After an aborted attempt last week, we held the third Toss Around on Saturday. Unlike previous events, we were at Valley Southwoods which gave us the luxury of having goals.
People slowly trickled in a little before noon and we started with some basic catching. After a while, the Valley players broke away and started warming up on goal and I took all of the newbies (and returning player Caleb) aside to go over the fundamentals of catching. They took to it quickly so I went over to find out what Coach Zach was thinking about playing.
While they newbies kept playing catch, we broke off into a three-on-three with one goal. One team was on offense and the other was clearing. While we wore no pads, we managed to have a competitive game which the newbies watched. After those of us with experience demonstrated and a few points were scored, we invited the newbies to join in and divided them accordingly.
I am happy to report that everybody seemed to take to lax very quickly despite the less than ideal field conditions (long, dead grass with slimy mud underneath). They were unafraid to take shots, go after ground balls, and play the body. I am very impressed with the way lax is coming together in Des Moines!
Thanks to everyone that made it out. I want to give special thanks to Michael for responding to the Register's article and coming out. Thanks to Caleb for bringing out a couple of newbies and spreading the game around his friends. And thanks to my brother-in-law, "Fina," for finally deciding to come out and play. I had hoped to get him to come ot Valley's practices, but you know teenagers...
We will be in Nebraska for the next two weeks to kick off Valley's season. The tentative plan is to get some more Toss Arounds together on April 4 and/or 11. Until then, play whenever and wherever you can. I look forward to seeing everyone then!
