News
Fall 2019 Season Preview
Date Posted: 8/21/2019
What an excellent Summer and we're now off to a great start this Fall! The cooler, crisp Sunday mornings on the field are something we look forward to with each new week and 2 weeks in it is apparent there is a lot of talent on each of our teams. 9 Teams are taking the field this Fall wearing Connecticut Valley Lacrosse Uniforms with players graduating in 2020 through 2026. Expectations are high, but regardless of any outcome at our tournaments we truly believe that the work ethic each week on the field is making each of our athletes better lacrosse players.
We've added 2 new additions to our Coaching Staff this Fall. Eastern Connecticut State University Men's Lacrosse Head Coach, Marc Graham, and Assistant Coach, Devin Callahan, will be working with our 2021 Blue (AA) squad. We couldn't be more excited to have them as part of our staff and for our players to have the opportunity to learn, grow, and be coached by each of them. Each weekend both Coach Graham and Coach Callahan bring a little bit of the college lacrosse game to practice and our players thus far have been up to the challenge. As a program, we focus on high intensity practices keeping our players moving and also instructing them where necessary. The level of commitment required by players who compete at the college level translates well into how our practices are run and also lends our players a chance to know what to expect when they do reach that next level.
Our other "new" coaches this Fall include the return of East Catholic High School Boy's Varsity Lacrosse Head Coach, Patrick Bushnell, who will be an Assistant with our 2020 Blue (AA) squad and Agawam High School Boy's Varsity Lacrosse Assistant Coach, Eric Balslov, who is an Assistant with our 2023 Blue (AA) group. Both Coach Bushnell and Coach Balslov were members of our coaching staff during the Fall 2018 Season as well. Lastly, we've added Patrick Hamel, Southington High School Boy's Varsity Assistant Coach to our staff. Hamel competed collegiately in both lacrosse and wrestling at NCAA Division III, Western New England University, and has been with the Southington High School program now for the past 3 seasons. Hamel is an Assistant with our 2024 (A) team this Fall.
Overall, we are proud of the staff we've assembled this Fall 2019 Season and we truly believe their knowledge, abilities, and coaching styles will translate well into our program philosphies.
Our teams will be competing on both November 3 and November 10, 2019 in their respective events. The 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 squads will head up to Devens, Massachusetts on November 3 for the Battle at the Barracks while our 2024 and 2025/2026 teams will be in Dartmouth at the Cranberry Classic. On November 10, we'll see the 2022, 2021, 2022, and 2023 teams down in New Haven, Connecticut at the NXT Fall Bulldog Bash while our 2024 and 2025/2026 teams close out their fall in Smithfield, Rhode Island at the PrimeTime Bulldog Brawl. Each team will be carefully evaluated in the weeks leading up to their tournaments to ensure they are placed in the best possible bracket for the team and individual players to succeed.
The Fall Season lasts just 6 short weeks and then the winter weather begins to roll in. As a program, from our coaches to our players, we are taking advantage of our times on the field and the hard work we've seen thus far demonstrates that. At the conclusion of the Fall 2019 Season we'll post a short recap on the season and then, we look ahead towards Summer 2020.
