In the
summer of 2013, Shaydon Santos and Don Colman were standing outside of a Box Lacrosse rink in Calgary, Alberta. The annual trip to the Canada Day Box Lacrosse Tournament was winding
down.
The
conversation turned to the experience the Calilax players had in Calgary and the frustration that the only competitive Box Lacrosse games that could be found - required kids and parents to hop on a
plane.
From that
conversation - Shaydon came up with creating a NorCal Competitive Box Lacrosse League so that the kids could 'grind it out' every week.
2013
In the fall
of 2013 the NorCal Competitive Box Lacrosse League started with 4 teams in 4 different age groups (the Sting played in the 3 youth categories):
2014
Our second year of The Sting - and we took
everything to a new level. We expanded our number of teams from 3 to 5:
U13. This was team was the only team in the league (at any age level) to
go undefeated. They started off slow in the first period - but then got their feet under them and rolled to a comfortable 15-5 victory. The goal totals for the season were 115 (Goals for)
and 19 (Goals against). The future looks great for this group of kids. Congrats on a dominating season.
U15. The season started off slow for this team but once they figured out
how to work together - the clicked. The finished the regular season 4-4 but came to play in the championship. The dominated yesterday winning 10-1.
U15 JV. This team battled hard all year. Their only loses came at
the hands of the team they were facing in the championship game. The game started close - however as we moved into the 3rd period they were able to pull away with a 11-6 win. This is a
group of players who grew together and learned how to play tough tough, team defense.
Varsity. This team was clearly the most talented and most physical team in
the league. The physical nature left them playing short handed for much of the first 2 periods yesterday - and they found themselves losing 6-3 with 4 minutes left. They battle hard to
tie the game and almost won in regulation. Being tied 6-6 at the end of the game left us in a shootout where they scored on the first 2 shooters while Vaclav Harvey stopped the first 2 shooters
leaving them with a 7-6 victory. A special shout out goes to Vaclav for a truly dominating championship game. Easily the game MVP.
2015
The Sting as an organization had a very successful 2015 both on and off the
rink.
On the rink - we fielded 5 teams (U13, U15, JV, Snipers (Varsity) & Titans
(Varsity)).
- U13 had a tremendous season. They won the gold during the regular season and took silver in the Bay Area Revolt tournament.
Their development and growth will be the future of the Sting for years to come.
- U15 continued their dominance. The bulk of this team has played box lacrosse for several year - and that showed through out the
season. They won gold medals in both the regular season and the Bay Area Revolt.
- JV - This was our first year fielding a true JV team. Their Win/Loss record was not indicative of their development. For many,
it was their first experience in box lacrosse and by the end of the season things began to click.
- Snipers - this was their first season in box lacrosse. The team came together quickly and figured out the game. They went on to
win the gold in the regular season and showed extremely well in the Bay Area Revolt.
- Titans - this was their second season in the league. A depleted team had a tough playoff round - but rebounded to win gold at the Bay
Area Revolt.
A big highlight of the season was Mark Matthews' week long visit and the time he spent with the players at their practices and coaching the teams at the Bay
Area Revolt.
Off the rink - the Sting made a concerted effort to 'give back'. We raised
awareness of Rett Syndrome at the Bay Area Revolt and donated more than $3600 to the charity. Thank you Sting families for your continued support.
In May, The Sting had 4 teams entered into the Bay Area Super Series - which
allows field teams to play real box lacrosse as a year end tournament.
At U11 - the Sting battled and were able to beat their nemesis 9-6 in the gold
medal game. The team came together and played a complete game to win the gold.
At U13 - the Sting continued the success that they experienced as the Scorpions
- and went undefeated in the tournament as they beat South Marin in the Gold medal game.
The U15 team together progressed as the tournament went on - and battle hard
losing a close bronze medal game.
The JV team worked hard throught out the tournament. They set themselves
up to win the gold - but faced a number of injuries and were short maned as they lost in the bronze medal game.
2016
In May, at Bay Area Super Series - We Two of three Sting Box teams won Championships.
In August, at US Nationals - The Sting placed 5th at the Midget level (U15) - competing against pure travel teams from Canada and the USA.
In the fall, during the NorCal Comp League - The Sting placed 3rd at the 14U level and won the championship at both Varsity (Titans) and JV (Titans).