We were fortunate to catch up with Peter Tumbas, the Director of the American Revolution Lacrosse Club and upcoming Pittsburgh Holiday Camp, which will debut December 21st and 22nd at the Southpointe Fieldhouse in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.
The Pittsburgh Holiday Camp is a teaching and instructional camp designed for Pittsburgh’s youth and high school players to enhance their stick skills and lacrosse IQ while exposing them to NCAA coaching prior to the start of the 2014 season.
Below is our Q & A with Peter, who discusses the Camp, the importance of developing fundamentals, and the state of lacrosse in Pittsburgh.
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What is the goal of the Pittsburgh Holiday Camp?
With the rise of tournaments and showcases, high-level instruction camps staffed by college coaches have all but disappeared. We set out to bring the best NCAA coaches to Pittsburgh so athletes have a chance to learn from people who actually teach for a living.
We want to give athletes an opportunity to supercharge their stick skills and lacrosse IQ. I’m thankful for the college coaches who have decided to join our staff. Bringing in so many NCAA DI and DIII coaches to Pittsburgh for the first time ever will be a career-changing experience for the athletes that are willing to listen and put forth the effort following camp.
The secondary goal is to give athletes an opportunity to showcase their abilities in a smaller setting in advance of the Summer recruiting circuit. The camp takes place on one field. The coaches working will get a chance to spend time with everyone.
The focus of the event seems to be split between recruiting and development. How important is it for players to continue to work on fundamentals?
Denison assistant coach Chris Cooper told me that, at any level, the team which catches, passes, scoops, and communicates the best will win the game. In other words, fundamentals are crucial to winning a game.
The opportunity to have so many great coaches on one field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania would be wasted if we didn’t ask them to be hands-on for the duration of the camp. The athletes will have a chance to work closely with college coaches. The proximity will allow the coaches a chance to discern who can listen to instruction and process that information.
There won’t be any 10 v 10 games during camp, but the high school players will receive a numbered reversible and the coaches receive contact information.
Having coached and been involved in the game for a very long time, what have you noticed is lacking in development, particularly in the Pittsburgh area?
The interesting thing about Pittsburgh lacrosse is the participation rate has increased – especially with the state now sponsoring the sport – but there hasn’t been a significant increase in skillset. Pittsburgh teams are still getting roughed up in the State playoffs by Philadelphia teams and occasionally central PA teams. A Pittsburgh team has never won a state title.
One of the common arguments is that Pittsburgh lacrosse teams don’t get the best athletes, because football coaches won’t share. That’s no excuse for the 40 kids on the roster to struggle to catch, pass, and shoot at an elite level with both hands.
Look at the Canadians racking up points in the NCAA. No one would consider them to be world-class athletes, but their stick skills are elite. Consider the freshmen and sophomores giving verbal’s to ACC schools. They have elite stick skills.
So, why can’t we demand better stick skills from Pittsburgh athletes?
As the stick skills improve, the teams will improve. If the teams improve, you have closer games every week. There’s a reason SEC football players are considered NFL ready. There’s a reason players from Maryland, Long Island, and Philadelphia are NCAA lacrosse ready. They’ve been forged in a pressure cooker. Pittsburgh lacrosse is not like that at all right now, but it can be in the future. This camp, which we are offering to youth players and high school players, is a step in the right direction. Being a Pittsburgh native, it’s exciting for me to be able to give back to the community in this fashion.
What advice do you give players looking to be recruited at the next level?
When I was going through the recruiting process in 2003, I didn’t make my college decision until March of my senior year. Now, we’re seeing kids give verbal commitments during the Fall of their freshmen year. A big challenge for families outside of the traditional areas is that they haven’t gone through the recruiting process before. They need to be willing to ask for help from multiple sources.
You have to understand how the accelerated timeline has affected every NCAA division.
You have to be proactive beyond what you initially thought proactive meant. There are too many kids and not enough coaches. If you’re not making regular contact, you’re going to fall off the radar.
You have to be willing to get on the phone and get a straight answer from a coach so you can both move forward.
You have to be willing to make sacrifices. A player that is going DI is playing wall ball on a Friday night, going to bed early, and getting up on Saturday morning and doing it again. If you’re not demanding that level of commitment from yourself, you’re not going to be an elite level player.
A few weeks back, you discussed the Club lacrosse experience for us. What would you tell players that are in interested in going that route vs. DI, DII, or DIII?
The best advice that I received would be to pick a school as if lacrosse wasn’t an option. In other words, would you be happy to attend the school if you couldn’t play lacrosse? Lacrosse will be four years of your life, whereas your degree will follow you for the next forty years. You have to make the right decision for your future and not worry about impressing your friends or feeling obligated to attend a certain institution. You’re the one that has to live there and go to class.
Where should interested parties go for more information and to sign up for the event?
Athletes can apply online here. We’ll be accepting registration through next Wednesday, December 18.
Coaches on staff will include:
· Johnson & Wales (NCAA DIII)
· Western New England (NCAA DIII)
· Bates (NCAA DIII)
· Denison (NCAA DIII)
· Binghamton (NCAA DI)
· Lafayette (NCAA DI)
· North Carolina (NCAA DI)
· Drexel (NCAA DI)
· Michigan (NCAA DI)
· Colgate (NCAA DI)
· Bryant (NCAA DI)
Currently, we have athletes signed up from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Holiday Camp attendees will have the first opportunity to sign up for our summer Phenom Camps. The Phenom Prep Camp for rising seniors and juniors will be June 10-12. The Phenom Futures Camp for rising sophomores and freshmen will be June 17-19.
Website: http://www.americanrevolutionlax.com/
Twitter: @AmRevolutionLax
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Thanks so much to Pete for his time and excellent responses!
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