League Playoffs

[teslax14]

Do we know where this year's league playoffs will be held yet?

[Kyle Berggren]

They'll be in Tacoma @ Curtiss High School. We're working away on it now, but it looks like it should be a great event.

[Scrape Mode]

Will there be a game scheduled for all those all-stars??

[Dan Wishengrad]

Will there be a game scheduled for all those all-stars??

There is always interest in an all-star game, Julian, but the logistics of when to play it and now how to pay for it can make it tough to pull off. No all-star game is planned for 2007.

The last time we played an All-Star game at Final Four was following the 2002 A Finals (after Washington beat Oregon ), and the game itself was diminshed by the conspicuous absence of exhausted Ducks and Huskies. It was also anti-climactic coming after championship trophies had been awarded in A and B Divisions. But when we played the game at Qwest Field after the high school state championships the experience was a blast for the PNCLL all-stars and their fans. Kyle took a team of B all-conference guys to Victoria last year. Somehow holding the game AFTER the MCLA national championships seems to make the most sense.

Anybody want to propose a specific plan for a 2007 PNCLL All-Star game?

[Kyle Berggren]

Taking a group of college all-stars to Victoria was quite a learning experience. We had extras, some no shows, some injuries, no ptractice, but plenty of talent. If things work out as planned this year, we'll have another team, maybe the same tournament... I'm not sure yet. We'll meet & practice once so we don't lose another nail-biter to some of the more experienced teams, & finally.... I hope to have an A team this year, but most likely it will be in '08.

[ZagGrad]

The last time we played an All-Star game at Final Four was following the 2002 A Finals

Actually, it was in 03 in Seahawks stadium...THAT was a sweet venue by the way.

We did have one at Curtis High School, though. That's the one that you're refeering to, Dan.

[Kyle Berggren]

I'll go ahead and open this thread up for suggestions. As we're planning this, we expect this to be an exceptional event, we have lots of ideas & things to help with teams. That said, I won't let too many things out of the bag, but if you have any ideas or suggestions, please post them here! This is an event for you guys, more heads will be greatly appreciated.

[Dan Wishengrad]

This is an event for you guys, more heads will be greatly appreciated.

Yeah, right, Kyle. What the PNCLL needs is more "heads"!
As if all that bountiful "BC Bud" doesn't give the Northwest a dubious rep to begin with...

Seriously, I would love to see an A vs B All-Star game, held sometime in late may or June, at a big lacrosse event in Portland, Seattle, or Tacoma. Any advantage in talent one could reasonably assume the A players to have would be offset by the larger pool of B players to draw from (12 teams to 7). It could be a great game, especially if held on a Sunday after the teams get one or two practices together the day before.

[RefZee]

June 2 Oregon State Boys High School Finals...might fit the bill


Z

[Ryan Hanavan]

Seriously, I would love to see an A vs B All-Star game, held sometime in late may or June, at a big lacrosse event in Portland, Seattle, or Tacoma. Any advantage in talent one could reasonably assume the A players to have would be offset by the larger pool of B players to draw from (12 teams to 7). It could be a great game, especially if held on a Sunday after the teams get one or two practices together the day before.

What about Moscow Dan? Just kidding bud, I'd also be happy to help with this in any way. A v. B would be fun, or I-5 vs. the "world" (old NHL style reference). Anything to make it more fun would be great.

[Kyle Berggren]

Fred that might be perfect... A & B coaches of the year could do their respective teams... Maybe 1 practice... The drawback would be the expense, but no one would have to cross a border, & no one should have that much rust on their sticks in June. We'd obviously be missing some players that return home for the Summer, but that's going to happen anyway.

Might be better to do it in Boise, or move it from year to year... Granted no one ever wants to drive, but there's more lacrosse in Oregon than Washington & Idaho, we might turn a few more heads in boise... Maybe spark a little more interest...

[Ryan Hanavan]

I like the idea of moving it from year to year. My Montana/Northern Idaho bias might keep coming out but I would also like to add our region to the mix for a future venue. Spokane and northern Idaho have several high school lacrosse programs and I'm sure a majority of these kids will stay in the PNW for college.

We might even add this event to the "referee recruitment" issue discussed earlier. If the CWU event is going to be used by our officials to invite and evaluate promising new officials, maybe this event could also serve the same purpose?

Holding it in a new location each year can be a challenge, it's always easier to establish a routine, but it could also be very healthy.

[Hi-Line Lax]

I've been thinking about trying to put together a "coach's pick" All-Star type team(s) for some summer tournament or game. The basic idea is that instead of the all-league players, it would be an equal number of players (probably 2) from each team that would be picked by the coach. It should be easy to fill a roster once the coaches know the date(s)...just don't pick guys that can't make it. I think this could be a nice honor for a lot of players that might otherwise go unrecognized and I think it would be a really fun game. I know a few businesses in Missoula that our team is unable to tap for fundraising but are interesting in supporting lacrosse... it's just an idea, but I don't think it would be too hard to cover the costs for some practice jerseys. I hadn't been thinking about this game for the conference playoffs, but now that I think of it, it would be fun to have all the teams in the PNCLL be represented... probably add to the banquet, I liked how the guys came up from Boise last year to be honored.

[teslax14]

So are there two fields at this high school in Tacoma or will all the games be played on one field and I'm assuming that the field is field turf right?

[Kyle Berggren]

1 field, Turf, covered stadium. The 1 field is the largest drawback to Curtiss, however, the cost is unbeatable (free). UPS donates equipment to the HS team, & in return, we don't pay $100/hour to use it.