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Player Spotlight: Jackie Jahelka

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Corey Winkoff

Who is your Favorite Athlete of all time?

This one is so hard, I don’t think I have one.

When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Ever since I was young, I have been surrounded by teachers. Numerous people in my family are involved in the education program, and I have inherited the same interest! I’ve wanted to be a teacher ever since I was little.

Who is your Role Model?

My role model is my older brother Stephen. He truly defines the words perseverance and hard work. I am so lucky to have someone like him to look up to and to aspire to be like.

What is your favorite motivational quote?

“Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” -Muhammad Ali

What was your favorite thing about playing lacrosse in college?

The memories and friendships I have created with my teammates.

What is your favorite thing to do when you’re not playing or coaching lacrosse?

I enjoy playing tennis, reading and spending time with my family and friends.

What’s your guilty pleasure?

Any show on the Bravo TV network, specifically the Real Housewives of Orange County.

What is your best sports memory?

Winning back to back Division 2 National Championships!!!

Did you have any pregame rituals?

I don’t have any pregame rituals, but during the game I always have to play with either a scrunchie or bow in my hair.

What is the one thing you can’t live without?

Unfortunately, I would have to say my cell phone.

OT QUESTION

What would the world be like without you?

A lot less pink!!!!

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Why Coach Dunne Has No Voice

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Corey Winkoff

He coaches every play, of every game.

He doesn’t let the same mistake happen twice.

He doesn’t let you get away with selfish play.

He cares.

He’s an equal opportunity yeller.

He coaches both sides of the ball.

He doesn’t settle for the team taking steps backwards.

His team played 4 games in 1 day.

#FLG #FLGLAX #DEVELOP

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Make the Most of Road Trips

Posted on October 3, 2015 by Corey Winkoff

Today, myself and a group of our FLG coaches were travelingup to Ithaca, NY. Our FLG middle school teams are competing in a one-day tournament tomorrow, so we figured it would be best to head north a day early and settle in. Personally, I’ve been to Ithaca several time. I visited Ithaca while going through the recruiting process, I’ve been to Ithaca during my college days, and I’ve been to Ithaca to coach youth lacrosse tournaments. Ithaca, NY is home to Ithaca College and Cornell University, two great schools. Being that I’ve seen these two schools on several occasions, I wanted to see somewhere entirely new.

A big part of our job as Club Lacrosse Directors is building relationships with College Lacrosse Coaches, learning about different schools, and seeing different campuses all over the country (pretty awesome, I know!) Reason being, it’s our duty to help guide and educate High School studletes through the recruiting process. The more people we know and schools we’ve seen, the more knowledge we can relay to our families. It’s sort of like how guidance counselors within High School’s help match specific students to one specific school.

Today, we had the pleasure of stopping by at the University of Scranton. Most people recognize Scranton, Pennsylvania from the hit television comedy “The Office.” Now, after visiting the city and touring its streets, I think of Scranton, PA as the town with that magnificent Jesuit University. Not only did we get the opportunity to tour ‘Electric City’, we got an opportunity to do it with the Head Coach of Scranton’s Men’s Lacrose Team. Coach Doug Sage took us through campus buildings, the newly renovated campus center, and into the heart of the city. Coach Sage just finished his fourth year as Head Coach and is taking the Men’s Lacrosse Program in one direction, UP.

The best part of our trip was talking X’s and O’s with Coach Sage at lunch. FLG coaches Eric Dunne, Brandon Mangan, Mike Wink, and myself talked about the FLG methodology, the concept of using multi-colored lacrosse balls to represent different rules in drills, the purpose of playing small area competitive games in practice, and much more! Coach Sage was very receptive to learning about FLG’s coaching methodologies. We spent some time learning how Coach Sage has worked to build the Scranton Lacrosse Program and why he really enjoys the University. I was very impressed with how he ran his program. From the importance he puts on keeping his studletes’ grade up to how hard he makes his kids work. It’s no surprise Scranton is now competing for Conference Championships and NCAA Playoff births.

A big thanks to Coach Sage for giving us an opportunity to meet up with him today and show us around Scranton.

We all have an impact on the recruiting process of High School studletes. The more we can learn as Club Coaches and High School Coaches and the more Colleges and Universities parents can show their kids, the less pressure High School studletes will have during their recruiting process. Also, this will allow recruits to make more educated decisions on where to attend.

Make the most of your road trips.

See somewhere new.

Learn about the places you go.

Make the right choice and it will be a great choice.

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Lax4all

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Corey Winkoff

If you’re reading this, you probably have some sort of gently or un-used lacrosse equipment sitting in the corner of your garage or (for you organized people) hanging on that slat wall of the garage. You guys are in luck, because we know just the place to get that lacrosse equipment off your hands and out of your garage!

Our Lax4all Program is a non-for-profit organization that initiates and sustains lacrosse programs in non-traditional communities on Long Island. Throughout the year, we are always looking to gather lacrosse equipment to be used within our Lax4all Program. The equipment gathered will be given out to young studletes who are new to the sport or who are looking to get more involved in the sport.

Below is a list of items that we could always use for studletes in our Lax4all Program. 1 being the most needed item.

1. Lacrosse Sticks (Boys & Girls) – we could never have too many lacrosse sticks. The first thing we give to new players is a stick. Getting a stick in as many player’s hands as possible is the fastest and most successful way to spread the game.

2. Goggles, Helmets & Gloves – the next step for introducing players to the game is provide a quality pair of gloves (Boys) and a helmet (Boys) or pair of goggles (Girls). This allows Lax4all coaches to do many more drills and introduce more advanced concepts to players.

3. Arm pads, Shoulder Pads, Chest Protector – Providing the remaining hard goods allows more players to get a complete set of equipment and one-day participate in the leagues we provide for players in the Organization.

4. Cleats – Cleats are great for players that have never played a field sport before. Some players only have sneakers because they’re used to playing indoor sports, such as basketball.

5 . Bags – It’s great to have extra bags so we can give them out to players who have a full set of equipment. Players can then put all their equipment in bags, as opposed to putting everything on their lacrosse sticks. This damages their lacrosse head and affects their play.

The mission of Lax4all is simple, spread the game. Similar to FLG, we want to utilize lacrosse to build more than just athletes.

Visit our FLG Lacrosse Events CALENDAR to see where you can drop off gently used or un-used lacrosse equipment. We accept equipment at any FLG related event. Thanks!

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It’s Over!

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Corey Winkoff

My son has been playing lacrosse since Kindergarten. Since a young age, he’s had a great group of friends. My son and his friends played on the same travel basketball, football, lacrosse, practically every sports team you can think of together growing up. They are very competitive with each other. It has always been that way. This past summer, all of my son’s friends made verbal commitments to Division I schools. Everyone found a school except my son. It is now the fall semester of his junior year in High School and I feel as though it’s OVER.

Is it really OVER or did your son’s recruiting process just START?

For a parent to say it’s OVER because their son has yet to verbally commit to a school by his junior year shows they are too concerned with their child attending a top 20 Division I school. These top 20 DI schools represent the less than 2% of NCAA Collegiate programs recruit studletes who are freshman and sophomores in High School. A parent with this attitude shows me they don’t realize there are some amazing schools that fall into the 98% of NCAA programs (which is over 300 schools!) who start to recruit studletes who are juniors or seniors in High School.

Meaning, if your child hasn’t found a school by the start of their junior year, so what?! There are hundreds of other schools who are just now starting to recruit your child. Continue to be patient, be persistent, respect each opportunity, look at the glass half full. Because if you ask us, it doesn’t seem to be over, it sounds like it’s only the beginning.

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Win the Winner

Posted on September 29, 2015 by Corey Winkoff

Win works at the sushi-counter of the Fresh Market on Jericho Turnpike. Win has a wife and child that still live in his home country far, far away. Win is also my friend.

What I like most about Win is his attitude. Every time I walk into to the Fresh Market and see Win, he greets me with a smile on his face.

Win is an extremely hard worker. He is the first employee in the Market to have his section prepared for the day ahead. Win is working hard to not only support himself, but to give his family an opportunity to come to America and be with him.

Win doesn’t make excuses, nor does he tolerate those who choose to.

Win is flexible. If a customer doesn’t see something they want, he asks what he can do make them happy.

For Win, it is a positive attitude, great work ethic, intolerance for excuses, consistency, and flexible mind that gets him through the day. To me, that is called winning.

Each day, I learn from Win. For today, so can you.

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What Makes Your Club Different?

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Corey Winkoff

Many times I’ve been asked, “what makes your club different?”

The answer is simple, it’s not for everybody. Each year we evaluate the type of families we want to be a part of our club. Most of the time, our discussions have little to do with the reason families join our program in the first place. Lacrosse brings families to our club, but lasting relationships are built with those who share the same cornerstone values we teach. Enthusiasm, communication, discipline, selflessness, effort, and reliability are the values we want to see in our club.

If you have a passion for lacrosse, that’s great. If you want lacrosse to be used as a platform to educate, encourage, and inspire…even better!

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Importance of Practice Plans

Posted on September 27, 2015 by Corey Winkoff

Having a practice plan is essential to running a successful practice. At every FLG Select Team practice, our coaches have a typed plan to help guide their team through a productive practice. The format of each and every FLG practice is the same. With that said, the overall goals, expectations, and drills at each practice change. Below is an example of an FLG Select Team practice plan:

Practice Plan: Saturday (9-26-15)

Pre-practice: Goalie Warm-up & Partner Passing (Outside, Inside, Levers, Quicks, BTB’s – Everything Forward and Backward)

:00 :30 Approaches (Defense & Goalies) Coaches – Bennett, Wink, Dunne

Pop and Move (Mids) Coaches – Nazz, Timmy & Corey

Fish Hooks (Attack) Coaches – Corey & Mangan

:15 :45 Build Up 1v1s Mids (Nazz, Corey & Holman) Attack & Def (Wink, Bennett, Mangan & Dunne)

:45 :15 2020/22 Offense w/ Corey and Brandon/Nazz, Star Drill 2020/22 Poles and 2021/23 Team w/ Dunne, Holman, Bennett

:00 :30 2021/23 Offense w/ Corey and Brandon/Nazz, Star Drill 2021/23 Poles and 2020/22 Team w/ Dunne, Holman, Bennett

:15 :45 6 v 6 Both ends by team

:30 :00: Ball-Hunt/Break-down

Walibees (9/26/15)

1. Stick checks over getting your hands on people

2. Dodging to Feed

3. Having your back to the ball

Now, what’s essential to building a great practice plan?

Its important to always put the date at the top of your plan. This allows you to use that plan the following year and build off it.

Find a format that works for you.

Doing something productive “Pre-practice” is a great way to get the team to start practice on time. Also, it allows the team to start practice warmed-up, loose, and energized.

Everything must be timed. If you don’t put a time limit on each drill, you could spend the entire practice focusing on 1 thing. Stay on schedule!

Coaches and players should know exactly which drills they are running. If you don’t assign specific drills to specific coaches, than coaches won’t know what they are supposed to be running during practice. If players don’t know where they’re supposed to be going, you will waste precious practice time deciding who should go where!

Make sure you have goals for each practice. The practice above focused on building up to team offense and team defense.

Find 3 walibees that should be limited throughout practice. Walibees are plays that shouldn’t happen more than once.

For more practice plan ideas, feel free to email us at info@flglacrosse.com

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Phone Numbers on Club Lacrosse Websites

Posted on September 25, 2015 by Corey Winkoff

Recently we did a study that looked at websites for over 300 lacrosse clubs around the country. The ‘number’ 1 thing we were looking for (see what I did there) on these websites were phone numbers. Unfortunately, a whopping 60% of club lacrosse websites failed to put up a phone number. Of the 40% that HAD their phone number on their website, only 10% had a phone number on their HOMEPAGE. This means, 90% of the club lacrosse programs in our study either HAD NO number on their website or HAD a number, but you were forced to search for it on their website. Making people search for your club programs phone number is definitely a negative. However, not having a number on your site is a BIG negative for a variety of reasons. Below we listed 5 BIG reasons why you should have your clubs phone numbers on the front of your website:

Lacrosse clubs that run showcase events, such as FLG, cannot find a way to contact you. These are missed opportunities for your players to attend recruiting or training events. FLG looks to connect and build relationships with club lacrosse programs, non-profit organizations, families, college coaches, and vendors by shooting out a phone call. If we can’t find your number, it makes it really difficult to build that relationship!
College coaches who want to recruit your players cannot find a way to contact you. Coaches that cannot contact a club may choose to recruit a player from a more responsive/reliable club program. Being that the recruiting process is getting faster and faster, college coaches can’t call the player or player’s family. Therefore, they will contact the club lacrosse team they play for. If they don’t have your number, than how will they get in touch?!
Parents interested in your club have no way of contacting you to ask questions about your program. Researching lacrosse clubs online can take a lot of time and energy. Some parents prefer being able to jump on a phone call to learn more about your club. Make it easy for new parents to give you a call and answer any questions you may have.
Not having a phone number makes it look as though you have something to hide. Not being able to easily make a one-on-one interaction with a company is alarming and frustrating. Lacrosse clubs are in the service business. It’s our duty to answer and assist parents, coaches, and other club directors on a day-to-day basis.
A phone number bridges the gap between online and offline engagement. Customers want to know there is someone behind what they see online. Being able to dial a number and speak with someone that represents your lacrosse club is a great way to spread your club program’s mission and help grow your business.

Continue to build relationships, help studletes, connect with parents, and be receptive to new interactions. Most importantly, help your business and those within it by adding your phone number to your website!

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It Gets Late Early Out Here

Posted on September 24, 2015 by Corey Winkoff

When the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center opened up in Little Falls, NJ – families and kids flocked to take part in the programs inspired by his values. One day, Yogi’s friend turned to him and said, “Isn’t it great to see all these kids and families here at the museum?!” Yogi replied, “Yes, it’s a great site to see, but we need bigger bathrooms.” This comment is a microcosm of what Yogi stood for. With all the great things happening, Yogi noticed something that needed improvement. He noticed an overflow of kids and families in the bathrooms. He sensed discomfort and chaos. As opposed to getting angry and frustrated with the crowds filling up the museum’s bathrooms, Yogi went directly to the root of the problem and said this needs to be fixed. Today, the bathrooms have been renovated and families can flow in and out of the museum with comfort and ease.

Youth coaches face the issue of chaos at practice, during clinics, and at camps more often than not. Bringing a large group of kids together on a vast field can make it very difficult to get things done. However, if you as a coach notice the kids in your group talking to each other, trying to knock their teammates stick out of their hands, or simply standing around for long periods of time; you’re immediate instinct should never be to blame the kids. Do what Yogi would do. Change the way you run the drill or change the way you engage with player’s in that huddle. Create an experience with shorter lines, challenging rules, a faster pace, and more fun! Let’s not forget why kids truly enjoy youth sports, it’s because they love to play. Talk less, challenge, encourage, and have your kids play more. If you do this, you’re player’s will start saying, “Hey Coach! It gets late early out here.”

This Blog Post is in honor of Yoga Berra – An iconic role model for his peers, his public, and the thousands of children who read about and visit the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center. Rest in Peace.

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