Team Washington - Summer 2014 Recap
Team Washington sent four teams back east this summer to play in some of the most competitive tournaments in the country. "Champ Camp" in Baltimore, "Battle of the Hotbeds" at the University of Delaware and the "Tri-State Nationals" at Princeton brings together some of the most competitive and talented players in the country. Overall this was another very successful campaign for Team Washington.
Let’s start the recap with our young guns, the rising freshman. The Team Washington - Chums traveled to Long Island, New York to compete in the "Warrior Classic" at Hofstra University for the second year in a row. Coach Tierney puts on a great tournament and the Chums, which were led by Coach John Baumann (Head Coach - Bellevue HS) who is coming off his third straight Washington High School State Championship, and Coach Brian Johnson (Head Coach - Tahoma HS), showed well after a slow start in the first game to rebound nicely and finish the tournament with a winning record. They beat teams from Long Island, Connecticut and New Jersey. The boys returned home for a couple of days rest and then boarded the charter bus to Bend, Oregon to compete in the inaugural Oregon Lacrosse Classic hosted by Rhino Lacrosse. The Chums were joined by Coach Ian Lee (Head Coach - Newport HS) on the second half of their summer tournament schedule This short tournament saw the Chums go 3-1 overall but unfortunately the one close loss kept them out of the championship game. Overall, well done Chums!
The rising sophomores, the Team Washington - Coho’s were the first team out on the road as they traveled to Princeton for the "Tri-State Nationals" to compete in the sophomore A bracket. Coach Dejon Hush (Head Coach - Lake Washington HS) and Coach Jack Visco (Head Coach - Bainbridge HS) had the boys ready to go even though they opened up with a loss to the eventual bracket champion Garden City, but went on to win four of the next five games to earn a quarterfinal birth where they lost a close one by a goal to Tri-State Navy. The next two days were spent recharging the batteries and touring the Princeton and Rutgers campuses. Then it was on the train to Baltimore for the "Champ Camp Challenge". The Coho’s played well throughout the tournament and dominated the competition on their way to the championship game with an 8-1 record. They faced a Long Island team and quickly jumped out to a 3 goal lead, but the boys could not hold on and slowly ran out of gas. Still a great job by the rising sophomores as they went 12-5 in the two tournaments.
Coach Brandon Fortier (Head Coach - Issaquah HS) and Coach Jordan Goldstein (Youth Program Director - Issaquah Youth Lacrosse) led the Team Washington - Sockeyes on a tough road as they went first to "Champ Camp" and then to "Battle of the Hotbeds". It took a couple of games before the rising juniors found their rhythm, but they left Champ Camp winning three of their last five by beating teams from Boston, Texas and Maryland. The boys traveled to the University of Delaware with some confidence and played well by winning 3 of their last four games and finishing a tough tournament with a winning record. The Sockeyes played a tough Long Island team to the wire in the first game but lost on a fast break goal in the last minute. Congratulations to Ryan Egland from Issaquah who was invited to play in the Hotbeds all-star game. Great job Sockeyes!
The Chinooks were led by Coach Ian O’Hearn (Head Coach - Mercer Island HS) and Coach Sam Hutson (Head Coach - Skyline HS) as they went to UMBC in Baltimore to compete in the second stage of the highly selective "Shootout by Under Armour". This tournament played host to only 26 invited teams from around the country for a strong round of pool play. There are no easy teams at this one. The Chinooks battled through the pool play and made it into the championship bracket where they faced a top seeded Long Island Sting and walked away with a big win! Unfortunately, rain put a halt to play that night and the Chinooks had to play an early morning game and the playoff run was over. Sean Hanrahan, attackman from Bothell-Inglemoor, represented Team Washington in the Shootout All-star game and managed to get an assist. On to "Champ Camp" were they boys rallied and ended their Baltimore experience with a 5-3 overall record beating some good teams and playing some tough teams close on the campus of Johns Hopkins University. Way to represent Chinooks!
Team Washington takes great pride in the core principles of putting the best coaching staff on the field for every level in our organization, as well as choosing the most competitive tournaments in the country for our teams. It's because of the knowledge and proven success of these coaches that our teams and players achieve so much during the summer (i.e. individual skill development, improved lacrosse IQ., team systems/concepts and understanding of the college recruiting process). We'd like to thank all of our coaching staff for the summer of 2014, for all of their time, expertise and commitment to the development of lacrosse in Washington!
2014 Team Washington - coaching staff:
Jack Visco - Head Coach at Bainbridge High School
John Baumann - Head Coach at Bellevue High School
Brandon Fortier - Head Coach at Issaquah High School
Dejon Hush - Head Coach at Lake Washington High School
Ian O'Hearn - Head Coach at Mercer Island High School
Ian Lee - Head Coach at Newport High School
Sam Hutson - Head Coach at Skyline High School
Brian Johnson - Head Coach at Tahoma High School
Jordan Goldstein - Youth Program Director for Issaquah Youth Lacrosse