Tag: Langley Thunder

Categories
Be The Best.

I know a Noah.

Noah rocks out Be The Best poster in his room. Great look!

I met a young man earlier this summer named Noah.

He came over with his Dad, Mike, and his friend Tyson.

I had never met Mike before or Noah or Tyson, but it was like we already knew each other.

You see, Noah and Tyson play lacrosse for Langley.

They hadn’t met Chris but they knew him.  They knew Be The Best.

Noah’s got a Be The Best poster in his room.

Mike has been doing push-ups in Chris’ honour for months.

LOVE IT.  LOVE IT ALL.

What’s amazing to me is the inspiration I feel from hearing these stories.
It helps to drive me forward.

Noah and gang represented Langley at the Provincials and although they didn’t win a medal, they played hard and learned a lot.  As we’ve said many times here, Be The Best is not always about winning.  It’s about learning how to win.  Learning how to get better at whatever…lacrosse, school, work, life.

Mike, Noah and Tyson…thanks for being part of the Be The Best family!

Noah's jersey with the Be The Best patch. COOL!

Categories
Be The Best.

Lacrosse Alert!

Flag of the Iroquois Confederacy, Hiawatha Belt
Iroquois Logo...love it.

The Midget National Tournament (BOX LACROSSE) is being held this week in Coquitlam, BC.

We saw BC take on Iroquois on Tuesday afternoon.

Although they lost that game, they still have a good chance at getting after some hardware.

If you want to see some of the best players in Canada at the Midget (age 15/16) level, you can watch four of the best go at it tomorrow (Thursday) on Poirier Street.

Coquitlam has just rebuilt this facility and it’s a great place to catch a game.

Iroquois takes on Alberta at 3pm and then BC plays Ontario at 5pm.  Full schedule here.

Aside from lacrosse, what is the personal connection you ask?

Chris played at the National Bantam tournie in Ontario in the Summer of 2007 with BC winning a bronze medal in a tough show down vs Alberta.  We loved watching the Iroquois play as well and they eventually beat Ontario for gold that summer.

As one Iroquois supporter told me in that very calculated vocal pacing after a disallowed goal back in 2007 against the much bigger and favoured Ontario squad, “You’ve got to score 3 to count 1”.

Sometimes that’s true…sometimes that is true.  The point is to NEVER give up.  They didn’t and they won gold.

James Rahe breaks in on net.
Categories
Be The Best.

Langley Advances to Gold Medal Game!

Langley battles Richmond during a Saturday afternoon tilt.

I love seeing the CF 2 stickers on the helmets.

I love seeing the Be The Best patches on the jerseys.

More than anything, I love seeing guys play as a TEAM.

That was clearly evident today as Langley beat Richmond and then beat a Vancouver Island team to claim a berth into the Gold/Silver showdown tomorrow (Sunday, July 18, 2010).

Langley didn’t start strong at this tournie, but they’ve turned it up a notch or two.  The opponent will be Coquitlam who are always a strong team and an association that has incredible depth and talent.  Should be a great match up.

Good luck to both teams!

Win or lose, my hope is that these experiences will help develop these young athletes into young men ready to change the world!

A little Saturday evening 'get together' on the floor.
Categories
Be The Best.

Quilt Story 2

You can see a whole movie franchise here…Quilt Story 5, The Stitcher Returns…but I digress.

You see that ‘C’ square in the quilt?  That’s a story all of its own.  Brett Dobray, one of Chris’ Langley teammates and buds, wanted to bring something to the funeral and leave for Chris.  He had his Grandma make this square with the ‘C’ for Captain and the stars.  This was an amazing thought from a young man and one that will be treasured forever.  It wasn’t planned, but I don’t think it was a fluke at all that this square ended up right beside the Iroquois Lacrosse square.  Along with Josh Beasley, Ryley Brown, Ryan Gladiuk and Will VandenHooven, Brett and Chris were all Langley boys who played together on the Bantam Team BC Box team that won a bronze medal in Ontario in 2007.  The Iroquois were amazing to watch at the tournament and many of the boys exchanged shirts and helmets to bring home a memory. Brett, I want you to know how much Chris loved playing with you.  It came down to a very basic reason.  You have a passion for the game and you want to win.

As Langley’s Midget A1 Box team and teams from around the province prepare for weekend battle at the Provincials this Saturday and Sunday, I think it’s important to think about Be The Best.  It’s really about 1+1=3.  Personally, leave nothing on the floor.  That means 110% every shift.  Then do something for a teammate…an extra hit, an extra effort on a pass, a full sprint to the bench on a line change.  It’s those little things that you do yourself (that’s 1) + what you do for others (that’s 1) that when added up make the magical 3.  Think about it.  That’s what Be The Best is all about.

Young men like Brett get it.  Leadership is not always the loudest guy in the room, it’s the loudest person through his or her actions.

Categories
Be The Best.

Lacrosse action

I was able to take in a Langley Thunder Midget A1 lacrosse game last Thurs.

They are in playdowns vs. Port Coquitlam.  The winner will be going to the Provincials to be held in Mission July 14-18.

It is a best of 5 and Langley is up 2-0 after Thursday’s win with a big game in Aldergrove on Tuesday at 7:30 (I believe!).

It was great to see a game as the past few weeks had been way too light on taking in lacrosse action!

I wish both teams good luck on Tues.

Obviously lacrosse brings back many memories of Chris.  This is one of the first videos I had put together from a trip to Florida to watch Chris play.  He’s in a couple of the pics (#32), but the highlight is actually the Long Pole (defensive big stick used in field lacrosse) and the bend and torque on the stick as it is applied to the offensive player’s jersey!  I just saw it tonight in my list of vids, and decided to share it here as I’m just missing seeing the kid play lacrosse.  This video has been seen over 4,700 times so a few lacrosse players out there still like it.

Although watching lacrosse reminds me about Chris, I also LOVE to see all the players Chris played with over the years getting better and better (that includes Langley and many opposing teams!).  Keep striving to Be The Best!  I know you will.  Ultimately, lacrosse is a way to learn how to work hard, be a great team member, strive to win and develop into incredible young men and women.

Categories
Be The Best.

What is this…sunset week?

Langley sunset. June 15, 2010.

Really…I wasn’t looking for a sunset theme this week, but that is how it’s working out.

The colours here remind me of the colours of the rainbows we saw at some amazing times just after Chris’ passing.

Rainbows are mentioned as far back as the story of Noah and his ark and the promise of hope after the biblical account of a great flood.

Those rainbows in the days following Chris’ passing helped remind us that we were not being forgotten.  There was one very difficult day that the lacrosse team was doing a tribute for Chris.  It was amazingly wonderful and difficult at the same time.  It was stormy and raining heavily, but the hint of sun was on the horizon.  I thought we might see a rainbow, but didn’t.  We got to the arena parking lot and as I backed into the parking spot we saw a huge bright rainbow that must have been behind us.  I called my nephew Steve and told him as we had shared some of these stories and in the couple of moments we were on the phone the rainbow faded and was gone.

Like many other things I’ve written about, I realize that it rains a lot in Vancouver and a mix of sun and rain leads to rainbows!  That is a scientific fact.  It was just incredibly cool to see this ancient symbol of hope showing up at unexplained times and places in those first few weeks.

If you think this is interesting, wait for the eagle story in the next few days…!

This new normal thing ain’t easy or all that fun.  That being said, we know the sun will set each night which means just one thing.  The sun will rise again!  (ok, if I get too much more philosophical I think I may go see Dr. Phil…)

Categories
Be The Best.

Tribute to Chris at Junior A game

Max had to work tonight, so Ingrid and I represented our family at the Junior A Thunder game.  We want to THANK Joe Willmott and his team for their attentiveness and incredible respect shown to our family and to Chris’ memory.  Seeing the Junior Thunder lined up across from the Intermediate Thunder wearing their jerseys over their street clothes was an amazing show of respect.

THANK YOU ALL.

Having so many fans out to the game was fantastic and they were treated to a highly competitive match with the Burnaby Lakers.  Before the game a video tribute for Chris was played and a certain Mrs. Ingrid Friesen completed the ceremonial face-off duties.  We don’t have pictures of all that stuff yet, but they are coming courtesy of the Thunder and I’ll bring those forward as soon as I can.  The Thunder’s official jerseys arrived just hours before game time so we had Will pose for a shot with Ingrid and I showing approximately how the commemorative patch for Chris will be worn.  Looks good eh?

You can see more pics taken by Ingrid of me with the Intermediate A players and a few shots of the Junior game as well by clicking on this link. (hey, I even got Ingrid, Lenna and Carolyn (all lacrosse moms) to pose for a pic!)

This was again one of the hardest but great evenings we’ve had.  We wouldn’t have been anywhere else.  Thanks again to the Thunder and to all of Chris’ friends, teammates, school buddies, lacrosse families, relatives etc etc for your amazing support of Chris’ memory and our family!

Categories
Be The Best.

Lacrosse and loss

As I wrote about yesterday, we were heading to the Langley Thunder Intermediate-A home opener at the impressive Langley Event Centre.  With 5,000 seats, a friends and family crowd may appear small, but when the game was preceded by a moment of silence for Chris we could feel the quiet energy fill the entire building.      The Thunder’s new jerseys had not arrived by game time so they wore their blue-striped Stickmen unis as  you can see in this shot as Langley scores.  (The lefty scoring is Cody Robertson and number 15 is Adam Will..thx to Larry for info from comment below) The Thunder are a younger squad with a few Intermediate aged players playing up at the Junior level. They battled a typically strong Victoria Shamrock team and though the scoreboard showed a loss at games’ end, they exhibited strong desire and the makings of a team that looks out for each other.  We are looking forward to the Junior A Thunder home opener on Tuesday night.   Team President, Joe Willmott, announced that a tribute for Chris (including big screen video) would take place at 7:30pm immediately followed by the Junior Thunder taking on visiting Burnaby. 

Keep working hard boys.  Be The Best.  It will pay off for you.

Of course I brought my camera to the game and couldn’t help but think how good the light was in the new facility.  It’s funny how your mind works…I kept thinking about how I would have loved to be snapping some pictures of #2 clearing the front of the net in that great light…but I suppose he is in some even better light now. cf #2

Lacrosse Boys…you can see more pics on Picasa.  Remember…200 push-ups er day!

Categories
Be The Best.

Decision: Let’s play lacrosse!

Today’s date is not lost on me.  It is exactly one month today that Chris passed away.  Yesterday was probably the hardest day I’ve had since the first week.  Remember that yo-yo analogy? Maybe more like an elevator.  What I believe more than ever is that we continue to move forward by making decisions on a daily or hourly basis, whatever is needed, to move forward.

.

Does that mean blocking feelings and emotion? No. But what it does mean is that we are not going to sit around and be sad 24-7.  Specifically for today, it means lacrosse.

We are very proud to be attending the Intermediate A Langley Thunder lacrosse home opener at the Langley Event Centre at 2pm.  We are there as fans and to support Chris’ teammates. I found this picture that I just had to show you.  This was taken in April of 2007 at a tournament in Coquitlam.  For privacy sake, I’ll leave out the names of the boys, but you’ll recognize many of the faces.  Coach Sean Beasley and Harvey Bull flank the boys with Chris in the front row. They may have grown a little in the past three years!!!  Many of these boys will be on the floor this afternoon.  Chris will be with you in spirit boys.  Be The Best! I’m hoping to be in my ‘usual game spot’ at least some of the time in the corner of the rink at rink level shooting some pictures!

ps. For the uninitiated, lacrosse is an intense, fast-paced game like hockey with big hits and amazing stick skills.  More on the history of Canada’s national summer sport in future blogs!

pps. We are also attending the home opener of the Junior A Langley Thunder on Tuesday night where a video tribute to Chris is planned as well as the 50-50 proceeds will go to the Chris Friesen Memorial Award.  We humbly thank the Thunder and the lacrosse community for this amazing support!!

Have a great Sunday.