that I truly enjoyed watching, I remember one game during the final four where he went coast to coast and ran through about 6 players in route to a goal, the news of his death is very saddening to the lacrosse community.

Bamalax girls win Derek Pieper tourney !

What a great weekend of lacrosse. The U11 boys had the toughest time in Tampa winning only one but the U13 boys did well and the high school girls took home the 1st place trophy ! The game that the U11 won was very exciting, came down to the last minute and they pulled out a one goal victory. On Saturday the U11 boys had a close one but lost in over-time. Overall they held their own except against one team who beat them up pretty good and I'm sure went on to win the championship. The U13 did well on Saturday winning both games but came back and lost Sunday morning by at least 6 goals. There was a U13 player from Florida who was at least 6'1", he matched up against our "Hoover" line of middies that all are under 5' so you could imagine that it was tough for Bamalax to contain him. The U13 has a lot of talent but rely on only 1-2 goal scorers, I think with a little more work and encouragement we could find a more balanced offense. Overall everything was very positive and all the teams played well and for the most part were evenly matched.

Now the girls were the highlight of the weekend, they won both games on Saturday and then faced a tough Florida Lacrosse Club (FLC) on Sunday morning. Regardless of the outcome, both teams were going to face each other in the championship so the Bamalax coaches wisely rested their starters and gave everyone plently of playing time. Bamalax lost the first game 6-4 but knew they had a good chance in the finals. The strategy paid off and Bamalax took home the championship and are now eligible for the Dick's sporting goods tournament of champions in January. The MVP of the weekend was Ashton Cole our stand out goalie. Ashton made some incredible saves and has one of the best attitudes I have every seen on a lacrosse field. Becca Klementz lead the offense and the coaches did a great job utilizing our star player, Annie Kraus on defense during the final game shutting down a Duke recruit until she fouled out of the game. The team really came togehter, some girls really rose to the occassion and moved way up the depth chart, some other still have some work to do but overall I think we all learned a lot about the girls game and are eager to head to Atlanta for the Southern Draw next weekend. Probably my my exciting moment of the tournament was Sunday morning when my daughter picked up a ground ball on the defensive side of the field and went coast to coast for a goal. The way she was aggressively running at first I thought she was Becca and then when she got into the open I was yelling and asked Tom Kraus, "is that my daughter ?" Tom yelled, "yes it's your daughter !" and then she got closer to the goal and everyone was yelling her name and she drilled the shot home. It was an exciting goal even if it wasn't my Taylor but being that it was, made it extra special.

Day 1 Derek Peiper tournament

Day one of the tournament is about to end. The BAMALAX girls are 2-0 with wins over Miami and the Tampa tribe. The girls played well enough to win but can play better and will need to in order to get by the other Tampa team they will face tomorrow. Rebecca Klementz lead the scoring for Bamalax netting at least 4 goals against Tampa and added a couple more in the Miami game. Taylor Cos put one in which made me a proud father and all the girls contributed which was good to see. The Bamalax goalie, Ashton is awesome, she has a great attitude and made some terrific saves to hold the win against Tampa. Ashton made a save with her arm that will definitely leave a mark !!

The U13 team is also 2-0, I missed the games because they were going on during the girls games but I heard the second game was a 5-4 nail biter that had henry Foster scoring the game winner with about two seconds left ! I'll try tp get updates on U11 posted tonight after our coach's game. The weather down here is not much different than Alabama, it's windy and cold, I sold out of hoodies in the early morning and T-shirt sales have been sluggish !! Well, need to get to the room and prepare for my game tonight, don't know what the expect and don't even know who we are playing but it's an opportunity to run around so I couldn't pass it up.

Very cool

I was checking www.al.com for the score of the Hoover VS Minor game tonight and while I was on the forum section I did a search for lacrosse and came across this posting. It's great to know someone appreciates me and recognizes what my family sacrifices for other kids. Don't know who posted this but it makes me feel appreciated and pumps me up for the upcoming season !

Let me start off by saying I don't live in Hoover and my son plays lacrosse for a rival team. But my son does have the privlige of playing for the All-star Elite team the Hoover head coach has established. Y'all have no idea how lucky you are to have that man coaching the Hoover lacrosse team. He and his family have made many sacrafices for those boys and I hope you appreciate him. Without sounding goofy, my son absolutely adores him and thinks the world of him. He's tough but fair and always consistent. You folks in Hoover always seem to be looking for role models for your kids ... look no further. He donates a lot of his time, his energy and his money back to the program. He has an extemely busy and demanding job and a wife and 2 very busy little girls yet he never misses a dance recital or a softball game. His daughters are so very proud of him and cheer him and the boys at every game. Lacrosse has done wonders for my son and I'm scared to think where we'd be w/ out it. My son was never going to be a starting linebacker at Auburn or play baseball for the braves. He's found his place in this world w/ lacrosse.

Bamalax underway

Several years ago I wanted a way to give our best players in Alabama a way to get to know each other and play together so I created BAMALAX. Our first all-star tournament was in Atlanta where we did well and were runners up going 5-2 on the weekend. Over the years we have added some various age groups and now I'm proud to say we have a BAMALAX team for U11, U13, U15 and high school boys and girls ! Today will be our first high school boys practice getting ready for Tampa in January. It's kind of tough to get a full practice because some guys are still deep into football playoffs and even one of our goalies has cross country meets still going on. Several of the players can't wait to play and haven't stopped playing since last summer. At the end of this month, three of the boys are heading up to Maryland to play in a tournament called the Diamond showcase to get some college exposure and I think there are at least 8 players on this squad that could play at a fairly high college level. This year it's all going to be about the attitude, we had one good tournament last summer out of 3 we attended and the difference was attitude and leadership. I'm looking forward to our first practice, should be fun. The BAMALAX girls play the University of Alabama team Monday night in Tuscaloosa, I'm really looking forward to seeing how far the team has progressed, there are some great players on that team so this scrimmage will give the coaches an idea of what they still need to improve on. The girls head to Tampa November 22nd as do the U11 and U13 boys, can't wait to see everyone walking around the hotel with Bamalax apparel on, I always love seeing that !