Duke lax coaches check out Beach Blast tournament
Devils in the blue shirts - Duke head women’s lacrosse coach Kristin Kimel and assistant Amanda Barnes were at the Beach Blast Lacrosse Tournament June 29 watching the Eastern Shore Lacrosse Club class of 2016 battle the Frederick Stars Lacrosse Club. Kimel is a former Maryland player who went to Haverford High School. There were several players on both teams who have been attracting Division I interest, but I think I know which ones they were there to see. Since I was not consulted on the visit, I think I better just shut up. Duke has 12 scholarships to spread out over a roster of 35. Players on the Duke roster who played against Cape are Helen Cemmerzell from Saint Andrew's and Taylor Trimble from Episcopal Academy.
FCA Lacrosse – I watched the Eastern Shore Lacrosse Club class of 2018 play FCA Delmarva on Saturday in a close game won by Eastern Shore. FCA stands for Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The team was pretty good, and coaches were down to earth. I caught a great photo of Claire Estes - bright red hair and Princess Leia hair buns. I learned that Claire will be a freshman at Saint Mark’s in fall 2014.
Small town of big events - I learned from Cape Superintendent Frank Mercer back in 1975 that Lewes was a small town of big events that just never shied away from Showtime. Last Saturday around noon the town was jammed up and jelly tight. The last time I saw that many celebrations was when my family moved out of North Philly. Cape had the you-can’t-go-this-way thing going on at the high school, and I thought it was hysterical that spaces designated handicapped accessible were totally non-accessible unless you wanted to get out and move a bunch of cones and canopies - and then how handicapped are you?
Cease and desist - It’s a legal document backed by a court, not a letter written by a private citizen. Yes, we’re talking about Slam Dunk to the Beach, and I wish media members who received C-minus grades in online law courses would stop playing Perry Mason, Jackie Mason or Dave Mason. By the way, the economic impact of the Beach Blast Lacrosse Tournament - 106 games over three days - as compared to other tournaments of similar size is about $8 million. And Google “Beach Blast" and it becomes apparent that no one owns the name; the same with the War on the Shore or the Battle of Route 9.
Four-sport athletes - I have watched a crew of girls come through Beacon Academy that have played four sports a year over the last three years. These girls played field hockey, basketball, lacrosse and track. A few others substituted soccer in the spring for lacrosse. Moving into high school, most of these girls will drop back to two sports. And all sports are not liked equally by athletes who play more than one, and it's not advisable to push this issue because a coach who has to push a kid away from another sport has already lost the battle - the only thing left is to lose the athlete.
Snippets - I am hearing that the Milton 9-10 baseball All-Stars are the real deal; I heard that from W.C. Clark, which is good enough for me. I am curious to see where baseball and softball are going at the high school level because it’s just hard to get a handle on the development of players unless you travel with the travel teams.
Saw former Cape student Susan Brooks at the Striders Women’s 5K last Saturday and got a photo of her with her son Jacob, who looks just like his dad, Jim Brooks, who played football for Cape. Susan joked, “I was no good at sports, but was the best cheerleader in the state." Susan is still effervescent and convivial and so easy to talk to especially when she talks about me in such a nice way. Helen Morrow, 44, of Millsboro won the 5K in 21:44.
The Cape alumni lacrosse game for women will be 8:30 p.m., Thursday, July 10, under the lights at Champions Stadium. Eight seniors will play for the alumni along with D1 players Meg Bartley, Alex Perry, Anna Frederick and Sara Young.
Recent Beacon graduates Liam Zolper and Brooks Buck made the Team Pennsylvania age group lacrosse team 2018-19 as long pole defenders and will compete in the Brine National Tournament June 30 to July 3 in Boyds, Md. Go on now, git!
