Versatility Is Essential On and Off the Field

Jose Olivero 1975

I grew up watching José Oliverio in the goal at West Point where he received All-American honors in lacrosse and soccer. His versatility was amazing! This was during a period in West Point lacross history in which during his tenure, Army had consistently been a top five Division I program. I'm known as a guy who played all over the field and in part I gleaned that from José as a possibility. His coach, Hall of Famer Dick Edell, had Jose  face off for the Black Knights and then sub back into the goal after beating the other team's face-off specialist. In addition, as a product of Brentwood high school on Long Island, he was a great stopper closed the door on some great players like Hopkins' All American attackman Mike O'neil.  I remember the sign in the stands at Michie Stadium which said, "Only Jesus saves more than José," LOL. He ended his career as a second team All-American (first-team that year had been John Hopkins Hall of Fame goalie Mike Federico). José is still involved in the game today serving as a referee. He lives in northern Virginia.

Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/FrederickDouglassOpie?ref=hl and Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/DrFredDOpie

West Point Lacrosse Memories: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=West+point

Listen to Our Podcasts and More: http://www.fredopie.co

West Point Lacrosse History: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/army/sports/m-lacros/auto_pdf/2011-12/misc_non_event/2012lacrosseguide.pdf

Navy's Syd Abernathy Part 3

West Point's Michie Stadium 

I had the honor to see Syd Abernethy play my senior year in high school in Croton and his senior year in college at the Naval Academy in a quarterfinal NCAA playoff game at West Point in 1981. Before that game, I had never heard of him. In addition, it was my first time seeing an African American in game, and one who clearly was one of the best players on the field and one who played my position too—attack. Many people don’t know I was an attackman in high school.

West Point Lacrosse History: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/army/sports/m-lacros/auto_pdf/2011-12/misc_non_event/2012lacrosseguide.pdf

My Earliest Exposure to Lacrosse: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=elliot

Croton and Yorktown Lacrosse: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2010/01/be-steve-mabus-in-your-lacrosse-world.html

Custom Sticks and Cuse Lacrosse Culture

That's Tim Nelson's 1983 season custom head with a classic Yorktown, most likely little brother Tom strung, Brine Superlight II with wide strong  traditional pocket.

Organized lacrosse head dying sessions using a white plastic head, Rit fabric dye, and downing dozens of hot Buffalo chicken wings in the process represented a part of lacrosse experience in the 1980s. There was definitely an unspoken competition over both who could eat the most wings and who could come up with the most aesthetic multi-colored design with your name, number, and somehow fit it all fit on a small surface. A Syracuse 80% of the team loved traditional pockets. The difference was over the size of the holes. Yorktown guys like big holes maybe 5 and West Genee players always used small holes say 8 or more. The island guys at SU, and we didn’t have a lot in those days, were right in the middle. Upstate players used Brine superlight II; about four of us however used STX. 

I grew up on Army lacrosse and coach Dick Edell. As an attackman in high school I patterned a lot of my game and gear after All American attackmen Frank Giordano (Port Washington, Army), Greg Tarbell (LaFayette, Cobleskill, Syracuse) and Mike O’Neill (Massapequa, Hopkins) In fact I wore # 7 after seeing both Tarbell and O’Neill play at West Point. I purchased a STX Barney with a traditional pocket and the same funky gold shaft that O’Neill used in game I saw at the point. I often wondered how many young players emulated my gear and game as they watched me play.

Yorktown Lacrosse Stories: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2010/09/college-lacrosse-recruiting-series-part_18.html

Mike O’Neil http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2012/07/john-hopkins-all-american-attackman.html

Army Lacrosse Stories: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=army

Interview with Coach Paul Wehrum Part 1

Coach Wehrum diagramming Xs and Os at a Herk vs Army B team, West Point circa 1982, click the image to enlarge it.

An interview I did with my Junior College (Herkimer County Community College) Coach, Hall of Famer Paul Wehrum. He is the only Junior College Coach in the National Hall of Fame and he served as US Team Coach in 1998. After three undefeated seasons, 15 consecutive regional championships, and 7 National Championships, coach retired as a Full Professor of Physical Education from the State of New York. He's now the head coach at Union College. 

Coach what were the keys to developing your successful career at Herk?

“The primary things were having an emphasis on the academics [by doing things like] only two hour practices. Using you as an example, I concentrated on your academics but also pushed you hard lacrosse wise and did the same with my other players. I made sure kids enjoyed both athletic and academic success and I would not let them give up because a teacher graded your paper and failed you. I encouraged them not to give up; most of our kids did not have great success in the classroom in high school. Then when players went on to good schools, their success naturally brought more players to Herkimer through word of mouth [and kind of a chain migration with repeat players from the same communities coming to Herkimer] from Croton, Baldwin, Yorktown, West Genesee, Irondequoit, and Homer.

Watching Army Lacrosse Games At Michie Stadium, 1975-1981

related links below

West Point Lacrosse History: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/army/sports/m-lacros/auto_pdf/2011-12/misc_non_event/2012lacrosseguide.pdf

West Points’ Frank Giordano: http://www.foodasalens.com/2009/10/syracuse-lacrosse-aesthetics-and-hot.html

My Earliest Exposure to Lacrosse: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=elliot

Croton and Yorktown Lacrosse: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2010/01/be-steve-mabus-in-your-lacrosse-world.html

Coaching Stories

Hempstead varsity lacrosse team photo circa 1986: Kenny Moore, Kevin McClure, Sinclair Basnight, Donald Jones, Egon Robertson, John Williams, Derek Payne, Danny Williams, Gerald Cordova, Charles Edge, Aaron Jones, Jerry McCarter, Caesar Lara, William Humphrey, Milton Warker, Norris Taylor, Robin Taylor

I taught and coached football and lacrosse at Hempstead High School during the 1988-89 academic year. The district had failed to pass it budget and operated on an austerity budget—restricted funding for sports with funds only for coach’s salaries, insurance, buses etc. The student body had been over 95% black and remainder lower class Latinos and whites. In the 1960s the school had gained national recognition for its academic and athletic achievements. The High School began a decline with the close of Mitchel Air Force Base in 1961, an important source of jobs for the community and the beginning of capital and white flight from the school district. Regan era cut backs led to further problems along with the coming of the crack cocaine epidemic. Despite these hardships, a group of dedicated teachers and coaches insured that Hempstead grads continued to attend some of the finest schools in the country. In the team photo above one fines Metro Lacrosse CEO Aaron Jones who played collegiality at Cornel University and Army officer Dan Williams who earned All American honors at West Point.  

Hempstead Lacrosse History: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=Hempstead

Coaching Stories: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=coach

One Big Reason Why Syracuse Recruited Me

Tim Nelson against Army at West Point, 1985 

Perhaps the person that the Lord used the most to turn the attention of the Syracuse Lacrosse coaching staff was the big 6' 2" 200 pound attackman Tim Nelson (Yorktown High School). Our high schools played against each other back in Westchester in Section 1. We also played together on a Manhasset summer league team in the old Freeport Summer League after my first year in college. As a result of our shared history, Tim (Nellie) knew my game and knew it well. When I went to Herkimer as a virtual unknown player, he went as a highly recruited two-time high school All American who had played in two New York State title games to NC State. In the late 1970s and early 1980s the Wolfpack had a great lacrosse program that included Tim’s older brother Scott. At the end of his first year, State dropped their program and Syracuse offered him a scholarship. In his first season at Syracuse, SU won its first national championship in 1983, Nellie earned first team All American honors and he won the Turnbull Award as the best attackman in the country that year. During that championship season, I visited SU and ran into Nellie. He told me about the teams need for defensemen and then lobbied the coaching staff to recruit me based on what he knew of me as a high school player and my summer league performance. That’s the story of how I became a Syracuse Lacrosse recruit when most other programs and coaches showed no interest. 

The Nelsons of Yorktown Lacrosse: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2010/09/college-lacrosse-recruiting-series-part_18.html

Why Lacrosse Has Not Taken off in Black and Latino Communities

Courtesy of the Hamption Lacrosse Facebook Page 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HamptonUniversityLacrosseClub/

Op-Ed

by José Olivero

In the article on Hampton University fielding a Division 1 (Div 1) program next year (see the link below), there are a lot of key points and bits of information buried within.  I agree on all the contributing factors stagnating the growth of minorities in lacrosse, especially the cost.  But, I would add another important reason why lacrosse has not taken off in the Black and Latino communities; there is no viable professional league.  Where's the magnet?  A viable professional league is one where a player can make an excellent living and live the life of luxury.  Comparable to lacrosse, basketball, football, baseball provide that for professional athletes. For most, lacrosse is played as a hobby and for love of the game than as a profession.  Professional sports have always been looked as the ticket out of poverty and instant socio-economic improvement. As a sport we're not there yet.  Will we make it, I hope so Regardless, it is good to see Hampton joining the Div 1 ranks and I wish them luck. 

José Olivero

Former All American Goalie, West Point

Will Hampton University Improve Lacrosse’s Diversity Problem?: http://inlacrossewetrust.com/will-hampton-university-improve-lacrosses-diversity-problem/

Fred Opie on José Olivero’s: [Watch Now 3 min 29 sec] http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2012/06/versatility-is-essential-in-athletic.html

Aaron Jones, My Cornell Years

Aaron Jones, a Cornell lacrosse Alum, clearing the ball in a game at Yale University, circa 1987

During my Cornell playing years, I experienced racial challenges on the field and off but with the strength I gained from my background was able to meet those antagonists head-on. Because of those experiences, I share a bond with so many other great African American lacrosse players. Players I came across during my Cornell playing days include Fred Opie (Syracuse), Rickey Sowell (Washington College), Keith Owens & Rodney Dumpson (Syracuse), Raymond “Tiny” Crawford (Hobart), as well as high school teammates, John Williams & Brian Duncan (Adelphi) and Danny Williams (West Point). Our shared lacrosse playing experiences at the collegiate level have created an indelible bond with these players and people. One notable moment in those memories came in 1989 when Fred Opie, Danny Williams and I drove together to try-out for the 1990 US. National (or World) Team. That try-out was a once in a lifetime opportunity shared by 3 guys from almost identical backgrounds and lacrosse experiences. Fred was selected for the team and Danny and I felt like we made the team along with him. The common bond continues today. I am linked in with all the African American players that forged through the circumstance of being a pioneer in a fantastic sport.

Cornell Lacrosse Stories: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=Cornell

What To Do If You Don't Get An Athletic Scholarship Offer?

Me on the right covering Yorktown's Rob Hoynes during the Spring of my senior year at Croton Harmon High School. Rob, a great player and person, went on to be an All-American midfielder in high school and at West Point.  

 Related links  below

My College Recruiting Series:

 http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=recruiting

http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2010/09/dealing-with-rejection-as-lacrosse.html

http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=College+Lacrosse+Recruiting+Series

2012 National Lacrosse Hall of Fame Class

Now National Hall of Famer Tim Nelson playing back in SU's first National Championship in 1983 

Here is letter I just emailed to my teammate Tim Nelson and copied to several other SU teammates upon hearing that he is now a member of the 2012 class of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame!  

Dear Nellie

I am both thrilled and extremely proud to learn about your induction into the national lacrosse hall of fame. As you may or may not know, this most likely would have happened earlier but an application that someone submitted on your behalf, a required part of the consideration process, had mistakenly been misfiled. It was only after Phil Sanders diligently followed up on what happened that I learned about this misfortunate mishap.  Perhaps it was fitting that the delay happened so that you would be inducted in the same class as fellow Yorktown High School and Syracuse alum Roy Colsey.  All I can say is wow! I remember Roy as a young camper at the West Point lacrosse camp following my junior year at SU. I would later watch Roy help his teammates win two national championships at SU when I returned to graduate school there in the early 1990s.  In closing let me share a link to several stories I have done on my lacrosse blog in which I talk about my now long relationship with you--dating back to the carpool we did to the old Freeport Summer League on the Island: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=Tim+Nelson

Best wishes, 

Fred


The other inductees this year include: 

Brian Dougherty

Jesse Hubbard

Jen Adams

Missy Foote

Kelly Amonte Hiller

Cindy Timchal 

Interview with Coach Paul Wehrum Part 3

Coach Wehrum encourages his players. Herk vs ArmyB team, at West Point circa1982. 

I an interview with my Junior College (Herkimer County Community College) Coach Paul Wehrum. A native of Roosevelt, New York, his resume includes All American honors as a attackman at Cortland State and as a coach, US Team Assistant Coach in 1998, National Hall of Fame, three undefeated seasons, 15 consecutive regional championships, and 7 National Championships. I asked about his reflections on my career and how would fair if I were a prospective player today.

Thinking about young players that read my blog, for example my son who is ten loves lacrosse, and wants to get better. How do you account for the success I've had in lacrosse as one of your former players?

You came to Herkimer with a passion for Lacrosse and you had great stick skills. I think you were a very very talented young man and you worked very very hard at your stick skills.”

Did you predict my success or did it surprise you?

I did not predict you success because early on you had allot of physical limitations, you were pigeon toed, [and had foot and knee surgery] and you shocked me with what you did after Herkimer at Syracuse as a player like what happened in that Hopkins game at Brown. You found a real joy in playing. You did not feel restricted by me or by Coach Simmons. But if you had gone to different kind of program that did not give you that freedom, you could have had a very different playing career.

Navy's Syd Abernethy Part 1

 Navy vs. Hopkins game circa 1978 

Syd “the squid” Abernethy gained his nickname for his patented head and shoulder fake at the attack position that allowed him to blow by defensemen and score bunches of points during his lacrosse career. A lot of young players today of all stripes know nothing about him. I witnessed his game first hand and I think his story is important for serious fans and students of the game. A tall well-built attackman with powerful legs and blinding speed, Abernethy was born at John’s Hopkins University Hospital in 1958. He grew up in Annapolis, Maryland where he first played middle school lacrosse at the Key school and then later for a Hopkins’ lacrosse alum, Dave Roberts, at Annapolis High School located down the street from the U. S. Naval Academy. At Annapolis High, he excelled both at athletics and academics where he achieved high school lacrosse All-American honors. His brother, who was three years older than him, played as a walk on defensemen at the Naval Academy for Hall of Fame Navy coach Dick Szlasa. Syd received offers to play college ball at West Point, Yale, and Navy and he chose to follow his brother to Navy in the summer of 1977. More on Syd and the role he played as part of Navy’s triple threat offense tomorrow.

Syd Abernathy: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=syd

Guest Blogger Navy Coach Rick Sowell Parts1: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2010/04/rick-sowell-on-how-he-started-playiing.html

Navy Head Coach Rick Sowell on How to “Really Play Part 2:  http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2010/04/rick-sowell-learning-how-to-really-play.html?spref=tw

Navy Coach Rick Sowell: http://www.navysports.com/sports/m-lacros/mtt/sowell_rick00.html

Wining Coach Sowell’s Way: http://www.americanathletemag.com/ArticleView/tabid/156/ArticleID/142/Winning-Beyond-the-Game.aspx

Interview with Coach Sowell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XimZNwcXWcg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqphHerSL8I

Dealing With Rejection

Fred Opie (far left) in a Herk vs. Nassau game at Hofstra University 1983  

It’s that time of the year when college coaches are out traveling around the country watching tournaments and checking out prospective players and deciding who they can and should recruit. Soon some players will start receiving email, mail, and phone calls and invitations to visit campuses. Some highly coveted players entering their sophomore and junior years in high school are starting to feel the pressure. Those not   receiving any "love from coaches" are starting to feel low self-esteem.  My story as former scholarship lacrosse player at Syracuse University and U. S. National Team player may surprise you. I did not receive allot of love my junior or senior year. As senior I might have received two letters from Division III coaches  My prospects improved after attending junior college (JUCO) at Herkimer County Community college and playing for now Hall of Fame Coach Paul Wehrum.  I first tearn All American honors my first year at Herkimer but the honor did not help my case much because are team did not advance to the final four teams in the JUCO championships. That was the stage in the game when coaches came to see players like they now do at summer tournaments and thereafter offered opportunities to the players they believed would contribute their programs. Clay Johnson from my hometown played for Maryland and he was my hero. Thus naturally I wanted to play for Maryland one day. The problem was I recruited Maryland harder than they recruited me a guy with little notoriety. University of Maryland coach Dino Mattessich supposedly sent somone to watch me play against Nassau Community College on the island. Nassau was the top rank team in the nation at the time and players from the program regularly earned scholarships to the top lacrosse programs and schools in the country. I played perhaps my best lacrosse ever. However following  the game Maryland continued show little interest no discussion of scholarship money occurred. I sent inquiries’ to the coaches at Carolina and West Point receiving in turn cordial rejection letters. It was during this time I learned the skill of how to spot a rejection letter without opening the envelope. This skill would later serve me well as I tried to get my first books published from 2000 to 2009. Syracuse went on to beat Maryland in the NCAA quarter finals that year in the Career Dome. Coach Dino Mattessich resigned as the Maryland lacrosse coach shortly thereafter and left coaching to become an athletic director. I don’t believe one of my many phone calls to the Maryland lacrosse office ever made it pass the secretaries who screened calls; nor did any of the coaches return my calls. Now that friends and people who I've coach are college coaches, I better understand both the process and just how many contacts they get about prospective players. Most do the best they can returning calls and emails but they are simply understaffed and overworked. Coaches feel terrible when a great player gets overlooked and players feel slighted when coaches show them no love. I certainly learned over the years how to make myself more attractive as I candidate and much of what I learned happened through lacrosse. Perhaps most importantly, I learned how to separate what I do from who I am and the importance of fit when potential employers or publishers say no to me.

My College Recruiting Series: 

 http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=recruiting

http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=College+Lacrosse+Recruiting+Series

My Summer with Steve

The Lacrosse Field at Lakeland Middle School 

The summer before I entered 9th or 10th grade Steve Mabus’ family moved on my street.  At the time Steve played college lacrosse at Kutz Town State in Pennsylvania. I don’t remember how it started, but before I knew it, Steve and I started playing catch, shooting on goal, and playing one on one in his yard. Steve played in a college summer league at the Lakeland middle school field and started taking me along his game. I remember watching Scott Finlay (Yorktown, West Point), Scott Nelson (Yorktown, North Carolina State) and Bill Simunek (Walter Panas, St. Lawrence), Greg Rivers (Yorktown, Delaware) and Clay Johnson (Croton, Maryland) play. These guys were terrific athletes, with great sticks, and lacrosse intellect. Watching them provided a visual image of how the game should be played. Graduate school advisors once told me that I should apply to the best possible Ph.D. programs. She explained, “You will rise to the occasion in an atmosphere of very bright people and become a much more polished scholar.” The same is true with the summer lacrosse you watch and the leagues you play in.

Summer League Lacrosse Stories http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=summer+league

Playing Varsity High School Lacrosse in the 1980s

Cole Bender, me my junior year (Fred Opie), Adam West behind me, and Matt Mitchell. Croton Point Park Field 1980.

It almost time for the start of high school lacrosse practice here in the Hudson Valley. This time reminds of my first year on the varsity team at Croton Harmon in 1980. The seniors I played with in my junior year were a hilarious bunch, especially Cole Bender and Josh Stark. They had a language of their own filled with nick names, expressions, and saying that was incredible to hear on bus rides to practice and on away games. To listen to them play the dozens (playfully bad mouthing each other and their families) would have us juniors rolling in laughter. And poor Mike Spotto, his classmates road that guy all season long giving him such a hard time but mike was a great sport and hung in there because he loved playing lacrosse and he was not a quitter. The entire bunch had a deep passion for the game of Lacrosse and they had allot of talent. Adam West for example, picked up the game late in high school, but the guy was such a phenomenal athlete that he was good for a couple of goals and assists every game—even after smoking a pack a cigarettes a day. And the rest of players like Matt Mitchell, Josh Stark, and Cole Bender had very good stick skills and a solid understanding of the game. Perhaps this teams greatest assest however, was toughness. These bad boys loved to hit and they took no prisoners; I always felt safe knowing they had my back.

Playoff Time Injuries Part 1

Adam West (left) and me on the right, The old Croton Point Dump field, 1980. Today it's a RV Park

I can remember a lacrosse related emotional hurt I experienced my sophomore year in high school in 1979. It was the end of my Junior Varsity (JV) season and tradition had it that the varsity coach would promote the best JV players if the varsity made into the post season sectional playoffs. You would practice with the varsity and dress for the playoff games. For me—and suppose any athlete passionate about his or her sport, this was a big deal! While coach Nick Padula, that’s right I am calling you out coach (smile)! I remember going to see Croton play at Yorktown in the playoffs and seeing my JV teammates John Purdy, Andy Morehouse, and Joe Vasta dressed in their varsity jerseys on the sideline. I was crushed. It seemed clear to me that I was one of the better JV players on that team or perhaps I was a really late bloomer.Years later I learned that my dad had a run in with the varsity coach and I became the victim of collateral damage. 

Croton Lacrosse Stories: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=Croton

Yorktown Lacrosse Stories: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/search?q=Yorktown