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The Living Legend

Jen Adams has racked up a tremendous amount of accolades over the years. An Australia native, Adams came to the United States on a Division 1 college lacrosse scholarship.

From 1998-2001, Adams was an All-American attacker for the University of Maryland Terrapins. She led the Terps to four straight NCAA Championships. Adams also plays for the Australian National team and due to an ACL injury was unable to participate in the 2013 games last summer.

At Maryland, Adams was a three-time National Player of the Year and then went on to be named the first ever winner of the Tewaaraton Trophy. She has been referred to as " the living legend" and is regarded as the best women's lacrosse player of all time. She still holds the NCAA women's lacrosse scoring record with 445 career points. During her 86 collegiate games as a Terp, she tallied 267 goals and 178 assists.

After college, she stayed in the states and began coaching as an assistant at Denver University and then at the University of Maryland. In 2009, she became the head coach of the Loyola University Greyhounds.

Friends of Jaclyn Foundation

The first members to participate in the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation was the Northwestern Women's Lacrosse Program. In 2005, they adopted Jaclyn Murphy. Jaclyn loved lacrosse and she loved watching Northwestern play. The team adopted her because they were inspired by her. As a 9 year old diagnosed with medulloblastoma, she possessed so much strength, courage and happiness you would never have known she was sick. That year Northwestern went on to win the National Championship.

Jaclyn's parents started the foundation because they wanted other children with brain tumors to have the opportunity to engage and be a part of something so special. Young children going through such difficult times thrive off love, friendship and support and the Murphy's saw that.

Just this fall, the John Hopkins Men's Lacrosse team adopted a young boy through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation. The Loyola Women's Lacrosse team is next to set up an adoption. This Spring, Kara will become a Loyola Greyhound. She will be given her own locker and personalized gear. What these programs are doing outside their actual sport is a great testament to who they really are as people.

The Process of Recruitment

The NCAA sets rules, regulations and dates that each individual sport must abide by during the recruiting process. If you fail to abide by these rules or if a University or coach fails to abide by them, consequences are put in place. Recruits have lost out on scholarship opportunities when breaking these rules. The rules and timelines differ for each division and each individual sport. Their are more rules set in place for Division 1 schools to follow then Division 2 & 3.

Interested in being recruited? Then you must get your name out there. Its a good idea to send out emails to introduce yourself and inform coaches that you are interested in their program. Include things like your name, your position, your jersey number, your stats, and what tournaments you will be attending. These emails get you on the map and the list of potential prospects a coach needs to watch. You may also want to attend recruiting camps or camps at each individual school your interested in.

The ball is in your court for the first part of the recruiting process. Prospects can send emails, place phone calls and schedule visits but coaches cannot reply back to them in any way before September 1st of one's junior year.

Many schools set up Junior Day visit so prospects can tour the campus and get a feel for what their program has to offer. During one's senior year, you are allowed to attend up to five official visits but only one visit per school.

After you have done all your research, its time to give your verbal commitment. You make this verbal commitment to the program you find to be the best fit for you. Finally, around the end of November - early December of your senior year you sign a National Letter of Intent (NLI). You officially become a part of the program you will attend the following fall.

The recruiting process has sped up in the last few years and continues to get faster and faster. Many girls are committing during their sophomore year of high school.

The World Cup

The women's lacrosse world games take place every four years. Usually hosted in July the 2013 games were played in Oshawa, Ontario.

The International Federation of Women’s Lacrosse Associations (IFWLA) was formed in 1972 and its inaugural members were Australia, England, Scotland, Wales and the United States. Since then the game has grown and this past summer 19 teams participated in the games.

Final rankings for the 2013 Women's lacrosse World Cup: Gold: United States Silver: Canada Bronze: Australia 4. England 5. Wales 6. Scotland 7. Haudenosaunee 8. Israel 9. Japan 10. Ireland 11. New Zealand 12. Germany 13. Austria 14. Netherlands 15. South Korea 16. Finland 17. Latvia 18. Hong Kong 19. Sweden

The 2017 Women's World Cup Games will be held in Guildford, England July 13th-22nd.

Team USA holds open tryouts every summer during memorial day weekend. The United States has won back to back gold medals the past two world cups and 7 championships overall.

Understanding the field:

Above is a picture of what a lined women's lacrosse field looks like from an aerial view. There are certain rules that pertain to each of these lines, fans, and boundaries.

The large rectangle that makes up the field are the boundaries. Women's lacrosse has hard boundaries, meaning that if the ball crosses the line its out of bounds and the other team gains possession.

The line that that cuts the field in half is the 50 yard line. The draw takes place at the 50 yard line in the center of the draw circle. the two lines, one to the left and one to the right of the 50 yard lines are restraining lines. Four attackers and four defenders must remain behind the restraining lines at all times. If there are not 4 and 4 you are off sides and there is a change in possession.

The small circles at each end of the field are the goalies crease. Only goalies and defenders can be in the circle. The 8 meter arc that has the dashed line across it is used for free position shots and 3 second rules. defenders may not be in the 8 meter for more then 3 seconds if they are farther then a stick length away from their attacker. The larger fan that the 8 meter arc sits inside is the 12 meter fan.

The Draw

Men’s lacrosse and women’s lacrosse differ in many ways. They both start the game with a center possession, but the men sticks are on the ground and the girls sticks are suspended in midair. It’s called the draw in the women’s game and the faceoff for the men.

The ball is placed in between the back of the cross of the stick. When the official blows the whistle to start the game the two centers raise their sticks up sending the ball in the air. Both teams battle to try and come up with the ball and carry it towards the goal they are trying to score on.

The draw takes place at the start of every game and after every goal is scored. The draw is a very important skill in the game of lacrosse. If you win the draw you gain possession and when you have possession you opportunities to score and the other team doesn’t.

There are many little tricks to the draw. You can either win it to yourself or push/pull it to a teammate. The key to winning is quick reaction time, placement and boxing out your opponent. The best way to get good at the draw is to practice. Create muscle memory and increase your reaction time to when the whistle blows.

Welcome to the Patriot League

The Patriot League hosts 22 (10 men and 12 women) Division 1 athletic sports. The league hosts private institutions with higher education. These 10 core institutions include; Loyola, Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette, American, Army, Boston University, Colgate, Navy, and Holy Cross. These institutions are regarded as the next highest to the Ivy League and hold the second highest student graduation rate. Its members consist in the Northeast region and was established in 1986.

Most recent additions to the Patriot league for women's lacrosse are Boston University and Loyola University Maryland. These two teams will compete within the Patriot league conference starting in the 2014 season.

The Patriot League hosts a conference tournament at the end of each conference season. The winner of this tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Navy has won the conference championship consecutively for the past 3 years. Loyola and Boston U bring a large amount of talent to the Patriot League this spring.

#patriotleague #womenslacrosse

The BIG East

The Big East had one of the toughest sets of conference opponents out of all the other NCAA conferences. Loyola's women's lacrosse team had been a part of the Big East conference since 2005. In 2013, the Big East conference they participated in dissolved due to ongoing realignment of conferences and Loyola moved to the Patriot League. Loyola University as a whole left the MAAC and moved to the Patriot League. It is said to be a better fit academically for Loyola.

In the Big East, Loyola played against UConn, Rutgers, Marquette, Villanova, Cincinnati, Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame and Syracuse. In 2007 marked the first conference tournament at the end of the regular season and the winner would receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Loyola won the Big East Conference Championship in 2011 and 2012. Many Greyhounds have been named to All-Big East first and second team honors over the years. Most recently Taryn VanThof and Marlee Paton were named to All-Big East First Team in 2013.

Syracuse and Georgetown still remain in the Greyhounds 2014 schedule as out of conference games. The Patriot League will now have a run for their money as Loyola joins the conference this 2014 season.

#bigeast

Club Lacrosse

Club lacrosse is mostly played by high school students and younger. Club lacrosse gives boys and girls the opportunity to better their game in the off season months as well as show themselves off to college coaches for a chance to get recruited and play in college.

Recruiting tournaments take place primarly in the summer months so college coaches are able to attend because their seasons are over. Some fall tournaments are scheduled as well. Some of the really big tournaments have hundreds of coaches attend where other tournaments only get local coaches to come recruit. Tournaments take place all over the states, mostly in Maryland, New Jersey, and New York.

Club gives you an opportunity to travel with teammates to various locations. It also gives you an opportunity to play at a higher level. Most club teams have tryouts and the best players are selected to participate.

Most lacrosse players get recruited through their club teams unless they come from a power house high school. My high school was terrible at lacrosse so I had an opportunity to play with Lady Roc Club Lacrosse to display my talents and get recruited through them.

Loyola University Maryland head women's lacrosse coach Jen Adams announced Monday that seniors Marlee Paton and Katherine Reinhard, in addition to redshirt junior Taryn VanThof, will serve as team captains for the 2014 season.

What it means to be a Capitan:

Being a captain just isn't a title its a hefty job responsibility. Your teammates look to you for all kinds of answers. Your actions reflect your team and your program.

Top 10 characteristics of a great Captain:

1. One must be a leader. Have the ability to reinforce concepts, team goals and strategies. And act on those concepts and strategies to guide the team to achieve their goals.

2. Have the ability to organize. On and off the field this is a crucial component of a captain. Organize team functions, gatherings, and service as well as organize the team on the field and get them on the same page and moving together in the right direction.

3. Must be positive. Always enforce positive thoughts to their teammates and coaches. A negative captain is like the plague and can destroy a team.

4. Know your teammates strengths and weaknesses. A captain must recognize each individuals skill and what they bring to the team.

5. Use their skills accordingly. When you know everyone's skills and strengths you must have the awareness and knowledge you must use their abilities to their greatest potential and what will benefit the team most.

6. Be selfless. The game is not just about you. It takes an entire team effort to be successful. Think and act for the betterment of the whole team.

7. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Step up when needed. lead by example, your teammates will follow.

8. Be the mediator, solve the conflict. Every team will encounter some sort of internal or external conflict at some point in time. You must relieve issues in tension among the team.

9. Know your teammates and know yourself. Develop personal relationships with everyone. Its easier and more fun to play with someone you know and trust. Trust in your teammates and don't put too much pressure on yourself.

10. Be a mentor. A team captain understands the game. Give advice and tips to teammates. When instructing never criticize. Highlight and emphasize key concepts and reinforce these ideas to teammates.

#captain #leader

A little blurb on Box lacrosse from the Loyola Women's Lacrosse Coach Dana Dobie #gohounds

Better Faster Stronger

At large breaks, like Christmas and summer, students are expected to train on their own and come back in shape. Coaches expect this so they don't have to focus on conditioning and can get right into skills and drills. When students arrive back on campus after such long breaks the first practice that takes place is usually set aside for a run test. This is an athletes worst nightmare. Being tested on your conditioning level is never fun, it's brutal! At Loyola our standard run tests are 300's and the Manchester. 300 testing consists of 4 300 yard sprints. To complete this you must run to the 50 yard line and back 3 times in under 60 seconds. You get a 3 minute recovery in between each 300. The Manchester is another fitness test that really focus on testing endurance. You must run 10 100's in 25 seconds with a 35 second jog back. After the first 10 your speed must decrease 1 second each time. (24 sprint, 36 jog), (23 sprint, 37 jog), (22 sprint, 38 jog) etc.. Until you complete 15 second sprint 45 second jog 3 times! If you complete this you beat the test!

#runtest #mondayrunday

Lacrosse Hall of Fame:

Recently a Loyola University Maryland Women's lacrosse alumni, Sue Heether, was inducted into the Lacrosse Hall of Fame!

The Lacrosse Museum and the National Hall of Fame is located on the Johns Hopkins University campus in Baltimore, Maryland. The museum displays artifacts such as jerseys, equipment, photographs, and trophies from its Native American origins to modern times.

The first class of members were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1957. Since 1997 the Lacrosse Museum and the National Hall of Fame have been operated by US Lacrosse. The Museum is a partner of the Sports Museum of America and joins 50 other single sports who celebrate their history with organizations like Museums and Hall of Fames.

Each year five female and five males are nominated into the Hall of Fame under four distinct categories: players, coaches, officials, and contributors. Inductees are publically announced over Memorial Day weekend and officially inducted at a ceremony in October.

The first women to be inducted was Rosabelle Sinclair in 1992. Sinclair was inducted as a pioneer of the women's game.

Agility stations set up on Ridley. Train harder than your competition.

Student athlete: Hard but worth it

Being a student athlete is a HUGE time commitment. Most people don’t see all the hours of work we put in each day on top of our academic commitments. It is also a physical and mental commitment, it is not easy. Balancing academic work and a collegiate sport can be difficult. You must have time management and be efficient with the very little bit free time allocated. Monday through Friday you usually have a four hour time slots set aside for practice and games usually take place on the weekends. When creating semester class schedules, you must schedule classes around practice time. So you don’t always get the class you want to take. Although at Loyola you get first pick of classes, they may not fit your schedule.

Long-term Benefits:

Although being a student athlete is hard work it’s very gratifying. Not only personally gratifying but it can serve you well in your future. When looking for a job out of college employers love to bring in former student athletes. Because being driven is not something you can teach someone. You either have it or you don't. Student athletes are competitive. Athletics is a competition and we bring that competition to the work place. No athlete likes to lose, every athlete wants to be the best. Student athletes are efficient and know how to manage their time. Most importantly they are committed and understand what it means to make a commitment.

Being a student athlete trains you not just for your 4 years as a collegiate athlete but trains you for life.

The Loyola Greyhounds were listed in Inside Women lacrosse for an upcoming game to watch against Penn State.

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