Desert Vista High School lacrosse co-captain Brett Lawless never imagined he’d be working out to Latin salsa tunes, but he did last week at All-Star Gym as the team’s practice field lay soaked and soggy.
With the team’s 10th season starting March 9 against Corona High School, the 41-member junior varsity and varsity teams were reticent about losing practice time because of rainy weather, so they and coach Dan Lannon took their calisthenics indoors.
| Date | Opponent | Conference | PR | Rank | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3/09 | CORONA DEL SOL (0-0) | AZ 1 Div-1 | 4 | ||||||
| 3/12 | at Hamilton (0-0) | AZ 1 Div-1 | 8 | ||||||
| 3/16 | at Brophy Prep (0-0) | AZ 1 Div-1 | 1 | - | |||||
| 3/20 | TUCSON TANQUE VERDE (0-0) | AZ 1 Div-1 | - | ||||||
| 3/23 | HIGHLAND-EAST VALLEY (0-0) | AZ 1 Div-1 | 9 | - | |||||
| 3/26 | HORIZON (0-0) | AZ 1 Div-1 | 10 | - | |||||
| 3/30 | at Mesa (0-0) | AZ 1 Div-1 | - | ||||||
| 4/06 | at Saguaro (0-0) | AZ 1 Div-1 | - | ||||||
| 4/08 | at Gilbert (0-0) | AZ 1 Div-1 | 7 | - | |||||
| 4/14 | at Desert Mountain (0-0) | AZ 1 Div-1 | 5 | - | |||||
| 4/17 | SALPOINTE CATHOLIC (0-0) | AZ 1 Div-1 | - | ||||||
| 4/20 | CHANDLER (0-0) | AZ 1 Div-1 | 2 | - | |||||
| 4/27 | CHAPARRAL (0-0) | AZ 1 Div-1 | 3 | - | |||||
| 4/30 | at Mountain Pointe (0-0) | AZ 1 Div-1 | |||||||
As part of their cross-training, Lannon added Zumba, a high-intensity aerobic dance exercise set to salsa, marengue (cq) and other Latin rhythms.
As Arizona All-Stars Zumba instructor Sammie Willard illustrated the moves, the self-consciously laughing, then sweating, team members attempted to follow suit.
“It was pretty embarrassing at first, but it was fun to see who had rhythm and who didn’t,” said Lawless. “After about 10 minutes, though, my legs were burning.”
Zumba for second-year coach Lannon was but another tool in his arsenal to keep the team in shape. As a former member of the Syracuse University’s three-time national champions lacrosse team and a current member of the Cactus Lacrosse Club of Phoenix, he likes to keep his high school team motivated.
And the team’s determination to practice regardless of the weather indicates its players’ passion for a game that is slowly growing in popularity in the Southeast Valley as more high schools add it to their line-ups. There are 22 high school lacrosse teams in Arizona.
Lannon said lacrosse players are starting high school with more experience, thanks to programs like Ahwatukee Boys Youth Lacrosse, in which both Lawless and co-captain and Greyson Kupfer were involved as middle school students.
“I quit baseball and started lacrosse with the Ahwatukee Storm team,” said Kupfer, a senior who started playing lacrosse as a Horizon Community Learning Center student and now has his eyes on playing at the University of Oregon. “I like the thinking it involves, and the overall challenge of the sport.”
Third co-captain Troy Honaker, a senior who plays defense, began lacrosse as a sophomore.
“I decided not to play football anymore and Greyson told me lacrosse was fun so I joined,” said Honaker, who will enter Arizona State University this fall in pre-med. “I like all the running, aggressiveness and finesse need to play the sport.”
Honaker said ASU doesn’t have varsity lacrosse, but he hopes to play on an intramural or club team.
Lawless, the team goalie throughout high school, plans to play at the NCAA level, either at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina or for the newly-established lacrosse program at Berry College in Georgia.
“I think it’s as big as football back east, but that’s my opinion,” said Lawless, who has played lacrosse throughout high school and with the Ahwatukee Storm as an eight grader at Altadena Middle School.
The Thunder lacrosse team practices on the Will Nolan Field at Vista Canyon Park.
The field is named for the former Desert Vista student who is considered the founder of the high school’s team.
The Desert Vista Lacrosse Team Booster Club will hold a fundraiser from 5-8 p.m. Feb. 10 at Ahwatukee’s Bleachers Sports Bar & Grill.
For more information on the high school’s lacrosse team, see www.eteamz.com/dvlacrosse.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/01/28/20100128ar-lacrosse0130.html
As the Head Coach at newly formed D-III Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX I would like to start our blog off by saying that I am extremely blessed with a supportive University and great, dedicated players. Not many start up programs are given the financial resources and facilities that I have been given to begin what is a historic moment in Texas lacrosse.
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