the league: "To Teach, Grow, and Honor" the game of lacrosse.
"We have an abundance of excellent coaches in this league," explained Picard. "We wanted a way to honor those who may not make deep championship runs, but still stand out for their actions and leadership and promotion of our league mission."
Not surprisingly, most of the All-Star coaches voted into the position by their peers had, in fact, made deep championship runs in 2015 not only proving that "Positive Coaching" and on-field success can coexist, but that there is a definitive correlation between the attributes.
Named head coaches to the 8th Grade All-Star teams were Pete Davis of Franklin and Reihl Mahoney of Lexington. Joining their staffs were Marty Bulhoes of Billerica, Eric Campbell of Marblehead, Tom Eighmey of Reading, and Pete Soule of Medway.
Named head coaches to the 7th Grade All-Star teams were Bill Martin of Wilmington and Tom O'Rourke of Franklin. Joining their staffs were Ryan Conwell of Watertown, Chris Fagen of North Reading, Bryan Molk of Peabody, and Tom Moss of Nipmuc.
Named head coaches to the 6th Grade All-Star teams were Jim Connolly of Newton and Dan Connors of Hopkinton. Joining their staffs were Ken Bekampis of Mansfield, Tim Bobola of Franklin, Rich LeBlanc of Natick, and Jamie Rome of Brookline/Parkway.
Named head coaches to the 5th Grade All-Star teams were Chris Coutu of Ashland/Nipmuc and Jim Helie of Watertown. Joining their staffs were Bill Beers of Shrewsbury, Chuck LaPosta of Wachusett, Jason Marino of Holliston, and Tim Penney of Wilmington.
The other significant change in format was the splitting of teams. In the past, the "North vs. South" model had its challenges beginning with determining the geographic line of demarcation and including a slightly bizarre history of lopsided games.
In 2015, the athletes were placed onto two teams by a formula that included the athlete's team's final power ranking and a balance of positions. The result was two equal and balanced teams made up of players from all over the league. The "home" team was called Team Baaga'adowe and the "away" team was called Team Tewaarathon. The team names derive from a few of the Native American terms for the sport, adding a little history lesson on top of the blood, sweat, and tears of playing a sport once called "Little Brother of War."
The athletes and coaches were chosen around the time of the final regular season game. A month's worth of planning and communication with the participants through Team App went into organizing a memorable day for all those lucky enough to be honored to play.
On game day, players began arriving and registering 90 minutes prior to their game at the Dana-Farber Fieldhouse on the south side of the sports complex. As the Cannons finished their morning walk-through, wide-eyed fifth graders entered the bubbled building quietly and anxiously. Once they received their uniform and team assignment, an hour-long practice session commenced where they met their coaches, made some new friends and teammates, and warmed-up for the big show on the big field.
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