All right, its time for you to go to practice, but this isn’t a normal beginning spring frigid practice. Picture this, it’s a nice spring day, it’s not too hot, and it’s not too cold, it’s what some may call perfect weather. You don’t mind going to practice and missing this day, because it’s like that almost everyday of the week. That is what it is like when you play lacrosse on the West Coast and in Southern California. Not much has been heard about lacrosse outside the East Coast, but now because of teams like The Whittier Poets, people are starting to a glance across the country to see what’s going on.

The best way for us to look at this coast's new lacrosse phenomenon was to sit down with a Coach and some players who have experienced both sides of the spectrum. So I got a hold of Whittier’s Head Coach David Schaller and two of his East Coast players to see how they can compare playing lacrosse on the two coasts. Coach Schaller grew up in a small town, Westfield New Jersey; he was captain at Rutgers University, and has played lacrosse most of his life. While in college Coach Schaller was one of the top face off guys in the country for the Scarlet Knights and soon after college moved across the country to San Diego. There he coached Tory Pines High School and led them to their first ever state final game. After a successful first season with Tory Pines he was offered an assistant position for the Poets. He packed up and moved up the coast to become the offensive coordinator. Coach Schaller help lead the Poets to a 11-2 season where they lost to Middlebury by one in the NCAA Quarter finals. Having success in California almost wasn’t good enough for Coach Schaller. He had aspirations of playing still, and almost came back to the East Coast when he made the New Jersey Pride. After his decision to turn down the Pride, he was offered the head coaching job at Whittier because long time coach Doug Locker decided to leave and become the A.D at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, CA. Dave has been at Whittier ever since coach Locker has left and guided the Poets to the NCAA tournament last year with a 10-1 record and a loss in the NCAA Tournament to D3 powerhouse Salisbury.

Then there’s the Poets goalie Adam Messick from Media, Pennsylvania and defender Aaron Jaffe from Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. Both of these players decided to leave the East Coast and make the trip over to the other side of the country to play lacrosse. Adam who started for the Poets last year had 73 saves, a save percentage of 0.537, and over all rating of 39.184. Jaffe, a third team All-American, who stands at 6’1 and weighs in at 195 pounds was one of the key pieces of a tremendous season the poets had last year that puzzled a large part of the lacrosse community. Jaffe’s quick feet and hands helped take the ball away so Messick would not see the ball as much. The Poets where ranked as high as number one of the country, and made it to the semi-finals of NCAA tournament this past season (the highest Whittier has ever gone).

With the weather, good lacrosse, and a growing college program are more high school kids looking to go to schools like Whittier? So, once again the powers that be from lax.com where nice enough to fly me across the country so I could sit down with these Poets and see how the West Coast lacrosse experience is going for them.

Coach Schaller’s Question/Answers:

Is it hard to get other colleges to come out and play you? It's not easy. You are asking other coaches to fundraise, which is something they may not be obligated to do. Also, since we have had some recent success, teams are less likely to travel across the country and play a game that may not be a sure win.

How is it for you to go on away trips to play other schools? How do you raise the funding (if so what do you do) The guys on the team do a couple of things to fundraise. For instance, one of the things we are doing this year is selling ESPN magazine subscriptions. For $40 you get a 2-year subscription and then we get to keep $30 of that. Do you want to buy one? Sorry, I’m an SI guy, but hit me up around Christmas time. I heard they make good gifts. Other ways we fundraise are through gifts to the team from parents, and generous friends of Whittier lacrosse.

How is it for you to go on away trips to play other schools? It's a lot of fun. The guys have the opportunity to travel across the country. For example, during our spring break we travel to the East Coast over a ten-day period. It definitely builds team character.

When can you guys make the trips (it’s got to be tough to find the time during the school year)? We usually make two big trips in a year. The first trip is our East Coast trip during our spring break. The players do not miss class, and can concentrate on lacrosse as well as having a good time. Our second trip is a weekend trip where we play two games in two days. A Fri. or Mon. class may be missed, but the players are responsible for making up whatever work is missed.

How do you get your recruits? We get our recruits through coaches recommendations, as well as expressed interest from players that want to play top tier lacrosse, get a great education from a small, private, liberal arts college; all the while being in Southern California. I will talk to players by phone or via e-mail and have them come out for a visit to see if they like what Whittier has to offer.

Where is the majority of your team from? The United States. I say this partly kidding around because we have players from all over the country as well as a number of Canadian players. For instance, our starting lineup was from, MD, Canada, Canada, PA, PA, Texas, PA, Canada, CA, and MD. Then we have players from NY, MN, WA, AZ, etc.

Are there any new Poets that might make an immediate impact for you this season? Yes, we have brought in a number of players that will add depth and who will compete for playing time. The best part is that not one of them sticks out as the All-Star of the group, and they will all grow together and learn our system together.

You have seen both East Coast and West Coast lacrosse. What is the biggest difference? The biggest difference is in the number of kids that play. The East Coast has a lot more kids playing the game than the West Coast. At the same time, the game is growing extremely fast on the West Coast, probably too fast. In other words, it not only takes good athletes, but it takes a support cast of parents and ex-players to make the game grow and be successful. And by successful, I mean teaching the technical aspects of the game.

At the college level, I have my players do what I know will make them be successful. I think we have gotten a reputation in the past couple of years for a run and gun style of lacrosse. The simple matter is that sometimes we push the ball and sometimes we don't, regardless we find a way to put a number of points on the board.

Back to my question earlier about the scheduling. You have gotten a lot of criticism about you lack of games and the teams you play. You told me you have contacted a majority of the top coaches, but they do not want to come out to play you. What is there reasoning for not coming out to play you? Who are your critics? Anyone who has any idea about how things work would tell you that Whittier does everything they can to schedule enough games at home or on the road. It's a tough situation. Most schools schedule a couple of years in advance. They are also a member of a conference. We are an Independent that is over a thousand miles away from it's nearest opponent. As an Independent, we do not have the luxury of knowing year in and year out who will be on our schedule. I think Whittier has done a lot for the game of lacrosse, and people need to understand there is only so much we can do. We already travel more than any other team in any Division, and play one of the most difficult schedules in the country, not counting the travel factor. Colorado College is in the same boat. I will say this, it's frustrating to see schools go down to Florida and play other NCAA schools in a state that does not have one NCAA school. It would cost the same amount to come out to play in California, help the growth of the sport, and teams would play in the same type of weather that they would get in Florida.

So, its not like your not TRYING to play the schedule you do, it’s just your location. How do you think the Poets would be if they where an East Coast team? That's why we come to the East Coast on our spring break. We want to see how we would do. And if you look at the last two years, we have gone undefeated in each one of those trips. Does that answer your question?

You guys have already had some controversy follow you guys with you ranking last season, what does this season look like for you? Anymore surprise or tricks up your sleeve? We should have another great season.

Players Question/ Answers:

Why did you choice to go to Whittier?

AM I didn’t get recruited out of high school; I originally went to a small state school, and then transferred here freshman year (2000).

AJ I went on a recruiting trip at the beginning of my senior year and I saw a lot of potential in the program. I thought that in two or three years the school would be competing for a national title. I also didn't want to spend a year or two on the bench at a D1 school. But most of all it was an adventure. Here I was going 3,000 miles to the other side of the country to play at a little school in a place where most people haven't even heard of the sport.

How did you hear about the school?

AM From a friend, Joe Romano was a player here and then he became an assistant coach. He was a friend of mine and he got me to come out here.

AJ I was playing at the Elite Lacrosse Tournament in Pennsylvania as a warm up for some of the higher profile recruiting camps. They provided us with a list of the schools that would have coaches attending and asked us to list five that interested us. I put Whittier as a joke.

What is your best lacrosse memory to this date as a poet?

AM When we made it to the NCAA semi-finals last year.

AJ Sitting outside our hotel at one in the morning in Newark, New Jersey. We had just drove seven hours from Virginia Beach after playing the fourth game of a road trip. It was the first time any of us really had a chance just sit and relax in several days and at that point we knew we were going to go to the playoffs. Some one had the foresight to bring a box of cigars and we sat outside the Holiday Inn, or whatever it was, for about a half-hour, just savoring it.

What is your worst lacrosse memory to this date a poet?

AM It is the same moment, but we lost, and I feel we did not play our best game of the year. We had a good team and I don’t feel the score reflects on how good we actually were.

AJ We played Cal. Berkley my very first game as a Poet. In the fourth quarter, when we already had a substantial lead, I tore my ACL clean through. My worst memory is sitting on the sideline at the end of that game, thinking that I'd just wasted my entire athletic career playing a meaningless game against Cal. Berkley.

What is the most frustrating thing being a West Coast team?

AM Fund raising, we have to play a majority of our games on the road, so we have to get money so we can have a season. As a team, the players do thing like sell T-shirts, besides selling the Magazines Coach Schaller mentioned earlier.

AJ There are many, many things that are frustrating about being a West Coast team. The erratic schedule, having to play all of our big games in one week, and having to start our season a month to a month and a half ahead of most teams, which makes it very difficult to peak during the playoffs. But for me the most frustrating thing is getting up at four in the morning on a Friday so we can hop on a plane, fly across the country and play a game on Saturday. All the veterans are used to it by now. But even so, every time that alarm clock goes off at 4:00 I still get pretty annoyed.

Can you see any difference in East and West Coast lacrosse and if so, what is it?

AM Not much, maybe the over all influence. The major differences I have noticed was in our Canadian lacrosse players. They grew up playing box lacrosse and are usually one-handed players, but there one is very dominate…more then most players.

AJ If you're talking about actual playing styles, no, at least not at Whittier. We have guys from all over the country and Canada. We're not really from the west coast and more importantly, neither is our coach. However, if you're talking about aesthetics, we did sport some excellent flowered game shorts for the playoffs.

How does the team look this year?

AM Good, we have lost some key players, but a lot of the players we have will step up, and we have only had a few practices at this point, but there looks like there might be some key freshman.

AJ It's hard to say. We lost four key guys and while we definitely have people who are more than capable of stepping up, the team chemistry is going to be different. The one thing I am confident about is our defense. The entire close defense is back. Last year was our first year playing together, but now we're a year more experienced. Last year we showed flashes of what we're capable of, like holding Salisbury to a 1-goal quarter, but this year I think we're going to be able to do it on a regular basis.