This past weekend wrapped up the lacrosse season for most of Conference Carolina with the Conference Tournament. Only the top four teams in the conference are entered into the tournament. The four teams were Limestone, Belmont Abbey, Queens, and Pfeiffer. The first round consisted of Limestone battling Pfeiffer and Belmont Abbey playing Queens. The winners from these rounds would play each other.
Belmont Abbey and Queens had played twice before with Belmont Abbey winning both. The match up was even, but Belmont Abbey stole the lead resulting in a score of 12-10. For the Belmont Abbey team, both offense and defense were in flow and at their most optimum performance. At the beginning of the 2012 season, the Crusaders had set general objective goal of being in the Conference Championship. With this goal in mind, the team worked as a unified effort to win against Queens.
The next day, conditions worsened bringing on rain. Belmont Abbey had to fight for the championship against Limestone. Unfortunately for the Crusaders, the results were not as they would have liked. For the first seven minutes of the half, Belmont Abbey was able to hold Limestone from scoring. After that time, Limestone began to score with the Crusaders only being able to put one point on the score board by half time. The defense was in flow, but the offense was unable to penetrate the defense. At the end of the day, Limestone won 19-6. The Crusaders put forth their best effort, but the weather conditions and fatigue from the day before inhibited their win.
Belmont Abbey never backed down or gave up. The fight continued throughout the whole game.
Thank you all for following my blog. This will be my last post. I hope you enjoyed reading about the Belmont Abbey Crusaders.
Much love,
#5
Monday, April 23, 2012
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Comparing Division 1 and Division 2 Men's Lacrosse
Recently, I have seen three lacrosse match-ups.
The first one took place on April 7, 2012 at University of North Carolina's turf field against University of Virginia, both Division 1 teams. The final score was 15 to 10 with UVA having the win.
The second game was also Division 1 occurred in Charlotte, North Carolina on April 14, 2012 with Rutgers and Syracuse playing. The win went to Syracuse, 19 to 6.
Finally, from Division 2, Belmont Abbey battled it out against Queen's University on April 14, 2012. The Crusaders were defeated 13 to 3.
After experiencing all of these lacrosse games, I realize how different and similar Division 1 and Division 2 teams are. Division 1 had a lot more speed running and shooting, accuracy, and less turnovers. This is due to the high competitive atmosphere and increased practice time. Players have more time for both open skill and closed skill practices. In Division 2, subbing seemed to be a lot more frequent in order to get more feet on the field and to get players more rest. Players seemed to be more skilled in one position rather than all of them, unlike Division 1 where any player could play any position.
One thing that will never be different between the Divisions of any sport is heart. Athletes in college choose to play because the love of their sport. There is always passion, heart, and dedication on any playing field. In games, there will be winners and losers, but most collegiate athletes play with heart and motivation. There will be a difference in skill level, but passion for a sport will remain high.
More to come. #5
The first one took place on April 7, 2012 at University of North Carolina's turf field against University of Virginia, both Division 1 teams. The final score was 15 to 10 with UVA having the win.
The second game was also Division 1 occurred in Charlotte, North Carolina on April 14, 2012 with Rutgers and Syracuse playing. The win went to Syracuse, 19 to 6.
Finally, from Division 2, Belmont Abbey battled it out against Queen's University on April 14, 2012. The Crusaders were defeated 13 to 3.
After experiencing all of these lacrosse games, I realize how different and similar Division 1 and Division 2 teams are. Division 1 had a lot more speed running and shooting, accuracy, and less turnovers. This is due to the high competitive atmosphere and increased practice time. Players have more time for both open skill and closed skill practices. In Division 2, subbing seemed to be a lot more frequent in order to get more feet on the field and to get players more rest. Players seemed to be more skilled in one position rather than all of them, unlike Division 1 where any player could play any position.
One thing that will never be different between the Divisions of any sport is heart. Athletes in college choose to play because the love of their sport. There is always passion, heart, and dedication on any playing field. In games, there will be winners and losers, but most collegiate athletes play with heart and motivation. There will be a difference in skill level, but passion for a sport will remain high.
More to come. #5
Monday, April 2, 2012
Women's Softball against Winston-Salem State
Yesterday, I attended one of my first softball games. In this match up, the Belmont Abbey Crusaders fought against Winston-Salem State. Two rallies took place. The first game ended in a 4-7 loss for the Crusaders, but redeemed themselves in the second game by shutting down Winston-Salem State 1-0.
While observing the game, I took notice of a few things that stood out for me. To begin, the cheering on both teams were very loud,rhythmic, and unified. This tactic is probably used in order to distract the opposing team and to increase their own self-confidence. Personally, I am not sure how effective this strategy is, but I enjoyed listening to the different chants and songs.
One thing I thought was most interesting about the sport was the switching of the players on base. Once a batter had hit the ball and made it to first base, another player was allowed to take her spot on base. Personally, I do not enjoy this concept of the game because it almost seems like cheating. Coaches can then can devise a blocked practice for their players and use skill refinement in order to make a player great for a certain position. A blocked practice is when all trials of a given task are completed before moving on to the next task. Therefore, coaches can have amazing pitchers, phenomenal hitters, and fast runners simply rather than having well-rounded players. Personally, I find this unfair.
Softball is definitely an interesting sport to watch and compete in.
More to come - #5
While observing the game, I took notice of a few things that stood out for me. To begin, the cheering on both teams were very loud,rhythmic, and unified. This tactic is probably used in order to distract the opposing team and to increase their own self-confidence. Personally, I am not sure how effective this strategy is, but I enjoyed listening to the different chants and songs.
One thing I thought was most interesting about the sport was the switching of the players on base. Once a batter had hit the ball and made it to first base, another player was allowed to take her spot on base. Personally, I do not enjoy this concept of the game because it almost seems like cheating. Coaches can then can devise a blocked practice for their players and use skill refinement in order to make a player great for a certain position. A blocked practice is when all trials of a given task are completed before moving on to the next task. Therefore, coaches can have amazing pitchers, phenomenal hitters, and fast runners simply rather than having well-rounded players. Personally, I find this unfair.
Softball is definitely an interesting sport to watch and compete in.
More to come - #5
Friday, March 23, 2012
Women's Lacrosse Game against Pfeiffer
Yesterday, Belmont Abbey and Pfeiffer fought a long, hard battle. At half time, the score was seven to three, but not all hope was lost. By the second half, both teams had flow. Flow is "the state in which people are so involved in activity that nothing else seems to matter" (Csikszentmihalyi 1990). There are nine dimensions of flow that are experienced. The one most obvious in this game was the situation matched the skills. By the end of the second half, the score was matched ten to ten. With the stakes high, the teams entered over time that consisted of two three minute periods. In the end, Pfeiffer scored one goal and was able to hold back the Crusaders from scoring in the remaining time. Pfeiffer was able to pull through overtime because they were more mentally tough than the Crusaders. Under pressure, they were able to maintain control and focus.
As a player on the Belmont Abbey squad, it is a hard loss to sallow because it was a loss only by one goal. A game is all about who makes the least mistakes. Maybe if our team had done one more thing differently, we would have won the battle. Life is full of what ifs, but all we can focus on is learning from these mistakes and keep moving forward. As a team, we never backed down and that is one point to appreciated.
More to come. #5
As a player on the Belmont Abbey squad, it is a hard loss to sallow because it was a loss only by one goal. A game is all about who makes the least mistakes. Maybe if our team had done one more thing differently, we would have won the battle. Life is full of what ifs, but all we can focus on is learning from these mistakes and keep moving forward. As a team, we never backed down and that is one point to appreciated.
More to come. #5
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Men's Lacrosse Game against Lees-McRae
Yesterday afternoon, the Belmont Abbey men's lacrosse team played their second conference game against Lees-McRae. Belmont Abbey came out strong and was leading by five at the half. The Crusaders dominated 15 to 6 by the end of the game.
In the third quarter, different Belmont Abbey players were getting on the field. One player, Charlie Kemp, took the field as an attacker. From behind cage, Kemp drove to goal, but falling hard to the ground and landing on his bad knee. Screaming in pain, Charlie remained on the ground as the trainers took the field. The game was put on delay until the injury was taken care of. An ambulance was called and his leg was immobilized. Being injured can be very traumatic and emotional for athletes. Injuries can be career enders. Even if an athlete get injured and recovers, the injured muscle, joint, or bone will never be exactly the same again. Leaving athletes prone to further injuries. This was Kemp's fourth knee injury and was able to display great mental toughness and positivity despite the disappointment and pain of the new injury. Kemp has shown to the crowd true intrinsic motivation because of his will to do anything to play the sport he loves.
Unfortunately, the ambulance took 45 minutes to arrive at site. Ambulances should always be active and ready at any contact sport site because of situations like Kemp's. If it were a more serious, life threatening injury, the result may not have turned out the same due to the ambulances late response time.
More Belmont Abbey action to come. - #5
In the third quarter, different Belmont Abbey players were getting on the field. One player, Charlie Kemp, took the field as an attacker. From behind cage, Kemp drove to goal, but falling hard to the ground and landing on his bad knee. Screaming in pain, Charlie remained on the ground as the trainers took the field. The game was put on delay until the injury was taken care of. An ambulance was called and his leg was immobilized. Being injured can be very traumatic and emotional for athletes. Injuries can be career enders. Even if an athlete get injured and recovers, the injured muscle, joint, or bone will never be exactly the same again. Leaving athletes prone to further injuries. This was Kemp's fourth knee injury and was able to display great mental toughness and positivity despite the disappointment and pain of the new injury. Kemp has shown to the crowd true intrinsic motivation because of his will to do anything to play the sport he loves.
Unfortunately, the ambulance took 45 minutes to arrive at site. Ambulances should always be active and ready at any contact sport site because of situations like Kemp's. If it were a more serious, life threatening injury, the result may not have turned out the same due to the ambulances late response time.
More Belmont Abbey action to come. - #5
Monday, March 12, 2012
Note from the Author
Hello readers. My name is Lauren DiChiara and I am a sophomore student-athlete at Belmont Abbey College. For the second half of the semester, I am enrolled into a class called Sport Psychology. In this class, we will be learning about the strategies and techniques used by coaches
and sport psychologists to enhance personal growth and maximize performance. More specifically, we will focus on motivation, leadership, social interactions,
mental training and program implementation. As a collegiate lacrosse player, I am faced with different aspects of sport psychology daily from my coaches, teammates, trainers, practices, games, etc. I am excited to inform my readers about the life and insight of college athletics in relation to sport psychology. Stay tuned. #5
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