Check out the rest of the article “How Stony Brook -Yes Stony Brook – Became a Lacrosse Power” on ESPNW

You may just find some quotes from our very own girls director Robyn Pastuch!

#Flg #Flglax #flglacrosse #studlete #letsgostonybrook #seawolves #provepeoplewrong

http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/article/12834185/how-stony-brook-yes-stony-brook-became-lacrosse-power

Be seen by the best / Learn from the best

If you are serious about pursuing a path to college using your strength in athletics, showcases are a great way to get in front of those college coaches. It’s important to get this exposure early on and to get out there consistently. But, choosing the right showcases is critical. After all, you want a showcase to do exactly that: showcase your skills and talents.

Unfortunately, not all showcases are equal. Be sure to call the Showcase Director before registering and ask the important questions.

What do you need to know before signing up?

Find out the basics first: when and where is the event being held, how much does it cost and what does that cost include?

Then, learn more about the coaches: what coaches are going to be there, are they working the event or just recruiting and who is coaching the players?

Next, get a feel for the caliber of the players you’ll be competing against. For example, you’ll want to know if this is an invitation event, where do the players come from and how do they get picked for an event?

—

Showcases offer tremendous advantages:

• Exposure to college coaches
• Growth as a lacrosse player
• Insight into the recruiting process
• Chance to meet other players
• Collegiate-level coaching
• A feel for your competition

You’ll get to see how you stack up against elite players locally and often nationally. You’ll travel to great venues and get to visit some colleges. Best of all, you can get a real taste of the college experience. That’s right, some of the best showcases have players stay in the college dorms, eat in the campus cafeterias and get coaching from college coaches!

—

What to Avoid When Deciding on a Lacrosse Showcase

As we said before, not all showcases are equal. Be sure to steer clear of showcases that:

• Provide unequal playing time for participants at the event
• Don’t encourage passing, so that you may never get to touch the ball
• Don’t offer enough game time. If your team never wins a face-off, you may never get to touch the ball
• Enlist coaches to work their showcases who would rather not be there
• Make false promises. Showcases may advertise one thing, but provide another!
• Offer no or low-quality video highlight footage to capture your plays
• Allow any kid to sign up and play at the event. You want to be among serious quality players in order to show off your skills.

 

The bottom line: talk to the Showcase Director before you register. Get the answers to all your questions and make a smart choice that can really make a difference in your future.

Good luck!

 

Robyn recently joined FLG as director of our girls program. She’s an outstanding coach, a seasoned recruitment scout and was a solid student athlete. Having scored 366 pts during her four years as varsity starter in high school, she went on to receive a four-year scholarship to the University of Connecticut and played offense for the Huskies lacrosse team. But, who is she off the field? We sat down and had a chat with her to find out.

Who’s your Favorite Athlete of all time?

Mia Hamm.  I grew up playing soccer first and I’ll never forget watching that 1999 World Cup Championship game!  The U.S. team was amazing!

 

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

I wanted to be a teacher for most of my life; I even taught for awhile. I loved working with kids and wanted to help people.

 

Who’s your Role Model?

I really look up to my brother. He has worked really hard to get to where he is today and he continues to make strides in his field and impresses me almost daily.

 

What’s your favorite motivational quote?

Hmm…I love quotes – “Do something today that your future self will thank you for.”

 

What was your favorite thing about playing college lacrosse?

I loved being a part of something amazing. We had some major ups and downs throughout my four years, but I loved every minute of it. The 6 am workouts bonded me with my teammates in ways that you can’t understand until you go through it. 

 

What one thing would you change about your college career?

I wouldn’t have been as hesitant as a freshman. I wish I came into UConn with more confidence and really stepped up. It took me longer than I would have liked to really get going.

 

What made you choose UConn?

I love that even now I get to watch UConn athletes play on TV. (UConn’s women’s basketball team was part of March Madness!) UConn is all about the athletics (and academics of course), and since there are no professional teams in Connecticut, the entire state roots for UConn.

 

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

I spend most of my free time at the gym; but, I also love to paint/doodle and hang out with my 6-week- old niece Mackenzie!

 

What’s your guilty pleasure?

I love nail art and makeup.  It’s a problem. 

 

What is your best sports memory?

Playing in my senior game at UConn and hearing the crowd chanting my name every time I touched the ball.  There is no better feeling to me than playing in a big game.

 

Happy Whiteboard Wednesday

5 ways to COMPETE with CLASS:

1- Let your play speak for itself: keep your mouth shut

2- Look opponents in the eyes while shaking hands

3- Clean your bench after the game

4- Play clean – Play by the rules

5- RESPECT the game and it’s history

#whiteboardwednesday #wbw #flg #flglax #flglacrosse #studlete

Playoffs are right around the corner. Competing in a playoff game means you will  be faced with pressure packed situations. In the words of John Wooden, “Just be yourself.” When you are faced with a pressure packed situation, don’t try and do too much. Do what you do best. Just be yourself.

Below we would like to highlight some of our FLG girls studletes who have been stepping-up big for their teams all year!

Since November, it seems as if one of the most strenuous activities as a Harvard student involved neither academics nor athletics. Instead, the two had been replaced with the daily routine of checking the weather on your smart phone after waking up in the morning. The anxiety and tension normally felt on test and game days now seemed to arrive promptly every morning following the sound of my alarm. As I unlocked my iPhone, I would allow myself to hope for the off chance of a nice, warm day only to be confronted by the same reality that the Greater Boston Area felt for five months: snow. Snow followed by more snow followed by more snow. “I thought lacrosse was a spring sport!” commonly became the hospitable phrase I used around Kirkland and the athletic department before even saying hello. Then, all of a sudden in the midst of March, Christmas came again, as we had our first day above 50 degrees. After many months of snow days and Netflix marathons, I can happily report the weather has taken a turn for the better.

One of my favorite things to do on nice days is take a walk through Harvard Yard on my way to class. The trees are full with their leaves and everyone is out on the colorful chairs reading, relaxing and enjoying the nice weather. Each time I walk through the yard, I am reminded about how my time started here as a freshman; the friends I hadn’t met yet, the classes still to be taken, and the experience yet to be had. I remember on my first day of class, I walked out of class with one of my TFs. He thought it was a great thing that I was a student-athlete at Harvard because the life lessons I would learn in the classroom would carry over onto the lacrosse field and benefit my athletic career. While this has been true, when I walk through Harvard Yard each day, I am reminded that there is one lesson that has been instilled in me by my coaches and teammates on the other side of the river that has helped both my academic and athletic career here the most: the concept of family.

My family has always been and always will be the most important thing in my life. The constant and unwavering love they send every day to me from New York drives me to do my best in everything I do while I am four hours away from them. Coming into freshman year, I was nervous and questioned how, for eight months out of the year, I would ever be able to be away from the people who I loved the most. However, my fear and anxiety began to dissipate the second I stepped foot into the Harvard lacrosse locker room. In our first team meeting, Coach Wojcik said that this was the Harvard Lacrosse Family and that everything we did, win, lose, or tie, would be endured by everyone, together. I was comforted by the fact that I would have a family while away from my own, but I was unsure if I ever would be able to feel the same way about my ‘family’ in Boston as I did about my family back on Long Island.

Fast forward to this year and the lessons that Coach Wojcik spoke about on my first day in the locker room could not be more true to my life and to the 2015 Harvard men’s lacrosse team.  There is an incredible bond that forms with a group of individuals after you have put in countless hours of hard work together, each and every day. It is a bond that is hard to understand if you aren’t experiencing it for yourself, as I hadn’t yet on my first day of freshman year. The 6 AM fall work outs, the off field conditioning sessions with Coach Mullen, the agony of the run test, the thrill of beating No. 6 Cornell, the despair after losing close games, and so many others. All of these experiences wind together to create a unique sense of brotherhood, a sense of family, between you and your teammates who go through all those experiences with you. The happiest moments of my days are seeing my teammates in passing through the Yard, the occasional funny team email over our list or knowing some of them will be in my classes. The love we have for one another is what truly separates our team from any other team or group on campus. Almost opposite of what I was told freshman year, I firmly believe that it is the love and desire that I consistently give for my teammates has lead to my successes in the classroom and on the lacrosse field.

I am not sure when it happened throughout this year but, at some point along the way, the line separating the eight people in New York whom I love more than anything and the forty teammates I have up on campus vanished completely, as they became more than my family at school, but a group of guys I view as my literal family. Through the ups and downs of this year, through the adversity of a season ending injury, wins and losses, the one constant throughout this whole experience has been our family, something Coach Wojcik has told us since Day One of our time here.

Currently, our team is in Princeton, New Jersey set to take on the Tigers tonight under the lights on national television (ESPNU). It is essentially playoff time for our team, as we most likely need to win our next two games to make the Ivy League Tournament. However, even under the circumstances of ‘pressure’, I find myself smiling as I write this blog. Pressure, adversity, opportunity, whatever you want to call it, I wouldn’t pick anyone else but the group of guys in our locker room to go to battle with tonight as the game begins at 6 PM. No matter what their role, every member of our team will give their best effort for sixty minutes, not because of their desire to have the most goals or caused turnovers or ground balls, but because that is what you do when you love your teammates more than yourself – you don’t let a minute go by in your life where you don’t give your very best for them. That has been the greatest lesson instilled in me by the Harvard Lacrosse family and is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

#RollCrim

For today’s Whiteboard Wednesday, we have 5 ways to show acts of selflessness as an athlete:

1. Make the extra pass. If you have a teammate that’s open with a better opportunity to get the ball upfield, get off a higher percentage shot, or who can help your team, then get them the ball!

2. Communicate! Communication is one of the most important parts of the game. Is your teammate about to get crushed? Let them know! Is it your teammates turn to slide? Let them know! Communication can help you become a more selfless player on the field and better person off the field. Communicate how you feel to your boyfriend or girlfriend. Communicate with your parents or guardians about where you are and if you’re safe. Communicate with your coaches if your frustrated. Never stop communicating!

3. Highlight your teammates. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of being interviewed after a big team win, make sure to shift the attention away from yourself and towards your teammates. Lacrosse is a team sport. Don’t forgot those who helped contribute to your personal or teams success.

4. Grunt work as an upperclassman. Helping a freshman carry water bottles out to practice shows selflessness and compassion. It’s important to make underclassman feel comfortable on a team. Especially when you have freshman playing with 16 and 17 year olds.  Never forget, you were once there.

5. Pick your teammate up when they’re down. This can be physically or mentally. Sports are filled with tough times and frustrating moments. If your teammate isn’t mentally into a practice or game, show empathy by asking what’s wrong. Then, do what you can to pick them up. Did one of your teammate suffer a serious injury that has put them on the sidelines? If so, don’t forget about them because they are injured. Keep them involved in the team and make them feel like their presence can help you win!

#FLG #Studletes #FLGLAX #WhiteboardWednesday

Happy Motivational Monday

Just because you have confidence in your abilities, doesn’t mean you have to talk about them. Being humble will reward you in the long run. Having a humble attitude will allow one to develop on a daily basis. Humility will help one to learn from each and every person they meet. Remember, you don’t always learn what you’re supposed to do from those you meet. On some occassions, those you meet can teach you what not to do.

Stay humble, remain confident, and you will be on the right path to competitive greatness!

#MotivationalMonday #BeHumble #BeConfident

After graduating from Sachem North High School, Evan Bloom played both lacrosse and football at Dartmouth. He was voted the lacrosse teams Blue Collar Award in 2012 and 2014, as well as the Inaugural Class of 1980 award in 2014.

During his playing days, Evan led the football team in tackles his junior year as a reserve defensive back. On the lacrosse field, he was an impact player for the Big Green.

Upon graduating Dartmouth in 2014 – Evan commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. Evan is currently assigned to Naval Air Station Pensacola where he is training as a student naval aviator. We could not be more proud of Evan!

A big thanks to Evan’s dad, David Bloom, for sharing all of Evan’s accomplishments!

#FLG #STUDLETE #Alumni doing great things

Happy #WhiteBoardWednesday and #HAPPYEARTHDAY!

Here are the Top 5 Foods for Athletes that are grown in the Earth:

1- Bananas

2- Pineapples

3- Avocados

4- Nuts

5- Beans

Now get outside and enjoy #EarthDay!

#WhiteboardWednesday #FLG #FLGLAX #FLGlacrosse