What a fabulous summer...

When we look back on the summer of 2012, Team NorCal's coaches, players and families will have a list of tremendous memories to last a life time. But, they will also remember and be proud to say, "I was a part of the most successful summer season Team NorCal ever had!" From the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast, Team NorCal's summer travel included 6 tournament semifinal's, 15 all tournament players, 4 tournament championship games, and 2 tournament champions! 

It all started in early June with what has now become our annual trip to the Lone Star state. 7 teams, over a 180 players, nearly a 100 parents, 3 airlines, 4 charter buses, and yet no partridge and a pear tree. It may have been hot and arid, but that did not slow down our Team NorCal army. Facing high temperatures and some tremendous lacrosse talent the southwest has to offer, Team NorCal departed from Dallas with 4 top four finishers and a US Lacrosse Regional Champion! Yes the U11 Bears were the darlings of the tournament going 6 and 0 on their way to the the title. Coach Steve Harman and the Bears Texas two stepped their way to not just a 6 and 0 record, but outscoring their opponents by a combined 20 goals. With stifling defense and goaltending, along with precision passing and shooting, the Bears showed Texas and the country that they will soon be hearing from Northern California for years to come! 

In addition to the U11 Bears success, the U11 Quakes finished the tournament 5 and 1 with the Tides right behind them at 3 and 3. The 13s division saw nearly the same success. First year U13 Gold coaches Will Fales and James Banker lead the Gold 13s to a final 3 and 3 record and a 6th place finish. A strong showing from a young group of 13s who were in nearly every game they played to the final minute. As for Coach Joe Juter and the fighting Juters (aka U13 Blue), they found themselves in the U13 Final. In what might have been the game of the tournament, the 13 Blues faced off against the Mustangs Club from Austin, in what was not only the most attended game by spectators, but an epic seesaw battle between two great lacrosse teams. The 13 Blues might not have achieved the result they wanted, but in the end walked out of Dallas with their heads held high and would soon prove to future opponents they are a team that you want to avoid in tournament play. 

Our 15s, already earning National Championship births, went to Dallas to take on the best in the southwest and to work/build chemistry within the rosters. Both teams jumped out to hot starts on the first two days, but the weather would soon slow our boys down a bit as they entered tournament play. With hot temps, and some questionable officiating, the U15 Blue and Gold battled to finish 4th and 5th out of 16 teams; but not to be disappointed though because they achieved the main goal they went to Dallas to achieve: CHEMISTRY! Which as many of them and the program would soon learn, is the key to success at many of these tournaments.

With Dallas in our rearview mirror, Team NorCal was off for a week long adventure high atop the Rocky Mountains. Our first stop was the Denver High School Shootout. Lead by coaches Podesta, Mengis, and Conover Team NorCal's Ellite and Select were determined to showcase their skills and more to over 120 college coaches and recruiters; and boy did they ever! Team NorCal Elite was the first to showcase themselves to the many Division 1, 2 & 3 coaches in their first day, finishing 2 and 0 while averaging nearly 11 goals a game. Team NorCal Select followed Elite's showing by going 2 and 0 to start the tournament and showing all in attendance that Northern California's talent rivals all others in the country. When it was al said and done, Team NorCal Elite and Select finished 7 and 3, with 4 all tournament players, and 7 players highly sought after by the likes of North Carolina, Michigan, Loyola, High Point, and more!!!

As the Denver Shootout wrapped up, Team NorCal Elite and 5 additional Team NorCal teams would invade the sleepy ski town of Vail, Colorado. The Vail Warrior Shootout, was next on our cross country tour and Team NorCal would once again have an impact on the tournament field. With a team featured in each age division, our sites were once again set on leaving the Vail Shootout with hardware. Having two teams  in the U11 and high school divisions, the odds of winning a Shootout trophy were high once again in 2012. When it was all said and done, Team NorCal finished 30 and 15, with the Team NorCal Platinum team (ALL Frosh roster) crowned champions of the high school B division. In addition to being crowned Champions in the high school division, the Team NorCal Elite finished 3rd, Team NorCal U15s finished 5th (out of 16), Team NorCal 13s finished 3rd (out of 16) and the U11s wrapped up tied in the end and split their summer series at 1 and 1 against each other. All in all, June was good to Team NorCal, finishing 64 and 27 with 2 Championship trophies!

As an encore to June, Team NorCal packed up the road show and headed to San Juan Capistrano and the California Lacrosse Classic. A battle for California bragging rights, Team NorCal's High School Select and a U15/U13 combo team took on some of the best southern California and the west had to offer. Under the bright warm souther California sun, Team NorCal Select started hot out the gate at the San Juan Capistrano polo fields, and battled throughout the weekend to finish 5 and 2; another great showing. The combo U15/U13 battled throughout the weekend and ran into some stiff competition, but took away a ton from the experience.

To follow up San Juan Capistrano, Team NorCal would spread from coast to coast. Baltimore, and the Brine Summer Sizzle was the next stop for the Team NorCal Platinum, U15s, and U13s. Team NorCal Elite would travel up to Sonoma State University and participate in another high caliber recruiting showcase. In Baltimore, Team NorCal Platinum would continue to roll off their success in Vail and jump all over the competition at the Brine Summer Sizzle. Slotted in a pool featuring clubs from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York, Team NorCal Platinum dominated their pool by going 4 and 0 in the first 2 days, outscoring their opponents 44 to 11. On Sunday, Platinum would be slotted as the #1 seed and take on the Cavalier program from Virginia, led by Quinn Burnett, Troy Loper, Parker Whims and Brent Tovrea, Platinum would advance to the semifinal's to take on Team Georgia defeating the Cavaliers 14 to 1. In the semi's, defense and ground balls would carry the Platinum team to the finals. Ryan Arneson would take the reigns of the defense, stoning the Georgia team 9 times and leading the defensive unit led by Paul Callahan, Brooks Bain and Patrick Evans to 14 forced turnovers on their way to victory. In the finals, Platinum would face off against a group from Maryland featuring a number players from east coast perennial power Boys Latin. The game would be tied at 2 heading into the half, and the temperatures were rising. With just under 4 minutes to go, Platinum went down 4 to 2, and it seemed as if the breaks and bounces that had been going their way all tournament weren't anymore. But that didn't stop this resilient bunch. First Tim Baker would start the ball rolling with an impressive 1v1 to make the score 4 to 3. Then Cole Waller would take the team on his back. With just under 2 and battling a muscle strain, Cole would fire in the game tying goal, and then with just a minute left would not be denied from taking the lead. Platinum all of sudden saw themselves ahead 5 to 4 with just 45 seconds remaining. A defensive miscue would lead to a game tying goal and force overtime. Platinum started the OT off man down, but would kill the penalty and have a shot at the win. As scrum for a ground ball grew, the Boys Latin team would end up with the ball and a final possession. With just under 2 minutes remaining, the Boys Latin leading scorer would fire a blind shot past a defender and it would skim by goalie Dylan Slacks right knee. A rough end to a great weekend, but the boys from California proved to the east coast that the west is soon coming!

The Team NorCal U13s under sized and under manned would battle throughout the entire weekend. Finished 2-2-1, the fighting 13s hung with some of the best, even challenging the eventual champions from Virginia. Parker Underwood, Michael Balousek, Chase Barloga would help carry the offense all weekend, while Cole Irie, John Elliot Adams, Andrew Morgan and Payton Holloway would anchor the defense all weekend. As for the 15s, they found themselves on the brink of another tournament run. Led by Nick McCall, Ellis Scherer, Ben Dierkhising and the 2 headed goaltending monster of Joe Tabor and Jack Pierrepont, the 15s would grind out possession after possession and mix it up with some of the east coasts future lacrosse talent. They would go on to finish 3-2-1 and walk away with victories over clubs from Virginia and Maryland. 

Team NorCal Elite, now in Sonoma, would be stung by the injury bug. A roster that once featured 22 of the top high school players the bay area has to offer, was now down to just 16 players. This would not slow down the Elite though. They would go on to take 6th in this highly competitive tournament, and would finish 4 & 3; drawing attention once again from a number of Division 1 and 3 collegiate coaches and recruiters. 

Following the trips to Baltimore and Sonoma, Team NorCal Select would find themselves as the only team in action the next week. They now were the team up in Sonoma, participating in the Sonoma High School Shootout and would start the tournament off 3 and 1. Featuring a roster that had 4 players nominated to the all tournament teams, Team NorCal select would reach the semifinals only to fall to the future champions from Seattle. When it was all said and done, Team NorCal Elite and Select, went to Sonoma in back to back weekends, having 7 players named to the all tournament rosters and walked away with a 9 and 5 record. 

The summer of 2012 would be capped off with a nationwide lacrosse tour. With 6 teams in 3 different locations, Team NorCal's travel network could be found once again in Sonoma at the Youth/Middle School Showcase, the high school Tahoe Tournament on the banks of Lake Tahoe and at the US Lacrosse National Championship in FLorida.  Team NorCal's 5th and 6th grade teams would battle all weekend, and although took some bumps and bruises along the way, toughed it out all weekend to finish strong with a victory. The Team NorCal 7th and 8th graders would face their first battle of adversity all summer, but avoided any major meltdowns by players and coaches, and would also cap the weekend off with a victory. Team NorCal Elite and Select would find themselves once again in familiar territory, finishing 3rd and 5th, wrapping up the weekend in the quarter and semifinals. Team NorCal 15 Blue and Platinum battled heat, humidity, and the Florida sunshine to finish the summer off with victories against two teams representing Florida. They would finish 16th and 20th at the National Finals. 

By the end of this magical summer, Team NorCal would add 2 more trophies to its ever growing trophy case, feature over 12 all tournament team players, see themselves in the semifinals in nearly all of the tournaments they attended, and have over 15 Sophomores/Juniors/Seniors contacted by several division 1, 2 & 3 coaches. To say that this was the best summer Team NorCal had is an understatement. This group of over 230 players competed with the best talent youth and high school lacrosse has to offer, and the future sure is bright for each and everyone of the players who wear the navy and gold. From an administration we couldn't be happier with our results, and can not thank our parents enough for all the time and effort they have sacrificed to make this all happen. 2012 will be the year that Team NorCal made its mark on the national lacrosse scene, and it most definitely will not be the last…..