ALA U15 Girl's and Boy's Lacrosse Tournament
Monday November 2, 2015
by Lacrosse WA
Stars midfielder - Madison Copeland
Four enthusiastic teams of West Australian U15 boys and girls travelled to Melbourne for the 2015 ALA U15 Lacrosse National Tournament at the end of September. This year our players had the opportunity to play on turf as the Tournament was held at the Footscray Hockey Centre.
With 16 teams from across Australia and New Zealand participating, the Tournament was a fantastic showcase of Under 15 lacrosse.
The boy's pool was made up of 8 teams including a President's side and the girls' 8 teams welcomed New Zealand's ‘Waikato’ team, making their second trip to Australia to compete in our U15’s Tournament.
This year Subiaco Lacrosse Club was moved from the Southern Braves catch hold to Northern Thunder and Head Coach, Sam Ramsay, took his boys over hoping to emulate the victory they had in 2013. With one loss and two wins, the Thunder went into the crossover games and dominated Victoria’s Northern Warriors 14-1. With solid lead up games bringing them into the finals, Northern Thunder played off for 3rd being narrowly defeated by SA’s Western Reds by one goal. Sam Ramsay said “The competition was very strong this year. A few close competitive games. All teams showed plenty of potential.” Northern Thunder’s MVPs for each game were: Harrison Kneeshaw, Oliver Purton x 2, Alex Vranjican, Jamie Collins and Lucas Koczwara
Southern Braves brought a relatively young team over to Melbourne, but their drive and enthusiasm saw the boys play some competitive lacrosse. With a strong start against Victoria’s Western Metros, a goal-less third qtr saw them lose by 2 goals. With two wins and two losses under their belt, Southern Braves went into the finals claiming 5th place against SA’s Eastern Reds. Southern Braves MVPs for each game were Cameron Brown, Owen McCallum, Jayden MacDonald, Donal Wild, Nicholas Carcione and Fin Morgan.
The girls’ Flames Team was coached by 2 x time Australian goalie Elizabeth “Buzzy” Hinkes. The Flames started on a high winning their first game against SA’s Comets. With the Flames’ tenacious bond, after claiming defeat for the rest of the week, they came out strong and won their final to finish on a high. Buzzy said of her young side "What an incredible trip! I cannot emphasis how proud I am to have been able to coach these girls and see them grow as players and young women over the past few months. They put all of their blood, sweat and tears (literally in some cases) into the training's and you could see how all of their hard work translated onto the playing field throughout the tournament. The Flames were an absolute pleasure to coach and just spend time with. I couldn't have asked for a more caring, brilliant and fun-loving group of girls to enjoy this experience with. Next year can't be here soon enough!" Flames MVPs for each game were Rebecca Adamson, Isla Carr, Libby Blair, Monique Rodwell, Allanah Davis and Maddy Antulov.
The Stars went to Melbourne as defending 2014 Tournament winners. With a young and passionate team their first loss hit hard, but in true WA fashion they defeated South Australia’s Lightening in 4 rounds of golden goal the very next day. After a successful week the Stars went into the finals playing for 3rd and 4th position, narrowing missing out on 4th place. Head Coach Gerard Wills said "This year's U15's was a great success with two teams of WA girls having the opportunity to compete at this level of lacrosse. Thank you to River Bradley, Footscray Lacrosse Club volunteers, all of the girls and team staff for creating amazing opportunities, fun and friendships. So proud of all the WA girls for the intensity and sportsmanship with which they played." Stars MVPs for each game were Shannon Mitchell, Reyer Carpenter, Baillie-Rose Keenan, Erin Mitchell, Chloe Tatlow and Madison Copeland
LWA's Director of High Performance, Annabel Wills, added, "This year saw the implementation of stage 1 of the LWA High Performance Strategy with the introduction of the U15 Girls Development Squad. 5 sessions were run looking at various specific skills sessions, specialist running training, nutrition and hydration culminating in a session preparing for the team trials. The success of this program has been considerable with plans to introduce it for the boys next year. Planning for the u18 High Performance Squad is now underway.