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By Chris Goldberg
TopLaxRecruits.com, Posted 3/30/15
Co-founder Tom Blanchard said the Boise Lacrosse Invitational was created to help grow the sport in the northwest region where lacrosse has just begun to take off.
“I grew up and played lacrosse back in New York and one of the things that I enjoyed as a player was traveling and getting an opportunity to play against teams that we traditionally would not play against,” said Blanchard, the head coach at Rocky Mountain, Idaho. “The Boise Invitational provides that unique opportunity that unfolds over a weekend of great Lacrosse.”
The four-day Boise Invitational concluded March 22 as 22 top boys’ high school varsity teams (playing in 36 games) from Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington competed at five sites in Idaho. The tourney featured four state champions from 2014; each team involved had advanced to its state playoffs in 2014. The event also featured 15 JV games.
Some of the varsity games featured teams ranked among the TopLaxRecruits.com Western Rankings. The team that perhaps impressed the most as Corner Canyon (UT), which defeated Eastside Catholic (WA), 9-5, and went 3-0 overall. Corner Canyon is now 9-0.
Blanchard and Britt Cornaby, the founder and editor of Idaho Lacrosse News have built the tournament quickly into a well-recognized event and a chance for teams in the northwest to get more competition and recognition.
“Our region has a lot of summer tournaments going on but nothing really during the spring season when it really matters.” said Blanchard. “Britt and I looked around at what was being offered during the Spring season and we felt their was an opportunity for us to put something together that would be a value to teams gearing up to make an in state run at their respective championships.”
Blanchard answered these questions:
How did this year’s tourney go overall?
Blanchard: “The Boise Invitational takes a tremendous amount of work to pull together. It’s usually a nine-month process from start to finish. One of the toughest things about organizing an event of this size is securing the facilities for all the games and accommodating each teams specific requests. This year I think we must have made close to twenty schedule changes to accommodate all the different requests. We try to be as accommodating as possible but when your dealing with 20+ teams there is only so much flexibility you have.”
“We just wrapped up our third annual Invitational and each year’s seems to run smoother than the last. It’s been a huge success! Idaho is obviously a non-traditional area for lacrosse, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have the facilities to run an event of this size and it certainly doesn’t mean the community, players, coaches and officials are oblivious to the game. We just haven’t been playing as long as those teams in traditional areas back East. Our community here in Boise appreciates the quality of Lacrosse that is played at the Boise Invitational. We have heard nothing but positive feedback from the parents and coaches that travel to participate in the event, hearing the encouragement makes putting this event together worth it.”
How have you been able to grow the tourney so quickly, knowing teams are coming from so many states and from such a vast region throughout the Northwest?
Blanchard: “Anyone that knows Britt and myself will tell you once we set our sights on something we are two pretty determined people to see it through. The first year of the Boise Invitational we got a lot of ‘no thank yous’ from the teams we were targeting and we expected that so we continued to push through and try to find teams that were right for our event.
“The first year took a little time to fill the field but we eventually got there. The second year became a little easier because we had some teams that had a great experience the first year that they wanted to come back. So only having to recruit half the field or three quarters of the field was less time consuming and it allowed us more time to focus on teams we really wanted to come. Having that time to sell our event to those teams that were on the fence really helped because the teams could see we were passionate about what we were doing and we believed in our event.
“Our persistence eventually paid off and we landed a couple of the teams we had targeted. I think this past year was really the break through year. We had established a solid format and reputation for our event and we started fielding calls and emails from teams that wanted to participate. Some of those teams were teams we tried to recruit the first couple of years. The interest we received from teams throughout the region this past year validated our efforts to make Boise, Idaho a travel destination for teams within the region. I think we are just starting to scratch the surface of what we have. Every summer before we start planning the next year’s event we try to find ways to improve the overall experience of the event and I think after this year’s event we have some things we want to explore. The future is bright for the Boise Invitational.”
What are some of the top positives that have come from this tourney?
Blanchard: “The Boise Invitational has not only benefited our local Lacrosse community, but I believe it has also benefited our Western Region. I believe it has created a unique opportunity for teams from surrounding states to come together for a weekend of great Lacrosse. I think as a coach we always have two main focus, we always want to win our respective State Championship, but at the same time we want to build an elite program and the Boise Invitational really touches on both those goals.
Getting a chance to play high level, full NFHS, non-conference games gives coaches an opportunity to build their reputation as an elite program and it always the players to evaluate the progress of their teams leading up to their teams’ respective league schedules. It really is a unique opportunity that these teams have. Looking at the positive impact the Boise Invitational has had on our community here in Boise I think it has allowed other teams to see that Boise can and should be considered as a travel destination to pick up some quality lacrosse games. It has also allowed our local teams an opportunity to showcase their ability against quality competition. I’ve been involved with Idaho Lacrosse since 2005 and to see the leaps we have made as a community over the last decade has been highly encouraging. Ten years ago we wouldn’t have competed against some of these teams from out of state, now we aren’t just competing but we are winning some of these bigger games which says a lot for the growth of the game here in Idaho.”
Who has helped you achieve what you have done so far? We assume there may be a lot of behind-the-scenes people and volunteers that have helped get this all to work so well.
Blanchard: “We have so many people that step up and help in some capactiy, it’s impossible to name everyone but really the community has embraced what we are doing with the Boise Invitational. It starts at the top with getting the access we need to the facilities. Each high school that we have brought into the mix has to have the blessing of the A.D. and fortunately Britt and I have established strong connections and relationships with those contacts to use the facilities.
“We do a lot of coordination with the I.L.O.A (Idaho Lacrosse Officials Association). We can’t run an event with over 50+ games without being able to cover the games so our officials truly do a fantastic job in ensuring we have the coverage we need to run this event. We also have some amazing volunteers at each host sites that show great hospitality to those that visit our sites. Our volunteers really do a nice job in stepping up to maintain the integrity of the facilities by doing whatever needs to get done.
“Last, but certainly not least, we have a local Sports Medicine team on site for every game. The Sports Medicine team volunteers their time and effort to ensure the safety of all the participants. We are extremely appreciative of their services and their commitment to protect all the participants of our event. A lot of people come together for one weekend to make the Boise Invitational what is is and Britt and I are very appreciative of all of these people.”
Final scores from Boise Lacrosse Invitational
Sunday, March 22
Park City (UT) 16, Timberline (ID) 4
Judge Memorial (UT) 10, Hellgate (MT) 2
Palo Verde (NV) 14, Clackamas (OR) 6
Saturday Match 21
Olympus (UT) 13, Timberline (ID) 8
Eastside Catholic (WA) 13, Juan Diego (UT) 8
Rocky Mountain (ID) 17, Clackamas (OR) 3
Corner Canyon (UT) 12, Palo Verde (NV) 8
Timberline (ID) 15, Centennial (NV) 4
Rocky Mountain (ID) 10, Herriman (UT) 5
Faith Lutheran (NV) 9, Mountain View (ID) 1
Park City (UT) 13, Lake Oswego (OR) 2
Herriman (UT) 11, Centennial (NV) 6
Faith Lutheran (NV) 10, Fort Collins (CO) 6
Boise (ID) 13, Hellgate (MT) 12, OT
Palo Verde (NV) 18, Eagle (ID) 6
Clackamas (OR) vs. Fort Collins (CO), full length scrimmage
Boise (ID) 17, Canby (OR) 6
Central Catholic (OR) 11, Olympus (UT) 10, OT
Judge Memorial (UT) 17, Centennial (ID) 8
Park City (UT) 13, Central Catholic (OR) 2
Centennial (ID) 17, Canby (OR) 7
Friday, March 20
Corner Canyon (UT) 17. Fort Collins (CO) 7
Central Catholic (OR) 13, Rocky Mountain (ID) 12, OT
Eastside Catholic (WA) 13, Palo Verde (NV) 4
Timberline (ID) 15, Clackamas (OR) 5
Park City (UT) 16, Eagle (ID) 8
Faith Lutheran (NV) 11, Juan Diego (UT) 9
Judge Memorial (UT) 10, Boise (ID) 1
Centennial (ID) 13, Hellgate (MT) 9
Olympus (UT) 18, Canby (OR) 9
Lake Oswego (OR) 15, Centennial (NV) 7
Mountain View (ID) 15, Herriman (UT) 4
Thursday, March 19
Corner Canyon (UT) 9, Eastside Catholic (WA) 5
Eagle (ID) 16, Juan Diego (UT) 14
Mountain View (ID) 10, Lake Oswego (OR) 7
Olympus (UT) 15, Rocky Mountain (ID) 10
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