CREASE MONKEYS TAKE HAWAI'I
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THE "PRO BOWL" OF LACROSSE
By Mike Ryan
Photos by John Strohsacker
Every year, the best in the NFL come to Oahu to relax, recover, enjoy themselves and play the Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium. The Hawaii Lacrosse Tournament is like a Pro Bowl that you don't needed to be selected to participate in. And while every top player in lacrosse is not at the event, the level of talent has increased every year to the point that it is quite literally a "who's who of lacrosse" event. And you just need a flight and a place to stay to join the mix.
There is a reason that the Hawaii Tournament has become so popular with the pros. Most of the world's top men's players compete in the MLL, NLL and/or the Mann Cup. The season schedules for these elite leagues preclude player involvement in most of the traditional tournaments many of us get to enjoy like Vail, Lake Placid, Ocean City, and of course Amsterdam. But the Hawaii tournament falls between the end of the MLL and Mann Cup seasons and before the start of the NLL preseason. As a result Hawaii has welcomed the likes of Gary Gait, Casey and Ryan Powell, Jesse Hubbard and a host of the best players in the world.
I've attended the last 4 years of the Hawaii tournaments and every year, the players get better, the tournament gets bigger and I have more fun. With many All-Americans and All-Pros participating, the rosters in 2004 were loaded. Long Island had Doug Shanahan, Paul Rao, Kevin Cassesse, and Tom Kessler. Olympic Club had Mike Watson, Conor Gill, and Dave Curry. Marin LC had Nick Polanco, Jed Raymond, Lorne Smith, and Todd Eichelberger. and the Crease Monkeys had Spencer Steele, Josh Bergey, Mike Law, Dave Daniecki, Gavin Prout, Mike Howley, Ed Fay, Matt Alexander and Chad Whittman to name a few. Any 1 of 6 teams could have won the title. And it is definitely a coveted title, because the winning trophies are all hand-made with materials that include drift wood, sharks teeth and the bill of a marlin, all done by a local artist on the North Shore.
Although, some of the game's best players attend, by no means is the tournament restricted to pro players. That's what makes the tournament so great. On Friday, the Crease Monkey team played a scrimmage against a Japanese HS/college team. At the end, the kids were getting autographs, taking pictures and getting a chance to meet some players they have only seen on ESPN. It was a great chance to meet Josh Sims, Jeff Sonke, Kevin Finneran, Trevor Tierney, Tom Ryan, Matt Striebel, and a host of other pro players, all in a relaxed atmosphere. It truly was like the Pro Bowl of Lacrosse. The newly added Master's division brought out some great people as well as great players. A few of the lacrosse IRONMEN managed to play 4 games a day by doing both Elite and Master's. In their efforts to grow lacrosse throughout the world, the Crease Monkeys added 4 players from the Japan National Team to its already strong roster. Shinya Maruyama, Tetsuhiro Muramatsu, Yoshiro Hikichi, and Masanori Uchino all played vital roles and scored in the Crease Monkeys' championship victory. The Monkeys won the elite and masters men's divisions and Michelob Light won the Women's.
One of the traditional Hawaiian features of the tournament is an Outrigger boat race just across the fields to the beach. At around 3pm on Sat., all the games are finished for the day, everyone walks over to the beach and watches each of the teams races against each other for the Outrigger title. The day ends with a killer sunset and some new champions. In the race, our boat was in 2nd place, behind the referees boat (Yes, even the refs get a boat in Hawaii) until it turned into something like a NASCAR race. We were bumped, pushed, and run into on the turn-around knocking us back to a 6th place finish, just ahead of a boat that flipped.
Everything about this tournament is 1st class. The weather, the lacrosse, the parties, and the entertainment were all unbeatable. A few of the guys on the local Hawaii squad are professional musicians. They got other professional musicians to play at 3 of the 4 tournament parties. Unlike other tournaments, where everyone scatters and hurries home after the final game, the Hawaii lacrosse Tournament has a closing party on the last night. If you have not heard Bud Cerio and the Now, you are missing something. On one evening, we were treated to local singer/songwriting legend John Cruz while on another night we heard a New Orleans Jazz and Funk band called Rebirth.
The tournament is always scheduled sometime around Halloween. You need to do Halloween in Hawaii, once in your life. Halloween in Hawaii has often been called the Mardi Gras of the Pacific. Thousands of people line the streets of downtown Honolulu to watch the big parades and all the different costumes and if you "hop" over to Maui for the evening, the small town of Lahaina hosts a party that is world renowned. Coming from the East Coast, it's quite a different experience to be in 80-degree weather during Halloween. Check out some of the crazy photos at www.hawaiilacrosse.com or www.laxphotos.com
The tournament also supports the growth of Hawaii youth lacrosse. The Hawaiian word Ohana means family and the group in Oahu is all about Ohana. This year, the Hawaii Men's Team as well as the youth lacrosse kids and their parents & coaches were helping to get water, sell drinks & food, setting up the fields, picking up trash and volunteering wherever they could. It was awesome to see the kids get excited about lacrosse. I'm hoping that, one day, lacrosse will be as big as football in the islands.
I'm not a top level player by any means, but this tournament treats everyone like they are. I highly recommend the trip to all players, fans, and families. I even took my brother and his wife as part of their 5th wedding anniversary. He hasn't played in 5 years, but ended up getting about 4 games with a team from the Northwest.
And the trip to Hawaii was less expensive than you'd think. Our trip ran about $950 per person for the flight and a week in the hotel one block from the beach. You can take an $8 shuttle to and from the hotel and the fields and then rent a car for the days you need it. Great day trips include: Pearl Harbor, Hikes to Diamond Head, the Dole Pineapple Plantation, Surfing on the North Shore, and swimming in a lagoon below a 200ft waterfall. Good times on and off the field on an Island paradise!
The Pearl Harbor "USS Arizona" Memorial
VIDEO ACTION
Marin High Bandwidth
Crease Monkeys Masters High Bandwidth
Long Island Jesters Masters High Bandwidth
A Scenic Tournament High Bandwidth Only
NYAC Women High Bandwidth
NYAC Women High Bandwidth
Crease Monkeys Masters High Bandwidth
A tournament panarama High Bandwidth Only
Long Island Jesters Masters High Bandwidth
Crease Monkeys Masters High Bandwidth
Michelob Light Women High Bandwidth Only
Michelob Light Women High Bandwidth Only
Crease Monkeys Masters High Bandwidth
Face Off! High Bandwidth Only
Crease Monkeys High Bandwidth Only
Long Island Jesters High Bandwidth
Sunset on Oahu High Bandwidth Only
PICS
Larger Photos by John Strohsacker
