Oct. 9, 2007
The Portland, Oregon, area certainly seemed like an innocuous place to hold the Stars & Stripes Weekend. Portland fashions itself as an open-minded city, tolerant of just about anyone (although those unable to follow the left-wing talking points would do well to keep quiet).
Homeless people are treated like royalty, bikers are encouraged to snarl rush-hour traffic by riding in a pack, and the city is willing to spend $30,000 to rename one of its downtown streets to Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard. Heck, the people of Oregon are so egalitarian they have a no-fault car insurance policy, meaning if someone slams into your parked car you get your rates jacked up, too!
What a friendly place. No wonder the U.S. national teams were destined for the City of Roses.
In actuality, US Lacrosse was bringing its game into hostile country.
You see, Portland has already been colonized by another sport; an activity that has yet to gain an appreciation for lacrosse in this area. In other parts of the country it's King Football that has occasionally stunted the growth of boy's lacrosse. Here in the Pacific Northwest, it's Queen Soccer.
The image of the matronly soccer mom driving around in a mini-van and handing out orange slices is altered in these parts. It's been replaced by field-space misers, offseason tyrants, and those who have no need for an up-and-coming sport.
The reticence of soccer types to give up field space or allow their players to participate in another sport during a non-traditional season is understandable. They have been operating in a lacrosse-less world for a long time and haven't learned how to share. The spring is not a time for soccer players to try another sport; it's time to play club soccer.
In other parts of the country there is the assumption that a girl can play soccer in the fall and lacrosse in the spring because we've come to understand the symbiotic relationship of the two. Lacrosse is viewed, for the most part, as a parasite in Portland.
The superb Tualatin Hill Recreation Complex used for the Stars & Stripes was built primarily for the Queen, and the grand lady was none too pleased to cede its domain during an autumn weekend.
We all know it doesn't need to be this way. Hopefully, things will change in the near future to allow the Oregon Girl's Lacrosse Association to flourish and provide another opportunity for young women in the Portland area.
Tolerance is what modern Portland has been built on. Hopefully, that will continue.
Inside Portland Lacrosse
I had the opportunity to speak with Terry Vance, the USL Oregon chapter president, although I was a bit sheepish interrupting a conversation he was having with Ryan Powell. Vance is probably in his fifties with a shock of white hair and an Irish personality - he reminded me of a typical old-school South Boston native.
He's a take charge kind of guy. Vance never played the sport, but his son was a player so he jumped aboard and became chapter prez. He bought a cubicle in a Portland-area business building so the chapter would have access to a conference room to train coaches and referees - a brilliant idea that makes perfect sense for growing areas.
Vance makes use of his office space because there are 45 boy's and 32 girl's non-sanctioned programs at the high school level along with 6,000-7,000 youth players by his estimate. New programs are being added all across the state on a yearly basis to keep Vance busy.
Time will tell how things play out in Oregon, but they appear to have a good man at the helm of the chapter.
Improvement Kneeded
The only part of the Oregon experiment that could be considered a bummer is the injuries, specifically the three blown out knees. It's tough to tell if it was just a run of rotten luck or a bad surface (all three injuries happened on the same field turf field), but it left a shadow over the weekend.
It started with U.S. Elite team member Kelly Berger reportedly tearing her ACL just 36 ticks into Saturday's game between the Elite and Developmental squads. Lindsey Munday, another Elite team member, left the complex on crutches on Sunday - likely another ACL injury - after collapsing on a dodge just outside the crease against Stanford. The day before a Stanford player suffered a knee injury against Oregon that knocked her out of the competition.
The Stars & Stripes was a ringing success, but the organizers will have to take a close look at the potential causes for this rash of injuries when it schedules its next function.
Slides & Rides
According to the locals, the normal temperature in Portland (and Beaverton, where the event was actually held) was 70s and sunny. It was overcast and cool (low 60s) with fits of rain the entire weekend. Meanwhile, in Baltimore is was over 80 degrees...my roommate for the weekend was John Schuett, who has established himself as the preeminent lacrosse public address announcer in the nation. In addition to lending his pipes to Stars & Stripes, Schuett does the PA at Vail, the U-19s in Canada, Michigan men's lacrosse and the MCLA championships, among other ventures. If you're ready to talk Detroit sports, Schuett's your man...speaking of sports savants, I received a couple of emails from readers confirming that USL's own Matt DaSilva was spotted in Baltimore's Fell's Point on Monday wearing an authentic Shelley Duncan jersey as he rooted on his hometown Yankees. Alas, to no avail...it was interesting to read Clare Lochary's nugget about the expanding D-3 field, but does this finally mean the South will get an at-large team?...if anyone has some good fall ball stories be sure to send them my way.
Contact Jac Coyne at jcoyne@uslacrosse.org.
