Canterbury Lacrosse: 8th Grade Last Home Game

I will be sorry to see these guys go at the end of this year. They have been a huge part of establishing the program. You can see they are a pretty fun group to work with as well....

Canterbury Lacrosse: Practice 4

We've started our season and since the boys are out of school today due to conferences, I've posted the practice here. Each day I post a quote with the practice plan and if the boys know it by the end of practice, I take away some of the cardio work I've planned for them. So while they might have hoped for a day off of knowing the quote it is not to be....

Here it is:

Canterbury Lacrosse Practice 4

Extra credit: Be able to define "bray."

Fitness and the Brain

Flickr/Sculptures by Jurriaan van Hall, photo by Bart van Damme

At the end of last school year, our Head of School, Burns Jones, gave us the book Spark by Dr. John Ratey with Eric Hagerman, to read over the summer. One of its many points is that exercise keeps the brain healthy and working at maximum efficiency. I do recommend reading it.

In a related study out of Australia, researchers found that obesity can affect cognitive ability and while obesity may have been the cause of reduced cognitive function, reduced cognitive function can lead to obesity. A vicious downward cycle. Something to be aware of certainly.

For me, it reinforces the need for children to be out and running around. At Canterbury it means breaks and recess, PE and athletics. I am proud to say that last year, over 90% of middle school students participated in one sport over the three seasons.

Here is the article: Study Links Obesity with Poor Cognitive Performance

Canterbury Lacrosse: The First Game...Ever

In addition to being the Middle School Director at Cantebrury, I am also the lacrosse coach. This is the first year we've had a team and the boys had their first game yesterday afternoon at Forsyth Country Day School in Winston. The fellas put together a tremendous game, but we needed one more bounce to go our way and it did not. Check out some photos from the game below (courtesy of Tommy Ravenel)



"Control the butterflies and, as our 8th graders say, 'Do Work!'"




Head up and moving the ball: picture perfect




The brothers working together.




Douglas to Hutton  - a nice partnership




Notice the shape of the net




Billy-O with the save!




I'd say 90% of the fans were Canterbury-related




Taking the ball for a stroll...

It was a good, physical game of lacrosse.

Definitely a middle school game. Look at the size match-up...