[
THE SCOOP] lifestyles continued from page 15
While French, the Wings majority owner and chief executive, sold controlling interest to the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, he retains about one-half ownership and will be president, and head coach Blane Harrison carries on. Harrison has been to the MTGA’s world-class casino and resort and is excited about what it offers as a base for his team. He’s confident “other teams will feel the excitement when they come to play us.’’ While others might see leaving a large NHL arena in Philadelphia to play out of a 7,700-capacity-for-lacrosse venue as a comedown, Harrison foresees it as a plus, in an intimate environment that fans will love. The Mohegan Tribe also owns the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun and operates Mohegan Sun Arena. The new season could begin during the Dec. 26-27 weekend, and Harrison said that at least two of the six or seven American players who sat out last season have told him they want to return. While Harrison has a longer commute, veteran transition player Jordan Hall, who lives in Baltimore, hopes for a more conducive travel schedule.
“I will no longer be driving solo,” Hall said. “After some players sat out or got traded last season, I had some lonely drives from Baltimore to Philly. I am looking forward to a few guys coming with me this year.
“I hope some of the old fans make it up for a game," he said. "This could be really special. You have a group that owns the shuttles, the hotel, the rink, the meals and the postgame. It has the potential to be great for the fans and the players.” Free-agent forward Gavin Prout played in the 2002 NLL All-Star Game at Mohegan Sun Arena. “Like any city, if the game is promoted well enough it can and will work since lacrosse is an extremely exciting sport to watch for both veteran lacrosse fans and new fans alike,’’ he said.
Prout, who last played in the NLL in 2013 for Colorado, is good enough to make a comeback, and the new team will be holding free-agent tryouts in early November in Toronto, where Prout works. So, who’ll they be?
The Mohegan Mustangs? The Connecticut Croupiers? One thing is certain: there will be no roulette wheel in the new team’s Mohegan Sun Arena dressing room. MTGA employees are not allowed to gamble on the premises. LM
16 LACROSSE MAGAZINE September 2014>>
Slovakian official Barbara Zelenay was front and center at the biggest event in international men's lacrosse history.
'IT'S JUST ANOTHER GAME'
Barbara Zelenay tucked her blonde hair into her black cap and jogged onto the field with purpose. As the chief box official for the much-anticipated FIL World Championship opener between the U.S. and Canada, Zelenay, a native of Slovakia, took her position between the benches at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. "Eleven-thousand people watching you, all of your peers, all of your colleagues around the world, friends and family — but as soon as the first whistle goes, it's just another game," Zelenay said. "White plays red."
Graham Lester and Ken Galluccio would be proud. Lester, the English lacrosse legend who died of a heart attack last December, and Galluccio, one of the driving forces in Germany, mentored Zelenay when as a 20-year-old she conceded she could no longer play lacrosse with the Slovakian men.
We Got Next
The road to Scotland has begun for the U.S. women's U19 team. After tryout that included 110 players at Stevenson, 25 made the training roster, from which 18 will be picked to represent the U.S. at the 2015 FIL U19 World Championship next July. See who made it at
USLacrosse.org/USwomen.
A Publication of US Lacrosse
"As they got better, being a girl with the team, it didn't get easier," said Zelenay, who played defense for the West Caldwell (N.J.) High junior varsity girls' team as an exchange student. "And there were no refs, anyway. So I just did a clinic."
Lester taught the clinic. Galluccio provided the encouragement.
"In the beginning, I sucked, as any other referee does. But it helped to have other experienced officials who teach you, who push you, who pick you up when you get yelled at," Zelenay said. Zelenay, now 29 and one of the highest-rated officials in mainland Europe, said acceptance from the men came slowly. She did a stint in Canada, "to really get yelled at, because you do get used to it," she said.
Zelenay's big break came when she made the crew to officiate the 2010 world
games in England. Four years later, she was front and center at the biggest event in international lacrosse history, stuck between Team USA coach Richie Meade and Team Canada coach Randy Mearns. "Yeah, the coaches have big names, and you need to acknowledge them," Zelenay said. "You try to explain as much as possible the best you can, and you just go with it." Zeleney is a full-time
marketing manager at Bosch, the German multinational engineering and electronics company. She still plays lacrosse occasionally, but sticks to stripes when it comes to the men's game. "It's the authority you bring onto the field," she said. "It has nothing to do with being female or male."
Zelenay was not the only female official in Denver. England's Sharon Bamford worked her second world championship. — Matt DaSilva
©SCOTT MCCALL
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