Oct 19th, 2009

Hartzell and O'Dougherty Around the Sound

It was a rainy weekend in the Great Northwest, but the lacrosse gods smiled upon the region October 18, holding off the rain for one day full of youth clinics from the Washington Stealth.  Stealth players Kyle Hartzell and Chris O’Dougherty visited three groups of youngsters on Sunday: Walax's North Sound Fall Ball, Trilogy Lacrosse and Tacoma Youth Lacrosse. 

The day got started at 10am in Everett.  Over 40 young lacrosse players from clubs around the North Sound were treated to a full contact clinic.  Hartzell and O’Dougherty provided their expertise on dodging, defense and ground balls for two hours.  The clinic was capped off by a Q & A session for all the attending players, coaches and parents.  The group’s enthusiasm and hunger for lacrosse knowledge was apparent; it seemed they would have stayed on the field all day (Photo above of North Sound Clinic provided by Richard Olson).

But there were two more clinics going on that afternoon.  Hartzell traveled to Marymoor Park to meet up with Trilogy Lacrosse.  He was greeted by over 60 young lacrosse players, who were also treated to professional instruction on all aspects of the game.  Hartzell used the skills he has developed as an instructor with Rogue Lacrosse to provide training to the eager group on all the finer points of lacrosse.

While Hartzell was in Redmond, O’Dougherty was further south in Tacoma, where he tutored over 60 youngsters of all ages and skill levels.  Nearly one-third of the group was being introduced to lacrosse for the first time.  So O’Dougherty brought the group back to basics, stressing the importance of passing and catching as well as the art of picking up ground balls. 

At the end of the day, nearly 200 youth lacrosse players were able to meet, greet and learn from two of the National Lacrosse League’s bright young stars.  Some in attendance were new to the game, others had played most of their young lives, but everyone from the instructors to the students was treated to a wonderful day of lacrosse.