Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. A lost season will end on the field for 100 high school lacrosse players from the West, as Adrenaline announced over the weekend that the 10th-annual Adrenaline All-American Games will be played July 25-26 at the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas, and streamed live on ESPN3.
“When these senior athletes had their spring seasons cut short by the current health crisis, it became more important than ever for Adrenaline to recognize these players and send them off in the best way possible,” said Alex Cade, CEO of Adrenaline. “We are thrilled that the timing of our collaboration with ESPN allows us to magnify their great accomplishments and provide these players with the most memorable closure possible to their high school careers.”
2. A national conversation about systemic racism and social injustice has overtaken the dialogue in the lacrosse community, as well.
On Friday, ESPN’s Anish Shroff penned a powerful piece about the state of the sport in this regard, while Archers LC long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff encouraged everyone to “get uncomfortable” and join the conversation.
Harlem Lacrosse released a statement on systemic racism from its executive board. “Many white Americans like to think — and raise their children to believe — that America is a meritocracy. It’s not,” the statement said. “America was built in substantial part on the backs of state-sponsored slavery and discrimination. Generational oppression and the resultant suffering infect every aspect of our society today.”
CityLax is hosting a Zoom panel on Tuesday, June 9 (7 p.m. Eastern) entitled “CityLax Dialogues: Breaking Down Walls, One Ground Ball at a Time.” The panelists are Nigel Andrews (Harvard), Brittany Brown (Penn), Jonathan Mevs (Maryland), Carter Henry (Yale) and Chad Toliver (Rutgers), with SNY studio anchor and former ESPN lacrosse play-by-play announcer Eamon McAnaney serving as moderator.
3. The Virginia men’s lacrosse team expects to have two marquee seniors back in 2021. Coach Lars Tiffany told the Charlottesville Daily Progress that he anticipates first-team All-Americans Dox Aitken and Jared Conners will return for the 2019 NCAA champion Cavaliers.
Aitken’s case is interesting, in particular. He previously committed to play football at Villanova, but will take advantage of a peculiar NCAA rule that allows a player to play four years at a school, go to another and still return to the first university.
“It’s a 20-year-old statute,” Tiffany said. “Not sure why it’s in there, but we’re happy our compliance office found it.”
WHAT WE’RE READING
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Also from the Daily Progress, a story on how Tiffany is taking a hands-off approach to coaching during the pandemic.
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The St. Dominic (N.Y.) boys’ lacrosse team and Portland Jesuit (Ore.) junior Ziggy Berkoff were named US Lacrosse Impact Athletes for service to their communities.
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Four sports national governing body executives joined US Lacrosse’s leadership panel series, “Sports in the COVID Era” to discuss the future of youth sports.
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A Boston Globe article on the efforts of Harlem Lacrosse’s Boston organization to connect inner-city kids with educational opportunities they might not otherwise be able to afford.
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The Kalamazoo College women’s lacrosse team has removed three players from its recruiting list due to racist comments they made on social media.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
Did anyone else notice the lacrosse gloves being worn by the helping hand in this viral video?
Check out this man kneeling — and the people helping him do so.
— Rex Chapman (@RexChapman) June 7, 2020
Humanity. pic.twitter.com/28VpyWKyy2
WHAT’S ON TAP
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The conversation continues, as Matt Hamilton hosts Atlas LC teammates Kyle Hartzell and Pat Young to discuss civil rights from their points of view.
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Brian Logue catches up with former U.S. national team goalie Heather Dow and the first family of Team USA, the Lowes.