Northern California girl’s lacrosse players made a major statement this week with the launch of the Tenacity Select Team programs in four Bay Area locations. The Tenacity staff evaluated over four hundred players, immediately facilitating the off season play for girls just finishing their youth recreational and high school seasons in the North Bay, Peninsula, and two areas in the East Bay. The idea behind the Tenacity Select teams is based largely on the desire to provide competitive off season opportunities for girls younger than the Tenacity Elite teams, for girls interested in playing more locally, and for multi-sport athletes that cannot make year round commitments to lacrosse. There are also a number of great athletes who picked up a stick for the first time this winter, so the May tryouts gave them time to develop into Select team candidates whereas Tenacity Elite teams were chosen in January. Following the last tryouts in Folsom next week, there will be twenty new teams operating under the Tenacity Project umbrella, serving about five hundred girls.
“It took us eight years to get to twenty Tenacity Elite teams (formerly BearLax),” says founder Theresa Sherry. “This is a huge step forward for girl’s lacrosse in northern California. The summer leagues and camps are also fun, but for top youth and high school players, we feel that development through teams is effective because of the camaraderie created between coaches and teammates pursuing common goals.”
Over a dozen Tenacity coaches work with youth and high school programs throughout the spring in the areas where they coach for Tenacity programs. Tenacity Project National Director, Wendy Kridel says, “Having a core group of expert coaches who are connected in the regions where they are working, adds to the connection between players and coaches that helps build passion for the sport in each of those areas.”
The Tenacity Project is on a mission to use sports as a vehicle for teaching valuable life lessons to girls of all ages throughout the country. Driving an increase in participation and parity in girl’s lacrosse is a key to achieving these goals, but working with large numbers of people does not come without its challenges. “What makes this Tenacity staff special is the way each coach invests time and energy into knowing as many girls as possible in their region,” says Sherry. “This is really a year round effort, not something that can happen in three days, and I was struck this week by the amount of care and consideration our coaches put into forming these teams. I have heard it said that overnight success is ten years in the making, and in this case, I think the launch of these programs was a few years in the making, though it may look like something we pulled off in one week.”
The Tenacity Select teams will practice and compete in June and July, and a fall season will start with tryouts in late August and go until mid-November.
The last summer tryout will be at Folsom Middle School on Thursday, June 2nd from 6-8pm, and prospects can register HERE.