2018-2019

Fall Season

The fall season started sooner than it ever has before. The boys and the girls both practiced until the beginning of November. The Girls went to a hat tournament at Neuqua Valley High School where three out of the four spirit awards went to Lane Tech Players.

The boys started the year with a new coach, Dave Cassat. Practices were moved from Clark park to Horner and a coed Friday practice started as well. The boys scrimmaged Northside, but didn't attend any other tournaments. A few of the players played on RagTag, which is a high school club team that went to a few fall tournaments.

Winter

We had our first winter clinics that started in February. These were used to go over strategy that would be used and how to improve certain skills. It was also a period for team bonding.

Boys Tournaments / Leagues Attending:

• CUJO - Sundays 10am - 2pm - 3rd Place
• Neuqua Knockout - Tournament Shortened due to weather
• State Tournament A Division June 1st/2nd - 3rd Place

Girls Tournaments / Leagues Attending:

• CUJO - Sundays 10am - 2pm
• Neuqua Knockout - Tournament Shortened due to weather
• State Tournament A Division June 1st/2nd - 5th Place

Season Recap - Boys

The boys season started with more players coming out to try outs than ever before. A huge shoutout to the returners who started to run drills and lead the team throughout the year.

Mid-States Tournament - Rantoul, IL

The boys went to their first tournament in Rantoul, IL with only a few returners and mostly brand new players. This was the first time that the team traveled out of the Chicagoland area. This was a great experience for the new players to learn the game and experiment through playing against competition. They were able to play against a team from St. Louis.

Neuqua Knockout - Joliet, IL

The boys played Neuqua Knockout, which was shortened due to weather, and moved to a different location. The team went 2-1 with wins over a team from Pittsburgh and a team from Ann Arbor. We lost to New Trier :(, but we had a fun time playing against them as always.

CUJO

Our weekly CUJO games had varied results (when we could play due to weather). This culminated in the CUJO tournament where we finished 3rd overall. We lost a heartbreaking game against LTHS (The other one) 8-9 where we had multiple chances of winning the game.

State Championship

Finally the State Tournament. Again, more rain caused some cancellation on Saturday and a field change to Joliet, but the team played extremely well and ended up losing in the semifinals against Neuqua Valley A, a program that has been around since 2007 and has over 200 kids involved in it. They finished tied for 3rd overall, which was the best finish they have ever had at the tournament.

Overall there was a ton of growth in the program during the season. With so many new players there are some learning curves, but they overcame them and competed at the highest level in the state. There is so much potential for the this team!

Season Recap - Girls

The girls season had another great year of support from the school and from the Girls Startup Program. They were in year number two so there were a mix of returners and new players on the team.

Evanston Scrimmage - Evanston, IL

The girls started the season with a scrimmage against a new startup team program, Evanston. It was a great introduction to the game for many of the new players, and it was a super spirited game with many new players on each team learning how to play. After the scrimmage the teams mixed it up the teams and played a spirited game with each other. Despite the cold and wind, it was a super fun day on Evanston's turf field.

Neuqua Knockout - Joliet, IL

The girls played Neuqua Knockout for the second year, which was shortened due to weather, and moved to a different location. We only ended up playing two games, one of which was against a team from Colorado. It was a fun day despite the wet ground and the moving of the tournament.

CUJO

There weren't any weekly games for girls, but we were able to scrimmage one week against a joint payton / pritzker team. It was great to see how the team improved and to continue the community between all the local teams.

State Championship

Finally the State Tournament. Again, more rain caused some cancellation on Saturday and a field change to Joliet, but the team played extremely well and ended up fifth in state. Loosing to Neuqua and Payton, but beating Pritzker in the final placement game.

Overall there was a ton of growth in the program during the season. With so many new players there are some learning curves, but they overcame them and competed at the highest level in the state. There is so much potential for the this team!