Q&A With Kyle Harrison
Prominent high school underclassmen from the state of Maryland were the guests at the recent Nike Elite Lacrosse Camp. Held at Johns Hopkins University, the one-day camp emphasized different aspects of the game. Campers worked on strength and conditioning, stick work and formation plays.
Leading the camp was former Johns Hopkins midfielder and 2005 Tewaaraton Trophy winner Kyle Harrison. PressBox caught up with Harrison to get his thoughts on the camp and the state of lacrosse.
PressBox: How important is a camp like the Nike Elite Lacrosse Camp?
Kyle Harrison: It is important for our sport that the best players at the high school level come out and compete against each other. These kids give a lot of effort. As we bounce around from [Baltimore] and New York, Denver and Los Angeles, we hope to get the best talent out here and compete against each other. It is almost like a measuring stick.
PB: What do you try and tell the kids how to prepare and going forward in the game of lacrosse at their level?
KH: The most important thing we can hope for is that they learned something from me and the other coaches here. We worked as hard as we could to become the lacrosse players that we are today. We do not have the best stick skills, I know I'm not the best lacrosse player in the world and I'm fine with that. But I was able to win a national championship, play on Team USA and win the Tewaaraton Trophy just because I worked hard. That is what I hope these kids would see.
PB: Watching these kids out here playing, do you think back to when you were in their shoes?
KH: Yeah. It was a little different. I know if this existed when I grew up I would have loved it. I would have loved to come out and compete and measure myself with the other good players in the area. That is what is great about this camp.
PB: What does it say about the sport of lacrosse to have camps such as the NELC develop throughout the past couple years for these kids?
KH: It’s great, everybody knows our sport is growing and that is no surprise. We were in L.A. and we had 80 kids, we were in Denver and had 85 kids, just left Ohio and had 90. So the fact that we are in these non-traditional areas and the camps are packed, it is great for our sport.
PB: With the commercialization of the sport expanding with the help of stars like yourself and Paul Rabil, how has that helped the game?
KH: Everyone is trying to do their part. Just like the guys before us, the A.J. Hogans (member of the Johns Hopkins all-time team) and the Jay Jalberts (former University of Virginia standout and first-team All-American) of the world that put the time in, it wasn’t as big when those guys were big. But we are just the next step, trying to promote it and get it more mainstream.
PB: Johns Hopkins had a rough year in 2010. What did you think about their season?
KH: A couple people asked me about head coach Dave Pietramala and questioning whether he can still win with Hopkins. I was dumbfounded by their opinion about it. The guy has been coaching here for nine years. He has been in four national championship games and won two, so they are going to be OK.
I’m proud of the way they played. Could they have played better? Of course, we all need to play better at some point. To say that Hopkins is down is dumb.
PB: The national championship game saw two new teams this spring: Duke and Notre Dame. Duke won its first title ever, while Notre Dame reached the Final Four the first time. What does that say about the college game?
KH: It is a great thing for the sport that a team like Notre Dame made it to their first title game. We all know Duke has been through a lot the past six years. I am definitely not a Duke fan, even though I am a friend with some of those guys and I’m happy for them. It is always good for the sport to see new teams in the title game.
PB: What are your thoughts on the rules from the pro game transferring to the college game?
KH: I don’t think that should happen. The college game is the most traditional thing that we have in our sport. I do not want it to change, I love it.
-- Interview conducted by Tom Peace
Posted July 27, 2010
