CARSON, CALIFORNIA – Tuesday, November 29, 2005 – The Major League Lacrosse (MLL) expansion franchise which will begin play next spring at The Home Depot Center on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills, will be known as the Los Angeles Riptide, the team announced today.
"The decision to name our new Major League Lacrosse team The Los Angeles Riptide was made after an initial list of over one hundred potential nicknames was scaled down to about a dozen which were then tested before numerous focus groups and other interested local fans," said Shawn Hunter, President, AEG Sports. "The name reflects well on not only the exciting, fast-paced, exciting sport of lacrosse but also the southern California coastal area which the team will call home."
A Riptide, by definition, is a strong, narrow surface current that flows rapidly away from the shore, returning the water carried landward by waves. Its name speaks of threatening conditions, only fitting for lacrosse, long considered the fastest game on two feet.
The sport of lacrosse, the oldest-known athletic game played in North America, was originally not a sport at all. Called "baggataway" by the North American Indian tribes that founded and played it long before Columbus discovered the New World, lacrosse originated as a ceremonial religious rite. Virtually all tribes of southern Canada and the United States, except those in the Southwest, played some type of lacrosse, and games were usually preceded by solemn rituals and dances. White settlers in the early 17th century gave lacrosse its European name. French Jesuit missionaries felt that the stick used in the contest resembled the type of staff, or crosier, carried by their bishops and known, in French, as la crosse. From then on, baggataway went by the name lacrosse.
The L.A. Riptide will open play in MLL in the 2006 season as one of four expansion teams, alongside Chicago, Denver and San Francisco entries – all of whom will compete in the newly created Western Division. They join the original six Eastern seaboard teams in Baltimore, Boston, Long Island, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Rochester, who will comprise the Eastern Division.
CARSON, CALIFORNIA –Tuesday, November 29, 2005 – The Los Angeles Riptide have named G.W. Mix as the Major League Lacrosse expansion franchise's first General Manager and John Tucker as their inaugural Head Coach, the team announced today.
"We are quite pleased to be able to hire two such experienced and talented individuals as G.W. Mix and John Tucker to guide the formation and set the direction of southern California's newest sports franchise, The Los Angeles Riptide," said Shawn Hunter, President, AEG Sports, owners and operators of the MLL franchise. "Not only do G.W. and John have tremendous talents, experience and contacts in the lacrosse community, it's also their passion for this very exciting sport that will ultimately establish an exciting and winning tradition for the Riptide. Whether you have played lacrosse, attended matches or are a fan new to the sport, together, we are committed to creating a very exciting new team that you will truly enjoying coming out to support," Hunter added.
Mix, 44, who currently resides in Newport Beach, California, has had a long history in lacrosse. He began his involvement in the sport as a goalie collegiately at the University of Pennsylvania. After graduation, he remained at Penn, serving as an assistant coach on the staff of Tony Seaman (Now the Head Coach at Towson University) for five seasons.
He then assumed the reins at Franklin & Marshall College in nearby Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In his three seasons in charge (1988-90), he led the Diplomats to two berths in the NCAA Division III tournament, including a final four appearance in 1988 the same year he earned NCAA Division III Coach of the Year honors. In 1990, he launched the Warrior Champ Camp, a summer showcase for the best high school lacrosse players in the nation.
In 1991, he returned to his alma mater, and guided the Quakers for four seasons before moving to Charlotte, North Carolina in 1994. Mix is responsible for starting the first and foremost youth lacrosse program in the queen city before moving his family to Newport Beach in 2003, when he founded The Cheetah Group, Inc., a brand development, marketing and management firm, specializing in entertainment and sports.
"I am thrilled to be named the first General Manager of the L.A. Riptide," Mix said. "Along with the MLL, we will continue to revolutionize the way the game is played and bring the exciting fast-paced action of lacrosse to the Southern California sports fan."
Tucker, 44, a resident of Towson, Maryland boasts a long lacrosse resume as both a player and a coach. He was a midfielder on the undefeated Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays team that won the NCAA Division I National Championship in 1984.
Additionally, he played for the unbeaten USA side at the World Lacrosse Championships three times (1986, 1990, 1994) and was the captain of the team in '90 and '94, earning all-World team honors both times. As a professional, he helped lead the Philadelphia Wings to two National Lacrosse League (indoor) titles, earning a league Most Valuable Player award before entering the coaching ranks.
From the sidelines, he has tasted success as well. In 1998, his Baltimore Thunder team was an NLL finalist, dropping the best-of-three game final to Wings. Though he is currently Head Coach at Severn School (a prep school in Annapolis, Maryland), and has previously won four Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association championships – three at the Gillman School and one at Loyola High School – two of the most prestigious programs on the East Coast. He has been named MIAA Coach of the Year three times.
"I look forward to the challenge of coaching the Riptide," Tucker said. "The chance to coach some of the best players in the world combined with the challenge that comes with shaping an expansion team to my liking excites me a great deal."
The L.A. Riptide will open play in Major League Lacrosse in the 2006 season as one of four expansion teams, alongside Chicago, Denver and San Francisco entries – all of whom will compete in the newly created Western Division. They join the original six Eastern seaboard teams in Baltimore, Boston, Long Island, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Rochester, who will comprise the Eastern Division.
Each team in Major League Lacrosse plays a twelve-game regular season schedule, beginning in late May and continuing through late August each summer. Every team plays six home games and six away contests. Riptide home games will be at The Home Depot Center's Track and Field Stadium, with a capacity of 10,000 seats.
Tickets for the Riptide's inaugural season at The Home Depot Center are already on sale, with packages beginning at just $ 96 (adults)/ $80 (youth 16 & under). For more information or to purchase yours today, please call toll free at 1-866-4-LAX-TIX.
