Bayhawks Announce New Management Group
from press release
BALTIMORE, MD - Smartlink CEO Brendan Kelly and Hometown Lacrosse, LLC will take over management of the Washington Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse and will lead a group of investors to acquire the team.
“I am excited to be introducing the new management team to
the lacrosse community”, said David Gross. “You often
get a chance to test a market, but not the management. We got to
test Brendan Kelly last year when he and SmartLink were charged
with running Championship Weekend. They utilized great grass roots
efforts, and any fan will tell you that the best experience
they’ve had at a Championship Weekend was last year when
Brendan was involved”.
“We also got to take the league for a test drive, and had a
great experience” said President Brendan Kelly in reference
to running the 2009 Championship Weekend. “We believe in the
grass roots approach. Families in the Chesapeake Bay region have to
support this effort.” His company, SmartLink, has been
heavily involved in the game of lacrosse sponsoring various teams
and events at the regional and national level.
“I want to thank the original owners – the Pivec
family, Chris Hutchins, Ray Schulmeyer, and Gordon Boone –
for having the courage and taking the chance to be one of first
owners of an MLL team and bringing the Bayhawks to this
area,” said Kelly, who founded, Smartlink, the
Annapolis-based staffing firm in 2000. “Without them, it
wouldn’t be possible for our group to be taking over
management of the team today. We want to also thank Scott Hiller
and his group for their work, specifically for branding the Bayhawk
name in the Northern Virginia and DC area.”The new management
team is already in place. Kelly will take on the role as President
of the organization with John Lamon serving as the Director of
Sales. Former Bayhawk and All-MLL attackman Spencer Ford will be
the General Manager and John Tucker will be the head coach, his
second season with the team.
With a vast amount of experience at all levels of the sport, the
Kelly family and the Lamon family bring 30-plus years of lacrosse
knowledge to the Bayhawks’ management and a vision to engage
the entire Chesapeake region through a grassroots approach and
local involvement with lacrosse on a daily basis.
“We didn’t get to this point out of nowhere,”
Kelly said. “This has been a process that started 10 years
ago with the formation of the Smartlink post-collegiate club team,
which has competed in the USCLA, Lake Placid, Ocean City and other
tournaments throughout the country and has included more than 200
players including U.S. Team players.”
Active U.S. Team players who also compete for Smartlink through
the summer tournament circuit include Shawn Nadelen, Alex Smith,
Kyle Dixon, Brendan Mundorf, and Drew Westervelt.
Entrenched in the lacrosse community from the very beginning,
Smartlink signed on to help launch the first-ever MLL Championship
Weekend at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium last summer and for
the past two years has been the title sponsor of Inside
Lacrosse’s Smartlink Day of Rivals, which features Johns
Hopkins playing Maryland and Army playing Navy on April 17 at
Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium.
“Smartlink and Inside Lacrosse have formed strong
relationship in marketing the game of lacrosse through the Day of
Rivals. For the second year in a row we are the title
sponsor,” Kelly said. “Inside lacrosse has been a vital
piece in helping us grow the business and will continue to be an
important partner in our marketing efforts.”
“Our mission is to invite every kid – youth
level, inner city, public school, private school – to the
game,” Kelly said. “We want all of you in the
Chesapeake Region to be a part of the Bayhawks. This is your
hometown team and we will be out there representing the Bayhawks in
your neighborhood. The Kelly family and the Lamon family are
fortunate enough to lead the Bayhawks into the future.”
“We have to embrace the youth lacrosse community if we
want to reach our goal of putting 10 or 15 thousand in the
stands”, said John Lamon. “I will be reaching out to
the corporate market in the Chesapeake bay region to help grow our
product. We’ll work tirelessly to make sure we do the right
things to make this a great team, and a great family and to
ultimately bring a championship back to the Bayhawks”.
“I met Brendan 10 years ago, and together we put a team
together called team Smartlink," said Spencer Ford. “It was a
team based on character and not so much how you played the game. My
goal is to build a team on character and have the guys that want to
play the game for the reasons these guys played when they were
younger”.
“Thanks to Scott Hiller and to Brendan Kelly for furthering
his vision with this team”, said John Tucker. “We have
a tremendous young team with great players, and great guys. We will
be active in the community to help support and grow youth
programs”.
The Bayhawks open their season on May 15th at Navy-Marine Corps
Memorial Stadium when they take on the Long Island Lizards at 7 PM.
Ticket information is available at www.washingtonbayhawks.com.
For more information about Smartlink, LLC, CLICK HERE.
