2008 Indian Prairie Showdown
Naperville, Illinois, 25 - 27 July 2008
For this tournament, the Outlaws flew to Chicago; because it was late in the day we headed over to Macaroni Grill to fill up and then to the Hampton Inn to get some rest before the Tournament started on Friday morning. Before we played our first day's games, we took the commuter train into downtown Chicago to visit Robert Morris College. We were met by the school's Athletic Director and the new Lacrosse Coach, Heidi Hansen.
They gave us the 10 cent tour, gave us free tee shirts, and fed us lunch. It was great to hear first hand, from Coach Hansen, what it takes to play at a college level. We had afternoon games in the Showdown, so we headed over to the fields to find out who we were playing. The first game was against a private high school team from the Chicago area. This was our first game since our last travel tournament -- all of the recent hard work and practice in the Texas heat really paid off.
The Outlaws had played well and had no difficulty dispatching this local team. The second game was similar to the first -- fairly easy for our girls and another definitive win. It turns out these games were great tune-up games for the rest of the tournament. Our second day games were much tougher and more challenging than the games on day one. First, we played the Stickbenders Elite from Florida. They played a very fast, high level game.
At the end of this physical game the Outlaws had played hard and tough but came out on the losing end of the scoreboard. Game 2 on Day 2 was against another elite team from Utah. These girls were also very good, but the Outlaws stepped it up and won by one point. Our three and one win/loss record got us a place on the "A" division of the next day's playoffs.
After lunch we hopped in our rental vans and headed over to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois for another campus visit. The Northwestern Women's Lacrosse team has won the NCAA Division I Championships for the last four years in a row. Their practice facility and turf playing field is spectacular, and the lakeshore campus is absolutely gorgeous; a fabulous setting for a college education.
During the first round of the playoffs we were facing a talented team called the Midwestern Force. This team is composed of players from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Wisconsin, South Carolina, New Jersey and Michigan. We started out on a tear -- getting a four point lead, but ended up in a tie at the end of regulation play. In the first overtime we worked our way ahead again, but once again ended up tied. The second, sudden-death overtime started with the girls knowing the next point scored won the game. Once again it was not in the cards -- and we lost this heartbreaker by one point in a double OT game...
Coach Jo pulled the girls aside and spoke about the game, within the context of the entire season. It is absolutely amazing to see how far these girls have come. The rest of the day was spent trying some deep-dish Chicago-style pizza at Lou Malnati's Pizzeria -- yum!, and visiting the amazing Field Museum in downtown Chicago. After another successful trip the Outlaws headed back to Austin -- tired, but happy!
Once again our girls did a great job in Naperville. They learned some good lessons from their failures – as a team and as individuals. They played hard; they are exceptional sportswomen, and they had numerous, meaningful learning experiences and many significant successes.
For more information or to arrange a try-out contact: coachjo@texasplayhard.com.
