UTAH SELECT YOUTH TEAMS WIN NEW YORK, VAIL CHAMPIONSHIPS
-- By Laurie Maddox
Another blazing summer. Another smokin’ championship run for Utah Select!
Traveling to tournaments in the Rockies and Adirondacks, the Select U-15 and U-13 competitive lacrosse teams outplayed teams from around the nation to bring championship titles back to the Wasatch in the summer of 2008.
The triumphs mark the second straight year that Select has gone national and left a Utah imprint on more established lacrosse regions of the country.
Select U-13 won the championship of the U-13B Division at the Warrior Vail Colorado Lacrosse Tournament on June 20. Six weeks later, the U-15 team captured the title at the Golden Goal U-15 Summer Lacrosse Tournament in upstate New York.
Founded just three years ago by Brighton High Varsity Coach Steve Gray and University of Utah Defensive Coordinator Mike Pappas, the Select program now has won more youth tournament championships than any other competitive club in the state. Gray attributes the fast ascent to two things: gonzo players and great coaches. “We’re extremely fortunate to have great volunteer coaches. All of our head coaches are currently coaching at the high school varsity or college level. That attracts great kids,” he said.
In Vail, the U-13 Select team, headed by Chuck Gosselin of Judge Memorial Catholic High School and Mark Pyper of the Waterford youth program, cinched the title by edging Colorado Red 6-4 for first place.
The boys faced eight opponents over four days and improved with each contest, fighting their way into the championship bracket and the showdown with Colorado Red at high noon on the final day.
The more pressurized it became, the better the team did, said Gosselin, heaping praise on a team that traveled to Vail roughly 48 hours after a strong performance at the Park City Ski Town Lacrosse Shootout, where Select finished 5-1.
Mile-high altitude? No sweat. Starting goalie injured? The backup rocked. Didn’t know they had lacrosse in Utah? Scoreboard, baby!
“They poured it on throughout the week and proved themselves more than a match for the national caliber boys’ teams that came to Vail,” Gosselin said. “The coaches and families can all be proud of their efforts.”
Last year, the 2007 U-13 squad made the first cross-country trek of any Select youth team, flying in to the Nolan Jenkins Memorial Tournament in Charlottesville, Virginia, and soaring out with the title.
Vail bolstered the U-13 division’s bragging rights. And then the U-15 boys weighed in.
Traveling 2,300 miles over 14 hours, the U-15s made their way to a Hudson River region the Iroquois originally called Che’pontuc (simple translation: “difficult to get around”), then inflicted ga’noalohale upon multiple opponents. (rough translation: “left their heads on a pole”).
It was the first appearance by a Utah team at the Golden Goal U-15 Summer Tournament in Fort Ann, New York, and it made an impression. Select captured the 2008 championship with a 7-5 win over Nor Cal on July 31.
Getting there was half the battle. The team surmounted travel and schedule difficulties, then launched into an eight-game foray that concluded with the title, the championship trophy, a Golden Goal Hall of Fame induction, and individual player championship rings.
“We were talented and fast, but to win we needed to learn to play together as one,” said Select U-15 Head Coach Dave Allen. “The entire team played smart, with heart and passion.”
In the run-up to the finale, Utah Select faced strong teams from New Jersey, Long Island and Albany, then defeated Maryland Heroes, and Shenendehowa, N.Y., to advance to the title game with fellow westerner Nor Cal.
The San Francisco Bay Area club’s teams have dominated every Utah team they’ve met in recent years. Until now. Matching each other shot for shot for most of the game, Select blew ahead with just a few minutes left to put Nor Cal away for good. “Our defense really played well down the stretch with some key stops, and then got the ball to our offense so they could control the tempo” said Allen. “This team really represented Utah and the high level of lacrosse in the West.”
The win broke a Utah drought and deepened the respect between opponents who developed a rivalry and clear camaraderie after bunking next door to each other for nearly a week at the Golden Goal complex. Following the title game, both teams’ players exchanged jerseys and text addresses, posed for joint photos and spoke of facing off again a bit closer to home. Wendover, perhaps.
The U-15 team was led by Allen, Judge Memorial’s varsity head coach for 14 years, with Gosselin, an assistant coach at Judge; Select co-founder Pappas, who joined the MCLA Division I Utes after heading Jordan High School’s boys varsity program in 2007-08; and Jason Erekson, a coach with the Riverton youth program.
Coach depth and experience is the hallmark of Select, Gray said, producing strong, winning teams and a solid foundation of player development.
Few youth teams, he said, can lay claim to a coach like Allen, whose highlight reel includes, at minimum: three Utah High School Lacrosse League championship teams at Judge; 2001 UHSLL Coach of the Year; 2007 Utah Lacrosse Hall of Fame induction; 2008 UHSLL Man of the Year; and an NCAA Division II national championship as a player with the Cortland State (New York) team of 1975. “Dave teaches players the skills they need to be successful as they move toward high school and beyond, and the wins come as a result of the foundation he is laying,” Gray said. “Player development is our number one goal as an organization, and there is no better coach for that mission than Dave.”
Gosselin, he said, fulfills a similar role with the U-13 boys. “Chuck does a great job preparing the boys to move up. We want our kids to stay with us through middle and high school, so it is extremely important that we have a positive impact at the U-13 level.”
Parents complete the formula, Gray said, acknowledging the costs and logistics involved in taking teams cross-country to places like New York, Virginia and even Vail. “Without the help and support of the parents,” he said, “we could not do it.”
2008 Warrior Vail Lacrosse U-13B Champions
U13 Championship Team: Thatcher Allred, Alex Boyle, Adam Case, William Cisneros, Alex Day, Carson Dutkanych, Christian Feldman, Michael Ferrin, John Garlinghouse, Doug Gosselin, Luke Graney, Wyatt Katsos, Eric Larsen, Skyler Lewis, Carter Mannix, Jack Maddox, Matt Michaeli, Eric Mika, Brayden Pelly, Grant Pierce, Sam Pugh, Luke Pyper, Zac Williams, Coach Gosselin, Coach Pyper.
2008 Golden Goal Lacrosse Tournament U-15 Champions
U-15 Championship Team: Brian Allen, Toby Allison, Andrew Bergquist, David Bicker, Tyler Buck, Dominic Conti, Jacob Dunn, Nick Erekson, Tyler Evans, Michael Ferrin, Chris Fuoco, Ethan Gosselin, Jake Gutman, Matt Hirning, Josh Johnson, Wilson Lamb, Jeremy Lofgreen, Tommy Maddox, Ian McMillan, Connery Silva, Coach Allen, Coach Gosselin, Coach Erekson.