WDIA Champs Ready to Throw Down in A-Town
by David Ely | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online | WDIA Top 25 Poll
To say senior Bri Beach has a full plate these days would be a
gross understatement.
The president of the Virginia Tech Club team -- as well as the
four other club officer -- plays both the role of team leader on
the field and team administrator off it.
Not only does she play, but she also helps run practices. She
fundraises, plans schedules and works out the Hokies' travel
logistics.
Beach estimates that she spends about 18 hours per week (about
nine of them playing, the rest earmarked on the administrative
side) on lacrosse, and that’s on top of a regular
semester’s worth of classes.
Why is Beach’s life so much more complex than, say, a team
captain on No. 1-ranked Santa Clara?
Santa Clara has a coach to handle all the other details involved
in running a successful program. Virginia Tech does not.
The Hokies are on their own, and they like it that way.
“From the playing standpoint … I think it works
really well,” Beach said Tuesday while doing team-related
paper work. “It’s easier for us to coach ourselves. We
get to know the players really well, and you know who plays better
together.”
Beach said that because she and the other officers also play,
it’s easier for them to figure out what lineups are most
effective than for someone watching from the sidelines, removed
from the action.
But there is a fine line on which Beach must carefully tread.
Someone with the title of coach, a person who’s a clear-cut
authority figure, can make hard decisions without worrying as much
about chemistry and feelings.
A coach can remove himself or herself from the team and decide who
should get playing time and who shouldn’t. It’s harder
to make those decisions when you’re dealing with teammates
and friends.
“That’s hard,” Beach said. “There’s
times where it is hard to distance yourself from stuff. But the
fact that you’re elected into the position -- I guess you
could relate it to being a class president -- they know that you
have some sort of authority.
“There are definitely some times where it’s
difficult.”
Beach said that the Hokies try to relieve tensions by making sure
everyone plays.
The player-run system definitely is working.
The Hokies won the 2009 WDIA National Championship with a 17-9
victory over Colorado. They were the only team without a
traditional coach to make Nationals.
Virginia Tech began this season ranked No. 1 in the nation has
jumped out to an 8-0 record this year. The Hokies are
currently ranked No. 13 because of a soft schedule to start
the season.
They will get a chance this weekend to see how they stack up
against some of the nation’s elite.
Virginia Tech travels to Athens, Ga., for the A-Town Throwdown,
where it will play No. 6 Colorado, No. 10 Florida Club, No. 11
Colorado State and No. 9 Georgia.
The program’s recent success has earned the Hokies some
respect and admiration from the WDIA community.
“It’s very very impressive to see them play well
without a coach,” Santa Clara coach Brendan O’Brien
said. “It’s very impressive to see them travel without
a coach.”
Impressed, yes. But is O’Brien surprised to see a team
without a coach be one of the best in the nation?
“Am I surprised? No,” he said. “I think some
coaches are more involved than others. Some programs are very much
player-run, and they’re successful.”
But despite all of their success and the fact that Beach and the
other club officers share many of the same responsibilities as
coaches, Beach said that she doesn’t think other WDIA coaches
necessarily view them as peers.
That’s OK, though, because they don’t either.
“We’re definitely not coaches, but we’re more
than players,” Beach said. “There’s some sort of
middle ground.
“My vice president [Diane Revalski] just said we’re
‘captains on steroids.’”
WDIA Notes
The second WDIA Division II Poll was announced March 16. Here are
the rankings: 1. California Club, 2. UNC Club, 3. Univ. of San
Diego, 4. Texas State, 5. Denver Club, 6. Southern Methodist (SMU),
7. Georgia Tech, 8. Arizona, 9. St. Benedict, 10. Oakland, 11.
Sonoma State, 12. Vermont, 13. UC San Diego, 14. Western
Washington, 15. Georgetown Club, 16. St. Thomas, 17. Gustavus
Adolphus, 18. Chapman, 19. College of New Jersey and 20.
Wyoming… In Division I play, No. 1 Santa Clara hosts No. 5
UC Davis on April 3. UC Davis coach Erica Jue said the game could
really establish her team as a legitimate Nationals threat.
“I do. I think that. That could be huge for us.”
