2008 season

[Hi-Line Lax]

I'm actually still listed as our "head coach" for all the contact issues with the PNCLL and MCLA... but it is a great help to have Phil on the sidelines this year (also to our assistant coaches Ryan Hanavan and Dejon Hush when they are available). I do, however, believe that our program shouldn't necessarily be used as a guideline for other programs... we were pretty lucky with a sort of perfect storm, only one part of which involved our coaching. I would definitely recommend to WSU (and everybody else for that matter) to get as many responsible adults in your corner as possible, just in case someone who is committed now has a change of heart come fall or spring time.

Side note... pretty stoked that WWU will be joining us in Dallas next week not only representing themselves and our conference, but also showing that dedication and commitment from the student level can still do great things.

[Movin' a Couch]

So, who is going to decide when WSU is out of the PNCLL doghouse? Are there RULES or not about who may coach a team? And when will the WSU club regain the privilege/honor/RIGHT to choose its own coach? If the answers to any of these questions are "When the Executive Board sees fit," then I'm going to have to point out the insanity of the situation. Punishing the current club for the actions of the former club is like saying that ALL WSU students are witches forever.

[nlyon02]

I want to say thanks for all the support, but unless you were on our schedule in 2004 you would not understand how bad it is. It is going to be hard to get a coach yes, but it is understandable with how bad it was. I did not play here than, but attended WSU the year after and heard how bad it was. No one ever showed up to practice, only half of the team would ever travel making the game roster 10 or 11 players, and that was if we even showed up at all. Then when we did show up everyone was hung over and would just head hunt after being down 2-20. So I do understand why we are in the dog house, but thanks for the support and I hope we have a chance to play a lot of you next year.

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

So, who is going to decide when WSU is out of the PNCLL doghouse? Are there RULES or not about who may coach a team? And when will the WSU club regain the privilege/honor/RIGHT to choose its own coach? If the answers to any of these questions are "When the Executive Board sees fit," then I'm going to have to point out the insanity of the situation. Punishing the current club for the actions of the former club is like saying that ALL WSU students are witches forever.

Peter,

I guess I finally have to chime in here. . .

The EB consists of 8 volunteers who give their time and energy to the players in this league in hope of providing the best possible playing experience for the 400+ college lacrosse players in the Pacific Northwest. Of those 8 volunteers, only two are actual head coaches. Our job as an executive board is to insure that YOU have a great league with solid competition. It is my personal goal to leave this league better than I found it, and part of that responsibility is making sure we don't have teams in this league that fail to meet their obligations.

If we just arbitrarily accepted every team into our league that applied, we would see multiple forfeits every year. Teams would skip road trips when they knew they were going to get throttled. Dues would not get paid. . .our league could not exist.

It is critical we scrutinize every application for membership in this league. It has nothing to do with a "dog house" - it is our job as the voted executives of the PNCLL to protect this league and it's future.

Having an adult, non-playing head coach is part of the equation, but it certainly is not a guarantee of success. Linfield had a fantastic coach, but still the program fell apart and failed the league in 2007.

There are several critical elements that we look for with every team that applies for admission to the PNCLL, and it is the same for programs that fell apart like WSU and new upstart programs that apply for admission.

The most important is the head coach. With a solid head coach comes discipline, organization, commitment and longevity. Ideally, when we bring teams into the league, they have a non-student, adult head coach who lives near the campus and will be present for the forseeable future. This is obviously not easy in Pullman, but it is the ideal. It is also crucial that the team has a good relationship with the University, as Jake has worked so hard to regain. Lastly is finances. . .which is the main reason WSU decided to wait one more year to apply to the league. They had no idea that each team pays thousands of dollars to be a part of this league. They do now, and I hope they come to the fall meeting ready to go.

I will work closely with the players and coaches of the WSU program to help them take the proper steps towards joining the PNCLL A division. . .much the way I held Boise State's hand through the process. If WSU comes to the meeting as organized and prepared as BSU did two years ago, I see little reason why they would not be a part of our league again.

[Movin' a Couch]

Jason,

You make a compelling argument for thorough scrutiny, and I understand the potential for teams to neglect their responsibilities. You're right. I reacted to what I read as the tone of Dan's post--I envisioned the EB members assigning WSU's fate too subjectively and with an unfair emphasis on their judgments of a potential coach. I'm sorry for questioning the EB's justness.

[Ryan Hanavan]

I'm actually still listed as our "head coach" for all the contact issues with the PNCLL and MCLA... but it is a great help to have Phil on the sidelines this year (also to our assistant coaches Ryan Hanavan and Dejon Hush when they are available). I do, however, believe that our program shouldn't necessarily be used as a guideline for other programs... we were pretty lucky with a sort of perfect storm, only one part of which involved our coaching. I would definitely recommend to WSU (and everybody else for that matter) to get as many responsible adults in your corner as possible, just in case someone who is committed now has a change of heart come fall or spring time.

Side note... pretty stoked that WWU will be joining us in Dallas next week not only representing themselves and our conference, but also showing that dedication and commitment from the student level can still do great things.

Are you trying to call me a "responsible adult"?

[Dan Wishengrad]

Jason,

You make a compelling argument for thorough scrutiny, and I understand the potential for teams to neglect their responsibilities. You're right. I reacted to what I read as the tone of Dan's post--I envisioned the EB members assigning WSU's fate too subjectively and with an unfair emphasis on their judgments of a potential coach. I'm sorry for questioning the EB's justness.

We all have the same goals and interests here, Peter. As I said earlier, I want WSU back in the PNCLL. We just need to make sure that there is adult leadership to go along with this dedicated group of students, to make sure that the club is back for good this time and can build towards being a competitive A Division program over a 2-4 year period.

At the PNCLL tourney Bob Baumstark served as an Assistant Coach to Jesse Savage for WWU. Bob's background was coaching football, but when his son Jim wanted to play lacrosse he volunteered to take over as the first Port Angeles High School lacrosse coach, and learned lacrosse right along with his players for four seasons. There has got to be a person like this who lives in or around Pullman who could be recruited, and who could become successful as the Cougar Lacrosse coach/manager as part of a long-range plan to build a stable, succesful team.

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

Are you trying to call me a "responsible adult"?

I certainly didn't.

[DontSpillDaBeansWish]

Go WSU!