Get The Lax Scoop

S2 E26. A Compilation of The Best Moments Thus Far, in S2, Part II.

• Jay McMahon, Ron Dalgliesh, & Steve Gresalfi/Dan Chemotti • Season 2 • Episode 26

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In this episode of Get The LAX Scoop, hosts Big Dog (Ron Doish) and Jaybird (Jay McMahon) catch up with some of the biggest names in lacrosse to share memorable moments and highlight the passion behind the sport. The episode features clips from acclaimed coaches and players discussing the intense Brown-UMass lacrosse rivalry, personal stories from collegiate careers, and in-depth interviews with Coach Steve Kadelka, Coach Brandon Childs, and Coach Dan Chemotti. These lacrosse aficionados provide insights into their beginnings, influential mentors, and key elements of consistent success. Included are valuable tips on individual skills development, the impact of high-character recruits, and the significance of strong family backgrounds. Additionally, the episode offers a nostalgic look at old lacrosse memories and the evolution of specific training techniques.


00:00 Introduction to Get The Lax Scoop Podcast

00:23 Meet the Hosts: Big Dog and Jaybird

01:02 Season Two Highlights

01:10 Coach Jerry Byrne on Brown vs. UMass Rivalry

01:39 Memorable Moments and Rivalries

03:37 Introducing Division Three Lacrosse Guests

03:54 Coach Steve Koudelka's Journey

07:47 Coach Brandon Childs' Early Lacrosse Memories

13:58 Coach Childs on Coach Koudelka's Influence

15:54 Introduction to Coach Dan Chemotti

17:14 Early Life and Lacrosse Beginnings

19:23 Mentorship and Coaching Philosophy

21:57 Recruitment and Team Culture

26:28 Importance of Individual Skills

29:25 Personal Anecdotes and Reflections

32:35 Fun and Lighthearted Questions

36:26 Conclusion and Farewell


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Brian Cain Daily Dominator on Apple Podcasts

Jon Gordon Positive U. Podcast on Spotify

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck, PhD on Amazon.

Lacrosse Charities Mentioned in S2 E36:
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Jay:

It's time for get the La Scoop, a podcast bringing you all the people and stuff you should know. In the game of lacrosse, we take LAX seriously, but ourselves, not so much. Join hosts, big Dog and Jaybird, and the biggest names in the game. Brought to you by Jay McMahon lacrosse. That's J M L Skills, mindset, and LAX IQ training. Ron Doish, the big dog, was a collegiate football and lacrosse player at Brown. He was also an assistant lacrosse coach and the executive director of the sports found. and Jay McMahon, the Jaybird, a three time All-American Midfielder Brown. He was a captain of the US Junior National team and is the founder of J M L. And joining us in the studio, Steve gfi, who's collegiate lacrosse career statistics equals one goal against Dartmouth. Brought to you by Jay McMahon lacrosse. That's J M L Skills, mindset, and LAX IQ training. Helping the next generation cross players. Get to the next level.

Hello everyone. And welcome back. And our absence, we have put together a compilation. Of some of our best moments from season two. We sure. Hope you enjoy them. Here's coach Jerry burn discussing the highlights of the brown UMass lacrosse rivalry. Here's coach Jerry burn from Harvard discussing the UMass brown lacrosse rivalry. and the winner gets the spoils People are like, oh my god. You played there with a great program. I'm like, I played on the last losing team in Chaminade history. Like, we lost to two high schools that don't even exist anymore. That's what this Um, and then at UMass, I played On Dick Garber's one of his years was the only losing team he's ever had. So I don't know if there's a beat there, but Wow. Jeez. But we play, you know, we played in the NCAA tournament a couple of times, and, one of the great memories It's against Brown, ironically. My roommate, Rich Abbott, his twin brother was a Round grad, Chris. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So because I have a tour. And I would paint with them in the summer. They had a painting business in Manhasset, and they they had a bet each year there's only been guys to do. And Levittown would be like, Yo. I'm gonna take the two tires off your car as the bet. They they were betting real money. And so Brown had beat us three times in a row, he knows we have a guy coming in who's gonna be a real difference maker, Salud Castillo. Oh, yeah. Sure. Oh, yeah. I can argue the greatest goalie in the history. Greatest. He won everything. National team pro. And Sal was, you know, one of the great people from Lindenhurst. Just all time gone. Great Long Islander, Ron. Sorry. Great Long Islander. Yeah. So Rich, like, not only does he go, like, double or think, but he he wants the net positive out of this thing. Long story short, we beat Brown that year. And there's a famous, uh, there's a famous brunch place in Amherst called Plumlee's it was fancy, fancy. They had waffle makers. Like, the only waffle I ever had was, you know, like, in a toast. They actually make the Fuck. Right in front of you. You press it down. So Rich took the whole starting team out to Plumlee's. Wow. We're drinking champagne. They they have, like, an man, like a like a meat guy I'm like, what's an guy? Like, Oh, there's a gigantic side of meat where the guy cuts as big of a piece. So what's the And he asked you, au jus? Au jus? Au jus. You want some? So that was probably one of the great memories.

Dawg:

Well, folks, we've got two fantastic guests. representatives of the high level of lacrosse. That's being played at the division three level. And, jam, I'm going to get us started with our first intro. Is that okay with you, Jay? I just want to ask you to run things started here. Jay

Jay:

go right ahead. That is

Dawg:

the script, by the way. So our first guest established the Lynchburg men's lacrosse program as a national powerhouse over his nearly three decades on the Hornet sidelines. Since his arrival, prior to the 1997 season, he's recorded an overall record of 337 wins. That's a lot of wins. Jay,

Jay:

that is a

Dawg:

lot of wins, He's had 24 winning seasons. Lynchburg's advanced the NCAA tournament 16 times with our guests at the helm. And he's hoisted the ODAC. Trophy. That's the old dominion athletic conference for any of you. Northerners the ODAC conference title. He's won that nine times. And for all that coach, you get to be coach of the year once by the U S I L a, I mean, that's awful nice of them with those accomplishments, huh? Hell of an accomplishment in 2015 to be named coach of the year. Please welcome. So the podcast head coach Steve Alka, coach. Hey.

Steve:

Hey. Welcome, welcome. Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Jay:

He's been named the C. A. C. And Mac coach of the year six times. And in 2018 he was honored as the division three men's coach of the year. Please give a very warm welcome to head coach Brandon Childs. Brandon, thanks for joining us. Yeah. Thank you.

brandon:

Appreciate

Jay:

it. Awesome. Well, I'm going to get us started here with coach Gidelka. We love to kick things off talking about the very beginning of our guest lacrosse journey. So please tell us in our audience where and when you first started playing lacrosse and who were the people in your life who may have guided you towards this great game

brandon:

of ours.

Steve:

The first time I ever saw the sport was we actually lived in Wilton, Connecticut for a little bit when I was elementary school, and then we eventually moved down to Houston, Texas. So there was about five years there that lacrosse did not exist down there at that time. Right, but Wilton was a big, big lacrosse team, right? Yeah, they were a powerhouse at the time. And we moved back there in middle school. And, and that was the first time I ever really played lacrosse was in seventh grade. And then in my freshman year in high school we moved down to New Jersey and that's where I spent all four years of my high school career at a high school called Westmore central proud proud Wolfpack. And we Yeah, that was really kind of where I fell in love with the sport. Coach King was was my lacrosse coach and had a great group of friends that we all really loved playing. And, and that was really kind of where I fell in love with and kind of gained a passion for it. I also played soccer and basketball in high school as well. So that was like the third sport of the year every year. And with a great group of friends and we had a really good time playing and, and then obviously, you know, from high school decided just to stick to, to lacrosse in college and, and was very fortunate to play for you know, for one of the most legendary coaches in the game and Hank Janczyk and coach Janczyk was, was, is will always be a mentor of mine as a, as a college lacrosse coach and, uh, just was phenomenal at. at really kind of probably even bringing out more of the passion that I had for the game and be able to play for him, go to school there and then also coach with him for three years was was really, you know, the start of what I was, what I've carried on for since I got to Lynchburg. That's great.

Jay:

Yeah, we usually kind of, we'll ask who was your biggest coaching influence and it sounds like it was coach Jancic.

Steve:

Yeah, that's awesome. He was awesome. And we had, you know, Fred Opie who was a world teamer from Syracuse at the time was one of our assistant coaches. Right. I remember coach Opie is still, you know, someone that I stay in contact with and just an awesome, awesome person, you know that's a great player, but yeah, that's awesome. Even better person and was at a college as a college kid. That was a pretty instrumental time in your life. And to be around those, those people was, was pretty phenomenal for me. That's awesome.

Dawg:

Good stuff. How about you Brandon? Like what, what were some of your early memories in the game and where, where did your passion really develop for the game of

brandon:

lacrosse? Yeah. So so different from coach. I started at a really, really young age. I have a older brother who's three years older than me. I grew up in Baltimore. And so lacrosse was just, just more popular than, than baseball or soccer. And so, you know, in all honesty, I think my parents just saw an opportunity to have both the kids out of the house at the same time. And so my brother started at eight, which meant I started at five. And so so yeah, I've been playing for a long time. My, my earliest memory of falling in love with the game. My dad, when, when we were young kids a coworker of my dad brought home a VHS tape. Of the Syracuse pen final four game where Gary gate does the right. So I still have the VHS tape and as a kid every Saturday I'd wake up early and I would get a bucket out and I'd wash my cleats and watch that game. And then the next year, my dad taped the the 89 final four when it was on tv, and then he did it again in 90. That's awesome. So the 89 championship game between Hopkins and Syracuse at that was a classic. Watched it a million times and then Right. In 1990 Yale played Loyola up at Rutgers. That game was in a monsoon and it went to overtime and Loyola was the underdog and they won. And so that was like, my upbringing was just watching those games and going to college games in Baltimore. I was fortunate enough. I actually think I might've played on one of the best 12 year old lacrosse teams of all time. Yeah. And you know, it's interesting. There's some really good players. Benson Irwin, who scored the game winner in the semifinal in 2005 for Johns Hopkins was a teammate of mine. And Conor Ford, who was one of the best shooters in Johns Hopkins history was a teammate of mine. And then ultimately I ended up at St. Paul's in Baltimore. And so I had a lot of good coaching as I was coming up as a kid. Just the foundation stuff, like the fundamentals and things. And so guys like Mitch Whiteley at St. Paul's and Rick Bercotto at St. Paul's and, and even guys that, you know Ben Strutt played at Princeton and was legendary. He came back and helped coach and Doug Knight who graduated from Virginia was on our coaching staff at times. So these were young guys that came back who had just played in college, who. Kind of just like we were college kids side. Some like legends who knew how to, who knew how to teach us as kids. And so. I was really spoiled upbringing when it came to to, to lacrosse, but my dad who didn't play lacrosse kind of generated that love for it by bringing those tapes home, to be honest.

Jay:

Right. That's great. Well, we get a lot of Long Islanders on here and I'm from Long Island, but Ron is from Maryland. So he's loving that you're, you're a Maryland

Steve:

guy.

Dawg:

So Jay, you beat me to the punch, thank God. We finally have some Maryland representation on here. I mean, what an amazing guy to listen to. Collection. Unbelievable. I, I love it. I can, I can support this. I would love for us to, to do a little I, I'm sure no one else out there thinks that their 12-year-old lacrosse team was better than yours, Brandon. So that right after Brandon's was pretty good though. Rosters, I've never heard anybody say that I played on the best 12-year-old team ever. I love it. I love that you could back it up there. Who's gonna disprove you, you know? Yeah.

brandon:

I dunno. I dunno.

Dawg:

That's awesome. Jay, Jay, this is always there. There was also a moment there where I realized. That coach Childs was apparently a little kid watching VHS tapes as he was becoming passionate about the game. Those were the years we were playing cross check. So we now are officially the old guys on the podcast. That was a little bit of a moment there for me. We play that. I'm thinking we're contemporaries, you know, no, no,

Jay:

no, no. He's a little kid. We're out there.

Dawg:

We're getting gray. Hey so coach Childs, it's kind of cool. Obviously. That you're now a head coach of a great program, establishing the kind of record that your head coach coach Koudelka built at Lynchburg. So tell us about how your journey to Lynchburg and the impact that. That coach had on your coach. I thought somehow he'd work you in there for those influences in the game, but that, I don't, I don't know how to skip through that. So I'm going to ask you a question that actually leads them there for you, pull out a little positives from them there a little bit

brandon:

after, after that long introduction you gave of how great he was. I didn't want to build up his head any bigger than it already was. So but yeah, you know, the, the recruiting process was great. I was pretty focused on Division three schools. Again, I had some good mentors in high school that kind of led me to that path. And, you know, I'm fortunate. I have a great set of parents and they were, you know, they kind of guided us through it appropriately, I think. And I knew I wanted to go south and I wanted to study journalism at the time. And so I just kind of narrowed my list down. And my dad and I were actually just touring through schools in Virginia. We got something in the mail about like private schools in Virginia week or something along those lines. And we were coming from Hampton, Sydney over to Lynchburg in the same day. And We got like twisted around in Lynchburg. This is like pre, you know, so PPS and and we were late and coach waited a really long time to just accommodate us. And that was a lasting, you know, he, he, he obviously had better things to be doing than waiting for us, but. In short, the answer is just the people. And when I went on my overnight visit the guy who ended up hosting me was in my wedding. And so was a younger brother who wasn't even a teammate of ours. And so it was the people that I met along the way. Lynchburg's really special in that regard from the lady who checks you in at lunch, Betty Spencer, to the secretary in the athletic department. Kelly, like. All the way down to the, the, the kid who hosted me and then the coaching staff and the coaching staff in general, just not just coach Koudelka, but TW Johnson, who was, was awesome. And then Mark Patron they just, it was just the people at the end of the day that That was the differentiating factor for me. And yeah, I guess I'll just leave it at that. But, but yeah, there was just something about the people and knowing that they were going to be good influences on me and it definitely put me at ease. And I think also my parents as well.

Here's a little commentary from coach Childs, talking about coach Kudelka.

brandon:

I always tell people when they asked me about coach Koudelka is that he's just a great coach. I think you could, you could coach any sport. And the team would be successful. I don't say that to minimize like his, his lacrosse acumen, but I think his differentiator, there's a lot of people who watch a lot of film and there's a lot of people who can break down the game, but I think what makes coach Koudelka so unique is that, he understands people. He knows how to motivate people and he knows how to bring out the best in people. You know, we kind of referenced his energy earlier. You know, there's been times where I've gone and watched his team practice and the pace in which those kids are moving around the field. You know, I like immediately get back to my team. And I'm just trying to get them going, you know, what are you doing? Why are you standing still, you know, just trying to match that kind of energy that exists at a Lynchburg practice. Highly competitive, highly motivated. And so he, he just knows how to bring out the best in people and then above all else. I think above all else coach is as moral. a coach as there is. And there's no shortcuts with him, he is by the book, like there's the right way and there's the wrong way. And he's always going to do it the right way. Um, and, uh, and I'm so fortunate that I was able to learn under a coach who not only had the competitive, like fire in him, you know, to want to win. I mean, to this day, I always tease people, like if I'm mowing my lawn. You know, and I, I went out with the plan that I was going to crisscross the lines and, you know, it's getting kind of hot and I'm like, okay, one pass will do God. I'll think to myself, like, what if coach drove by, you know, I take the time, you know, like

Jay:

megaphone in this car.

brandon:

Yeah. So, I mean, there's some truth to that, that I know he lives like six hours away, but just what if, what if my chance, but even, you know, even today and this weekend, you know, we had a tough loss and, you know, You know, there's definitely elements of, you know, what, how would coach respond to this? And when you ask yourself that question and you have a mentor like him, it'll keep you on the right path for sure.

Today's guest is in his 11th season as the head men's lacrosse coach at the University of Richmond. He's the program's first ever and only head coach the two time Southern Conference Coach of the Year has guided the Spiders to five NCAA tournament appearances in the first 10 years of his program's history. They enjoyed back to back seasons as Southern Conference tournament champions in 2018 and 2019, as well as being the inaugural Atlantic 10 men's lacrosse champion. Richmond has been in the conference tournament championship every single season of its existence. And back in the program's very first year, his first year ever as a head coach, he did what no other coach in the history of D1 lacrosse was able to accomplish. He took a first year program to the NCAA tournament in 2014. please welcome to the podcast, the man, the myth, the young budding legend, Coach Dan Schamati. Hey, Jay. Yeah. Thanks. Thanks for having me. Well, we'll jump right into the questions. Cocci Bonnie talks about what it was like growing up in the west Genesee high school district. And the Syracuse area of central New York. My brother and I would go out there and just, you know, be all over the neighborhood playing. And, you know, so we were exposed to it, watched him play stuff like that. And then, yeah, all my friends started playing and it was one of those things where, like, you just wanted to be with your friends. So I'll start playing. Didn't really start taking it serious until you kind of learn the West Genesee model, you know, and you get thrust to like, the the 7th and 8th grade team and stuff like that and see like, just how structured those practices were and stuff like that. And the summers when I got to high school, I remember very vividly I mean, those were, those were jam packed days, you know, wake up in the morning, have lacrosse in the morning from like nine to 11, and then basketball was like 1130 to one. And then there was we would play box lacrosse as part of the, you know, historic show park program. And you could have a game at like one o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock, you know, and then there was other levels of show park in the night. So I, I remember this very vividly., leaving the house early, going to morning lacrosse and not coming home until very late and just waking up and doing it again. Monday or thursday, you know, every day, summer. And it was just, a big, tight group of us doing that together. And yeah, it was great. You know, you start playing for coach from Sarah and learning, so much more than, then lacrosse, you know what you're bargaining for and, he has since become just an incredible mentor. And I just. I feel very lucky that coincidentally I grew up in that school district and got a chance to, you know, to learn from him and and to be coached by him. So that's kind of, how it all began. That's great. Yeah, I know his winning percentage was like 91 percent and and knew he was successful, but don't really know what he was like, you know, as a person, as you just said, you're learning more than just lacrosse. So stories I'd like to tell when I first, as a younger coach you know, assistant coach, when I would for the holidays. You know, he's like the first person I would go and see. And we'd have like a fall scrimmage and I'd bring my computer over to his house and I'd be like, I'm going to go get notes from coach Maseer whether it was Thanksgiving or Christmas. You know, we go and Mrs. Massaire would either, you know, put a piece of pumpkin pie in front of you or some Christmas cookies, we would go in the basement. And I'm no, this is not an exaggeration. We would emerge about five hours later. We probably got through about 10 minutes of film. The whole pumpkin pie, probably. Yeah. I mean, nobody got up out of their seat, you know, like nobody used the bathroom. Like it was just like. I mean, it was just like like these incredible film sessions. I still have the notebooks. I legitimately still have the notebooks under my desk here. They're just full of scribbles. You know, the conversation would always go in the direction of some martial arts you know, zen master and he was just lose me, it's like, well, it's, you know, like so and so used to say, you know, this, you know, martial arts and master, you know, it's, it's when form becomes formless, it's just it's kind of like, I, I lost you, you know, 90 minutes ago, but I love this, I'm loving this, but those were really you know, incredible sessions for me is a young coach to just learn, so much about the game and so much about just coaching young men. I really, really enjoyed those. It probably wasn't until my wife and I had kids where, you know, I couldn't do that anymore. You know, I didn't think he was going to be in my house for as long in the. you know, as long of a time, you know, during the holidays, you know, where it's like, all right now, you know, we got to split right there. But actually, you know, our program got 100 wins you know, a couple games ago. And I just, you know, we're driving back on the bus and I just texted him and just You know, some pictures of my kids and just haven't talked to you in a while. Just, you know, thinking about you and he's still I think about him often, you know, very much. And again, just very lucky to, number one, grow up in the district, you know, West Genesee number two. have him as a high school coach and just be surrounded by, people like him and my father, you know, who I grew up watching coach, high school basketball In this podcast, we always like to kind of talk about what makes for consistent success and just looking at your career in general, but really at Richmond. I mean, all these years, you guys have been incredibly consistent what are some of the qualities you look for in recruits? Has it changed a little bit over the years? and so what do you, what do you think are the keys to that consistent winning year in and year out? Yeah, I mean the, very simple, just recruiting rate. young men recruiting great families, character over talent or, I mean, certainly you want as much talent as you can get. But not many people have enough talent to overcome, you know, bad character. So, if, if you enjoy the group that you coach every day. The way that you're going to come out to practice, just as the coach with that, with like that enthusiasm is going to be really helpful to your guys, but, more importantly, more importantly than that, you've got incredible guys who, whether they're like minded to you or whatever. You know where those relationships, as we mentioned, earlier where those can really take shape and and blossom into Again, those like hey, like i'm gonna push you today, like how much you know, we've done, a lot this year You know how much I care about you like We're gonna push you today You know and, and they push us, as well. So we do focus a lot on we, we make really, tough decisions, but a lot of them are like, well, who's, who do we trust here? Who's, who's, who's really mature? Who can we push? Who's got the leadership qualities that we're looking for. So that's honestly a big part of it because we hold, we hold the guys here to a very high standard. so every, every team, I'm sure has great culture. We try and make sure ours is just consistently different. Okay. And so, when you gotta be. You got to be built a little bit different to be to meet that demand, on a daily basis, so those are the kind of guys, that we're looking for. And we don't shy away from telling them that in the recruiting process. No, we're not gonna, we're not gonna blow smoke and you know, kind of hide any of that. And then when they get here, be like, whoa, but it's but I do think it's really special culture. And I think it's seen, yes, in our level of consistency. We've certainly had success on the field. We have had way more success off the field, when it comes to just. The way our guys are perceived on campus, the way they take care of their business academically. So, you know, that stuff is not kind of out there for necessarily division 1 landscape and fans to see. Quite honestly. It's. It's it's way better than even our on the field success, right? Wow, that's great. And I did see with Coach Hurley from UConn, with them winning the men's championship, there was a piece either on TikTok or Instagram or Twitter where he was talking about how important the parents are, a lot of his recruits and just kind of the family in general. And. What's your feeling on that? You know, sometimes the parent can just be sitting the wrong tone, and it really affects the player, and it could even affect the relationship while the kids at college. So is that part of the process for you as well? Oh, definitely. I'm certainly not going to throw anyone under the bus here, but there's been, a number of young men who, you know, when they're here for a visit, you just, you interact with the parents. And it's just like, ah, I just. I don't know. I don't trust that guy. Right. You know, I just, we didn't you know, you didn't click with that mom or just, you know, cause I mean, the parents are doing the heavy lifting for the first 18 years, you know? So like you have to recruit the parents, like, all right, what kind of young man are we getting? What was our interactions? What were those interactions like with mom and dad, or mom and dad, you know, buttoned up, are they, you know, how do they behave,, at a high school game, how do they behave at a, on the club circuit? It's just, you know you have to, you have to make sure you factor in everything. There are Millions of kids out there to recruit, you know, there are, you got to find reasons to, check kids off your list, you know, as much as you're looking for, reasons to like put kids on your list. Right. So, and they're just, there's not enough hours in the day. To, you know, everybody. Yeah. Yeah. And I imagine the players are really going to be quite a bit of reflection of the character of the parents as well. 100%. Yeah. Yeah. As I had mentioned in this email to you that one of the things you were working on at a coaches conference this coaches insider was this overhand shooting technique on the run where you're really rotating your hips, rotating your shoulders. And it's, as you were saying in this video, the kids don't really like it. But it really gets them to get more velocity on their shot so that, these kind of skills like what are, what are things you think kids should be working on on their own? Let's say for an offensive player, defensive player, even though they're on these travel teams, first of all,, do you think they need to work on individual skills? And number two is what do you think they should put some time into? Yeah. I mean, absolutely. They, spending time to work on your individual skills. I mean, that's, you know, That's how you're going to get better. If you're just showing up with your team every day, you're getting better at the same rate as everyone else. Let's take a little break to hear about a concept fully supported by JML. And that concept is the need for players to work on their individual skills. And we couldn't have a better example as this endorsement of practicing outside of practice comes from quite possibly the two greatest players who ever played the game. Gary and Paul Gaye. Listen to this clip. Taken from this past Syracuse first Virginia lacrosse game. Where Paul Gates Jersey was retired and now hangs in the rafters. At the dome right next to his brother. Gary's. Commentator Paul Tara had just asked Paul what made these two legends different in hear what Paul has to say? Outside of practice, you know, we took what the coaches let us have freedom and we ran with it. We'd go in Manly Fieldhouse, we'd go to Manly Fieldhouse, and stuff that we learned as kids and tried to adapt it to the field game. Outside of practice, outside of the team, I can remember that if the team were to have They'd all get, uh, buses home. Yep. And Gary and I would run home. That's amazing. We knew what we're doing. It was the work ethic. So there you have it. And with the JML app. Myself and UVA coaches, Lars, Tiffany and Kip Turner has put together a skills training programs for offensive and defensive players, as well as for goalies teaching the essential skills needed to play this sport at the highest level. And to greatly increase your ability to get recruited at the college level. And currently we are running a special on these courses just for the summer where we are selling them at a 70% discount. You can follow the link in the show notes to the free mini course. And from there. You will see the link with the coupon code to get a 70% discount on the full four week course. We'll return to our interview in progress. I mean, I love watching the Kobe Bryant. clip, you know, comes across your feet on Instagram every now and then where he talks about he went from like, age 12, not scoring a point all summer playing basketball to the age of 14 being, the best, one of the best players in the state, if not the best player in the state. And just, that was all just to, he was like, I wanted to get good and I just did, all of this stuff on my own. So yeah, absolutely. I mean, that, that should be. And especially if you want to play Division One, you got to get out there and you got to be doing stuff, on your own. I am a huge believer in wall ball. I'm a big believer in one handed wall ball, whether it's your top hand or your bottom hand. I think that's a really simple way to start. For guys, I think the translation between that and shooting is you know, the one handed piece is very very specific and very particular and, and very strong. So coach used to use the phrase. When we would meet and talk, you have to learn the middle piece of the mechanic. it's easy for young players to see, the beginning, they can watch, Tom Schreiber shoot, and they can see the beginning, and they can see the result, but learning the middle, like what happens, you know, throughout, like that's, that's the piece that I think you really need to master and that's so I think like that drill that you saw like that's exactly that you know, that statement in action is learning the middle piece of the mechanic. Being able to like set your, your body and your,, your hips and your shoulders up. Like, alright, when I'm coming down the alley and if I'm a midi and I need to, you know, wanna be able to score on the run and beat my guy, this is what I need to look like and I need to, I need to teach my muscle memory, that this is what needs to happen. when my brain says shoot the ball, right? So again, that's all the learning, the middle piece, that's right. Of mechanics. So, and you can't, that was the exact middle of the shot. Now, I think you cannot learn the middle piece of the mechanic by doing things full speed, right? You cannot, like, you, you'll never, you'll learn how to start it and you'll, think, and you'll see that the result. be what you want, but you the middle by doing it fu is all coach Miss era bas interesting actually. And and apply it into the thi you know, even when our f get here, you know y to show up and they want You know how good they are. And right meanwhile, we're telling them, slow down, slow down. So you're not, you're not getting better. You're not learning it. We would like to teach you this. version, you know, slow down, so it really can, can sink in. So and it's actually funny and it's, it's funny to hear our like older guys, you know, like seeing, seeing that and thinking back to like, oh man, coach, coach used to say that to me all the time, you know what I mean? So but that's all, it's all still stems from, coach Macera's teachings and you know, the way he taught us. Right. That's awesome. Good stuff. Well, I think we're ready to bring in our roving reporter to finish up. All right. It's been a great interview. So my questions don't really, you know, because they don't let me talk about lacrosse. I have to ask you about some other aspects of your career. So as discussed earlier in the podcast, I don't know anything else about anything. So I'm very nervous. So as discussed earlier in the podcast, I early in your coaching career, you did a stint up at Dartmouth in New Hampshire and then went there straight to St. John's in Queens, New York. Tell us about the transition in the breakfast options from the New Hampshire organic granola and muesli. To new york's you know to a new york deli's bacon egg and cheese on a roll. So yeah It must have been quite a culture shock to handle that. I do know these are this is a topic. I do know something about So I mean when I was at dartmouth year one, I was making eleven thousand dollars So I I you know, I mean it was honey nut cheerios You know, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you know so that was but I lived in, when I moved down to Queens, I lived in Bayside, Queens. Oh, yeah. So Steve lived in Bayside at one point. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Boulevard, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah. There we go. So, it's funny. I tell my son, you know you know, I lived in Queens, you know, cause he's Spider Man. I And so he always asks, Oh, he's like, did you see Spider Man when you live in Queens? No, but but there was the Bayside milk farm. So the Bayside milk farm was awesome. And this was a sandwich. What's it called at the Coliseum deli outside Hofstra, the red star. Chicken cutlet, ham, Swiss cheese, honey, mustard. So that was always my, that was my go to farm. They used to know me by name, you know, cause I would ask for that, you know, all the time. So, you know, chicken cutlet, in New York, I mean, there's, there's, there's nothing like it. So did you, when you were in, in Queens, did you have a go to pizza place? Did you go to like VI pizza on bill Boulevard? Like what was the go to spot? Oh, man. I cannot remember the name of it. There was definitely a spot. I can picture it. Yeah. But I cannot remember the name. Everybody always has the one that they go to. Even though there's 15 on the same street, you just keep going back to the same place, right? Yeah. Yeah. Now that you're in Richmond though have you gone full biscuits and gravy for breakfast? So like what's your Waffle House order now? Like do you go all star? Smattered? Anything like that's like a any breakfast burrito that I can find. There is honestly the best breakfast sandwich in Richmond is on campus. Really? We got a farmer's wrap at Tyler's Deli here on campus. I, I have to, the willpower to not get it every day is, is like a challenge. It's, it's I see Jay taking notes. He's only 20 minutes away. Check that out. Yeah. The farmer's wrap or like, you know, anything that's. Some sort of breakfast, burrito. I'm that that is my kryptonite for sure all right. So it's quiz time. I did some research on wikipedia. So now i'm an expert Do you know why the University of Richmond's mascot is the spiders? Of course, yes I do. So, used to be the Colts, and then I want to say in the early 1900s, there was a pitcher on the baseball team who was, call him 6'8 6'9 and the local sports writer dubbed him the Daddy Longleg. It's a wind up delivery. He looked like a daddy long legs. So he, him and that sports reporter apparently transcended us from the Richmond Colts to the Richmond Spiders and the only country, the only college in the country with a spider as a mascot. Yep. Yep. All right. So I'm going to, and the one right at X on the lax field. I love it. So that concludes this week's compilation. We sure. Hope you're all enjoying your summer. And we look forward to seeing you next week.

Ron:

until we meet again, here to, hoping you find the twine. We're signing off here at the Get the LAX coop. Thanks again so much. We will see you the next time.