Learning Lacrosse

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Teaching kids the finer points of the game is fun for pro Ryan Ward

OWATONNA — Standing in the middle of a field adjacent to Owatonna Christian School, Ryan Ward seems right at home.

All around him kids from third through 12th grade whip tennis balls at each other. Occasionally, a kid takes a fuzzy sphere to the head, yells, and slowly walks to the side. Ward laughs as he briskly walks to the center of the action, picks up a ball of his own, and drills an unsuspecting high school freshman.

“It can’t be a boot camp or no one would want to be here,” Ward said. “So we like to end camp with something fun.”

Ward, a former teacher at Owatonna Junior High School, is the head coach of the boys lacrosse team at Eden Prairie High School. He and Todd Baxter, who played for England’s national team in the 2010 World Championships, came to Owatonna to hold a youth lacrosse camp, and the “fun” Ward speaks of is a game of dodge ball.

Baxter, an Eden Prairie graduate, just finished his collegiate lacrosse season as a captain at the University of Denver. The Pioneers lost a national semifinal to eventual champion Virginia.

An offensive specialist, Baxter joined up with Ward to teach the game to kids who are not the lacrosse-focused athlete that he is.

“I’ve got a lot of knowledge,” Baxter said. “I teach the kids shooting, passing and some technical stuff like offensive sets.”

Both Ward, who plays professionally with the Edmonton Rush of the National Lacrosse League, and Baxter said that time commitment is a big difference between programs that are successful and those that struggle. Of course, coming from Eden Prairie, and having resources such as an artificial turf field, a dome and a school population upwards of 3,000, helps.

“We come to these camps and try to get a feel for each group,” Baxter said. “We start with the basics and do what we call ‘500 Touches Per Day.’ It’s really getting the core talents down and then we can move on to the more advanced stuff that the metro schools are working on every day.”
Ward agrees, and adds that the key is starting young, and practicing in the summer.

“To get to the level of the schools in the (Twin) Cities, the program has to start young, and you have to practice more,” Ward said. “A lot of those (metro) kids are playing nine, 10 months out of the year.”

Ward said he tries to bring something new to the camps, but also wants to work closely with each school’s individual head coach. In Owatonna, that means Scott Seykora.

“I bring some fresh drills and ideas, but I also reiterate what coach Seykora says,” Ward said.

To teach the basics of lacrosse, the instructors start at the beginning.

“Vision, keeping your head up, changing direction and speed are essentials,” Baxter said. “Hand placement, how to get your shoulders turned, how to follow through on a shot, basic technical stuff, really.”

After all of the repetitions and drills, Ward and Baxter know they have to loosen things up, and that’s where dodge ball comes in.

Instead of a circle, the players line up on opposite sides of the field. And instead of the big, red, playground ball, the kids are given tennis balls. The goal, however is the same: hit the other team with the ball.

The game starts with a whistle and two teams charging midfield to grab one of the dozens of balls lying in the grass. As the kids dip and dive and scream and yell, Ward and Baxter stand in the back, laughing.

Without knowing it, the kids are learning to lead a pass when they aim for their sprinting friend. They’re learning to shoot high and low as the opponent jumps and rolls. They’re also learning to have fun with a game.

“We just let them get out there and have fun, but it does work on technique and accuracy,” Baxter said.

As the players on each side dwindle down, and the game slows to a crawl, Ward picks up a ball, smiles, and pelts Baxter.

“It’s good for the coaches to get involved and play,” Ward said. “We have a good time.”

“We have a rule of no coach-on-coach violence until all the campers are out,” Baxter said. “And then, then we get to shoot at each other.”