The Lacrosse Playground Podcast Network presented by Epoch has wrapped up our first season.
Happy New Year!
New episodes of the Coach’s Companion have arrived to Apple and Spotify.
Have you listened to all four?
Jack Kensil - 2 Wolves
Scott Beesley - Hamilton Southeastern
2 wolves founder Jack Kensil returns as promised. We covered his 4v4 girls league and his motivation behind introducing small sided play.
We then discussed best practices for film study before debating the merits of Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours to mastery theory.
In our second interview, Hamilton Southeastern head coach Scott Beesley (58:57) came on to discuss the rise of his program which has now won multiple state titles since he took over just a short while ago, what they borrow from Duke, how they approach scheduling out of state games, and the moment their 2022 season changed en route to their second straight title.
Pat McCabe - Adelphi
Nick Estey - Brebeuf Jesuit and Circle City
Adelphi women's head coach Pat McCabe joined us to discuss his motivations for coaching after winning 3 D2 titles in his first five seasons on the job, how they recruit the right people to their locker room, and, coaching women's lacrosse after playing defense at Syracuse.
Brebeuf Jesuit varsity girls head coach and Circle City club director Nick Estey (27:10) came on to talk about his journey to Indianapolis from New Hampshire, the growth and development of girls lacrosse in Indiana, and his club program.
Tucker La Belle - Clarke
Brandon Schwind - Hudson and Spiders Lacrosse Club
Tucker La Belle is an Ohio native in his first year as head coach at NAIA Clarke in Iowa.
We covered his very unique path to becoming most likely the youngest college head coach in the country, how he approached his first year of recruiting, and building the Clarke program.
You may be familiar with Coach La Belle from running the Lax NAIA twitter account.
In our second interview, I spoke with Brandon Schwind, a former NCAC rival, about his playing days at Upper Arlington and Wittenberg, coaching MCLA ball at Michigan State, and, the current landscape of Ohio high school lacrosse, where he is the head coach at Hudson, and his decision to join the newly formerly Spiders Lacrosse Club.
Dan Leff - Midwest Top Gun and Blue Valley Southwest
Mike Jablonski - Muskingum
For the final episode of 2022, we have Midwest Top Gun co founder Dan Leff and Muskingum assistant coach Mike Jablonski.
Coach Leff is a Long Island native now spear heading the growth of lacrosse in Kansas and Nebraska with his Midwest Top Gun club program.
We examined his early days in Kansas, the development of the club program, their approach to tournament selection and recruiting, and his coaching responsibilities for his spring school team Blue Valley Southwest.
Coach Jablonski has been at Muskingum since summer 2019.
We covered his recruiting philosophy, how the box game has influenced him, and spring goals for Muskingum.
Following a playing career at Wheeling Jesuit, he was elevated from graduate assistant to interim head coach which we also discussed.
Our shows are also available on Apple.