Lady Titan LAX Family.

Wow, what a season! That seems to be the first thing to comes to mind as I type this to you. This season was one of the most difficult and the most exciting seasons I have coached in the 8 seasons here at LSW. First, I want to say my heart-felt “Thank you’s” to the coaching staff, the players, parents, Mr. Rasdall, and the LSW Lacrosse Board for helping us throughout the season. I am truly blessed to be surrounded by such great people.

Looking back at the season, so many great memories that come to mind are the “ice bowl” when we played Shawnee Mission in single-digit wind chills, the St. Louis and Columbia trips, and the playoff games we played just this past week. We were never short of drama, laughs and excitement for sure. This group of girls seemed to really enjoy each other’s company, and it’s that culture we had this season that makes me so happy to be coaching for this team.

This season will mark the end of an era for our coaching staff. After 5 seasons with us, Coach Chris Cook will be stepping down as the Defensive Assistant Coach so he can cheer on his daughter Cookie at Rockhurst University. Chris is responsible for putting together one of the most formidable and consistent defensive squads with multiple All-Metro players through his time as a coach, and is also responsible for many wins for us due to our high level of conditioning. I want to express my gratitude to Chris for his passion, work ethic and phenomenal coaching style that worked so well with the players over the last 5 seasons with us and during his time as a youth lacrosse coach. His presence on the field and on the sideline will truly be missed.
This season will also mark the end of another era. After 4 seasons with us as the Attack Assistant Coach, Brian “Whistle, Whistle” Cox will be hanging up his coaching whistle to take a well-deserved break from coaching after years with youth lax, being the first Head Coach at LSHS, and then with us at LSW. He will remain on the KC Metro League board in his current position of VP of High School Competition, so I’ll be lucky enough to cross paths with him from time to time. Brian put together a great high-flying offense that consistently produced over 100 goals per season and helped our team become one of the most dangerous and exciting teams in the metro. His coaching has also produced All-Metro players, and this season built an offense that had 5 different players scoring double-digit goals over the season. A former adversary while at LSHS, and now friend, I want to say “Thank you” to Coach Brian for all he has done for our team and our league over the last 4 years with us and also during your years in the youth lacrosse program. The words “Whistle, whistle” and “Again, again” will always hold a special place with us.

As you can now see, the best and most consistent coaching staff will be short a couple of coaches. I will be looking for replacements over the next couple of months as we have to start thinking about next season. If you are interested in discussing the position, feel free to call me at 816-977-5707.

Now that we are about to head into the summer (woo hoo!), let me give you a quick look at what’s coming up:
- Boys vs Girls Lacrosse Game – We are still working out the details, but as of right now mark your calendars for Thursday 17 MAY at 5pm. We will be playing on the girl’s practice field right behind the tennis courts. Parents and family are more than welcome to come watch. This had been an annual tradition for years and we had not done it over the last 2 seasons because both teams had been going deep into the playoffs. This season produced an opportunity for us to do it, so we are going to try it.
- Tuesday 22 May is our end of year Lacrosse Banquet. You should have seen communication for it from the LSW Lacrosse Board

Summer Lacrosse Opportunities
I have been approach by quite a few of you asking about summer lacrosse opportunities. There are several clubs in the area, and I try not to favor one over the other. I suggest you take any advice I give you and couple that with some additional research to find the best fit. Here’s what I suggest:

New Players
If you are coming off of your first or second season, I suggest signing up with Blue Lion Lacrosse club, and concentrating on the Summer Practice portion on Tues & Thurs from 6:30pm – 8:00pm at Avila University. Use that time to get instruction from other coaches, college coaches and/or players to build your fundamentals. Signing up for summer tournaments can be an option, but working on fundamentals should be your priority. Their website is http://bluelionslax.com/ for more information.

Veteran Players
For those that have multiple years of lacrosse under your belt, I would suggest either Fountain City or Midwestern Force. These clubs are more tournament-based with practices leading up to tournaments, and these clubs will travel and play against some fierce competition.

Fall Indoor
I have already reserved Lakeland Community Church’s field for fall indoor. Mark your calendars for every Tuesday night from 8-10pm from 11 SEPT – 30 OCT. This is a good time for new players to join us to learn the game, so if anyone is recruiting new players, get them to come to this. It’s truly the best time for new players to learn the fundamentals.

That’s it for now. Have a wonderful summer. Hopefully I’ll see everyone on the 22nd for the banquet. If you have not turned in your RSVP and money to Mr. Rasdall, please do that ASAP so we can properly order the right amount of food.

Thank you again for a wonderful season.

~Coach Jay