Players, parents and coaches;
We thank you for another great year with the Maryland Roughriders.
Roughrider Nation is holding strong due to our great families in the program and our dedicated coaching staff. More often than not we find the Roughriders in the WIN column, but there’s more to it than winning. For one, we hope you’ve enjoyed your time this season wearing the red and black whether at practice, games, or in the hotel on away trips. Next on our checklist is to make sure every player is developing and learning the proper way to play lacrosse. Yes, we want to win every game but as a program – admins, coaches, players and families – we cannot sacrifice the enjoyment, sportsmanship, and development for a win. We want to make sure everyone enjoys the journey to the top of the mountain and it is done the proper way.
A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out our survey and provided us feedback. Overall we received an average experience rating of 83%, very solid with plenty of room to improve. With that, nearly 95% would recommend the Roughriders to other families! Below are some notes, ideas, and thoughts as we head into the 2016/2017 seasons.
SWAG is always important! This past year all full year players received: UA ArmourFuse Reversible Pinnie and Shorts (the very best out there), Black UA hoodie and sweatpants, UA Tech T, UA Socks, UA reversible pinnie for the Fall/Practice, Gray UA shorts. This gear package has a retail tag of more than $335, our highest ever. This coming year we will be looking to add a lacrosse specific Under Armour backpack, an additional UA Tech T, and UA socks. Custom Roughrider UA gloves and other exclusive Under Armour items will be available to purchase on the merchandise store in the coming months.
- Practices are vital. CSE and the Roughrider coaches will continue to schedule as many practices as possible at favorable locations (GCS for youth, CCBC and HoCo field for HS). Everyone needs to do their best to attend every practice. This is the only way to ensure all players know the schemes and plays come game day. No player should expect to be on the field in crunch time if you missed significant practices and do not know the plays.
- Game Film. We will be adding a Roughrider Hudl account for coaches to breakdown film for film nights at CSE and coaches houses. As part of the HS (2020-2018, possibly 2021) package we(CSE) will purchase game film from two tournaments.
- Off the game field we will continue to add more skill sessions, conditioning, and recruiting seminars. Skill sessions will be better split by age for proper development. The Roughriders will host a number of recruiting seminars to help educate players and parents on the college process. (Have you checked out our recruiting page online? http://www.roughriderlacrosse.com/recruiting/ ) 2016 also saw the first Roughrider Bull Roast! Look for another program wide get together in early 2017, as well as smaller coach/parent socials throughout the year.
- Tournaments – The coaching staffs will continue to find the proper balance of tournaments for the specific teams. We want to make sure all teams are having fun, winning, playing at the right level, playing at a quality tournament (venue, value, amenities), and recruiting/exposure. Please understand this can be rather tricky. We are actually planning summer 2017 tournaments now before we know the makeup of the teams. Sure, we can schedule at the top elite recruiting tournaments all summer, but if we are losing by a lot, it is not fun and doubtful any coaches will continue to watch. At the High School levels we are considering cutting back to 4 tournaments with a focus on more exposure.
- Roughriders – who we are. There is more to it than just winning games or how many college coaches are on the sidelines. From our youth teams all the way up to our high school teams, it is a balance of competing at the highest level, learning and improving individually, winning and having fun. We are a hard working group of players and coaches who have to grind and put forth effort to improve individually and as a team. As Coach Corrigan says ‘never leave anything to chance’ – you must give 110% in all that you do. The Roughriders play with a chip on their shoulder and have something to prove. We want to have tons of fun both on and off the field, creating new relationships and friendships that go beyond the field. Parents and players should enjoy themselves before, during and after the games. This is all while respecting the game, our opponents, and teammates.
This is always a stressful time of year as tryouts get underway and school is starting up. Best of luck! We truly hope to see everyone at tryouts on August 21st and 28th (times now posted on the website). For our 2017 class, good luck your senior year and beyond. It was a pleasure having you as a cornerstone of our program since the beginning.
If you have any questions feel free to reach out to us at any time via email or pick up the phone and call us. Office line – 410.605.9381. General email – [email protected]
Ø Lee Corrigan, President CSE, Head Coach 2018: [email protected] , ext. 223
Ø Matt Cornell, GM of Events CSE, Head Coach 2020: [email protected], ext. 238
Ø Ryan Corrigan, Director of Sales CSE, Asst. Coach 2018: [email protected], ext. 240
Ø Taylor Stothoff, Event Manager CSE, Head Coach 2021: [email protected], ext. 222
Ø Travis Puls, Event Manager CSE, Asst. Coach 2019: [email protected], ext. 243
Ø Nick Kellinger, Event/Merchandise Manager CSE, Asst. Coach 2020: [email protected], ext. 226
For tryout registration and information click here.
We are Roughrider Nation!
