July 1st, 2010 Oregon U17 World Cup Team
Lake Oswego U-16 Lacrosse Team Raises $20,000 and Heads to Manchester!
The idea was hatched 3 years ago to take a Lake Oswego (OR) team to the Men’s Lacrosse World Cup in Manchester, England. When the Junior Men’s World Cup was in British Columbia in 2008, just a 6 hour drive from Lake Oswego, it was a perfect trial run to figure out the nuances of traveling abroad with a youth sports team. Contact with the 2010 English host team was made in 2008 in British Columbia and the commitment was made that Lake Oswego would be there in 2010. The Lake Oswego U-16 team will be one of just two US teams competing in the U-16 bracket (the other is from Vermont).
Team selection for the 2010 team modeled the selection process for Team USA: tryouts were held in June, 2009 to select a team of 44 boys from the 75 who showed up for tryouts. These 44 boys played together all of last summer; the final practice in August, 2009, the team was chopped down to the team of 23 boys who would make the trip, plus 9 alternates in the event someone was unable to go to England. Eighteen of the boys matriculated from the Lake Oswego Youth Lacrosse program and now play for one of the two high schools in Lake Oswego (Lakeridge HS and Lake Oswego HS). Three of the boys play for Kings Way (Vancouver, WA) Lacrosse Club, one plays for Lincoln High School (2010 Oregon State Champions) and one plays for West Linn High School. Many of these boys are rivals during the season, but they will come together to compete at the World Cup, in the spirit on “Honoring the Game.”
The ability to pay for this trip was less important than the ability to play. Part of the commitment of joining this team was agreeing to participate in fundraising to offset every player’s expenses. To date, nearly $20,000 has been raised, reducing each player’s expenses by about $900. Fundraising efforts will continue until the team departs for Manchester on July 15. A Boys Youth Select Tournament on Memorial Day Weekend was the biggest fundraiser, bringing in about $12,000. Under Armour® has been the other big supporter of the team, providing uniforms and travel shirts for the team and the coaches, in addition to providing shirts to sell to generate cash.
Practice for the World Cup team resumed on June 6, while each player played for their own school throughout the school year. The boys will have about 18 practices as a team prior to departure. The week before departure, the team will switch to practicing on “England time,” getting up for breakfast about 2:00 am, conditioning from 3:00 to 4:30 am, then will hit the fields to practice from 5:00 to 7:00 am. The team is coached by Frank Obiesie, a varsity and JV coach from Lakeridge HS and Josh Hecht, a coach from Lake Oswego Youth Lacrosse.
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