What Age Groups Does Blaze Cover?
See our Blaze
Teams/Players page for current age group teams.
Blaze has always required players to try out and play with
their grade team. If you make the Blaze team and are in
between 9th and 10th grade, you will be on the Rising
Sophomore team even if you have enough talent to go pro
tomorrow. Occasionally some players may be asked to "play
up" for one game or one tournament if another Blaze roster
is particularly light.
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Blaze Coaching Philosophy?
Emphasis throughout the Blaze program is put on coaching –
most of our coaches come from the pro, college and high
school ranks – ensuring a mix of strengths throughout the
coaching staff.
Blaze, as run by Tim Soudan, has a very definite "coaching
profile" in mind when determining what coaches to hire and
what teams to match them with. All coaches need to be
"unselfish" and interested in making sure EVERY player is
put in situations where they can succeed.
The Blaze coaches are not "yellers/screamers/motivators",
they try and teach the game "the way it should be played".
We do not utilize set plays, unique terminology or "secret
sauce". We want our players to retain and absorb plays,
movements and terminology as taught by their High School
programs.
The lacrosse principles we teach within the Blaze program
allow our players to step on a field with teammates they
have never met before – and have success.
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What Do We Teach?
On offense, we teach basic principles of where and when to
move, how to read your teammates, including how to pick and
roll, how to set up (and perform) dodges and what to do when
your teammate dodges his opponent. We place HIGH VALUE on
moving your feet and always being ready to send or receive
clean, crisp, accurate passes.
Defensively, we teach PLAYING DEFENSE WITH YOUR FEET AND
WITH COMMUNICATION. Stick checks are secondary to proper
defensive footwork and TALKING on defense. We do not teach
multiple slide packages and terminology for the middies and
defense to remember. We give them a few things to key off of
and then let them play.
We ask our goalies to BE LEADERS ON DEFENSE, stop the ball
(!), be vocal and to throw smart, clean and crisp outlet
passes.
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What About My Town Team in the Summer/Fall?
If you have a town team that you are expected to play for in
the summer/fall, the town team should be your first priority
when there is a conflict with Blaze. Also, talk over the
Blaze program with your High School coach, as he will likely
have insight and input to consider.
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What About Winning, Playing Time, etc.?
We all like to win, Blaze teams included. The players and
coaches we select are those that give us the best chance to
play "great lacrosse". If we play "great lacrosse" and lose
to a better team, so be it. We move on.
All Blaze players will get comparable playing time.
"Comparable" does not mean identical, but we rarely if ever
have Blaze players complain about playing time. If we
have you on a Blaze roster, we feel you can play the game.
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Blaze Tryouts and How Teams are Selected
See Blaze
Tryouts
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WHAT IF I AM SELECTED AS AN
ALTERNATE or wait listed?
In certain cases the Blaze staff will select one or more
alternates for a specific team. This means at a reduced
price, the player may participate in all Blaze team
activities (training camp, practices, scrimmages, etc.) with
the exception of tournaments. Participation in
tournaments will be determined on a case by case, tournament
by tournament basis.
Players that are "wait listed" must
wait until the Blaze rosters are finalized and then will
have an opportunity to join a Blaze team. This happens when
a player who made the Blaze team during tryouts decides, for
whatever reason, they will not be able to participate with
Blaze - thus opening a roster slot for wait-listed player(s).
Alternates and wait-listed players may be selected based on
several factors, including skills, attitude, hustle, etc.
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What Tournaments Do We Attend / Who Do We Play?
All Blaze teams play a very competitive schedule of
tournaments, which can vary from year to year. The
competition is typically from other club or "all star"
teams. Our older Blaze teams play in tournaments that are
heavily attended by college coaches – and therefore are very
difficult to get into.
As well, our older Blaze teams regularly play in tournaments against
other nationally known club teams such as the Baltimore
Crabs, Green Turtles, Maryland Roughriders, Dukes Lacrosse
(PA) and Long Island Express. These teams provide the
highest level of high-school-aged competition in the
country. This level of competition definitely takes our
Blaze players "out of their comfort zone"!
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What Does Blaze Cost?
The cost for the Blaze teams may vary from year to year and
from level to level. The general range is from $700 to
$1200. We do offer "ad hoc" tournaments from time to time,
which if you choose to participate would be an extra charge.
We do require that all Blaze players purchase and wear a
Blaze helmet and game shorts.
Other expenses would
include travel, overnights, etc.
SPECIAL NOTE: It is
very difficult if not impossible to participate in Blaze and
the Empire Games the same summer. Therefore any Blaze player
who makes the Empire team (if the games are on!) will be
refunded their Blaze tuition. Then make us proud at Empires!
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hOW DO WE MAKE PAYMENTS?
See the Blaze payment page here.
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What Do We Get For Our Money?
o Blaze Kick-Off Picnic
o Blaze Recruiting Seminar
o Blaze Pre-Season Training Camp;
o Blaze uniform and helmet stickers;
o Blaze practices with your team (typically once per week);
o Practice facility fees;
o Depending on age, size and scope: Entry fees for three to five
competitive summer/fall tournaments;
o Regional contests: Ad hoc activities/games such as playing a team of
all-stars from another area;
o At the higher age groups, Blaze staff will offer advice
and help with the recruiting process - do not discount the
value of coaching connections in the lacrosse world!
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How Do We Get Signed Up for Blaze?
TRYOUT / REGISTRATION FORM
Blaze teams have tryouts in late December or early January
for the subsequent summer teams, stay tuned to this website
for more details on date, time and location. To register,
please print the Tryout Registration Form above.
You also may want to ask around – find a current Blaze
player or Blaze "alumni"
and ask what they thought of their
Blaze experience!
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about us
Blaze Lacrosse was co-founded by Tim Soudan
in 2003. To contact
Blaze Lacrosse:
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