Coaches Journal

Jun 16, 2006: Well I am glad to see so many current and former Mustangs playing this summer.  My men's 5280 team is welcoming back Karl Koch, Sam Allen, and Noah Aptekar.  I know a number of players are playing with various elite teams like Chris Anderson, Myles McGinnis and Brian Kearney.  Should be a good summer to be a Mustang.  This past Wednesday we had a CA alumni game at South Suburban where we brought home the W.  It was a lot fun and very hot.  We beat a team made up of Columbine players and BYU players.  Noah had a great game in goal and Sam Allen threw in 4 or 5 goals which is impressive.  Hope everyone is enjoying their summer and see you in Vail. -Coach Spangler

May 31, 2006: I know I didn't do as good of a job as I wanted to with this journal but I am going to try and do better from now on.  Having a baby, working, and coaching doesn't leave too much time left over to do much else.  One thing I did not mention at the end of the season dinner was I wanted to tell everyone "Yes".  I have had a number of questions concerning lacrosse and the the best way to sum it all up for all of your questions in one answer is "Yes".  Yes you should try out for the elite teams in Colorado.  If you don't how will you know if you had a shot or not.  Yes to camps.  Which ones depend on what you are looking for.  I have some input on that if you want to contact me maybe I can help.  Yes to the fact you might get cut in college but if you do I will always be your coach and if you want to regroup, retrain and get ready for the next season then yes I am here for you.  Yes you should take a break from lacrosse.  Too many kids get burn out before their high school career is even over.  It is never a bad idea to take some time off from playing.  How much depends on you.  That doesn't mean you should not stay in shape.  Colorado is filled with tons of things to do that keep you in shape and can make you a better lacrosse player in the long run.  Yes you should go out and play on our turf field.  It is the best in the state and your tuition helps pay for it so get out there, take a bucket of balls and have a good time shooting, scrimmaging, what ever.  Yes we are having a strength and conditioning summer.  More details will come as soon as I have them.  And lastly yes I enjoyed the season very much and I appreciate all the effort our families, our players and our coaches put into this year.  Talk to you soon.  -Coach Spangler

February 15, 2006: We are a week out from the season and I am getting really excited about it.  We set the bar very high last year with a visit to the quarter final game and I am hoping we can surpass that mark this year.   Every year at this time I start getting restless.  I have all my notes and practice plans for the season laid out but I always wonder "what if?!?!"  I try and figure out what would be the best for the upcoming team/season.  It seems to happen every year at this time.  It started I think when I was at CU but I has happened every year for the last 8.  We will see what the first day of practice brings us.  Hope everyone is getting ready as well, we have a very tough year ahead of us.  -Coach Spangler

February 13, 2006: Sorry about not having the website more up to date.  I have had an issue with the hosting company but they assure me that everything should be running smoothly from here on out.  I have been updating the journal it just hasn't been posting.  To catch you up to date on where we are, please read down to the December 19th entry.  That was the last one that was updated on time.  A lot has happened since then and we are happy to share our experiences with the Mustang family.  I spoke with Sam Allen (CA'05) and he said that the practices at Skidmore are going great and he is really excited for the season.  Karl Koch (CA'95) is at Goucher and they have a big game this Friday, Good luck guys.  -Coach Spangler

February 5, 2006:  So I just got back from helping Stewart Allen coach our 7th/8th grade team at the indoor facility for one of their winter league games.  It sure is fun to help the younger players play as they are eager to learn and seem to have a lot of fun doing it.  We have a really good group of guys coming up from the middle school.  The team had a good mix of offense and defense players and they seem like a good solid core of players.  That is great to see because I have seen so many years of CA coaches waiting to see who comes over from Graland or Red hawks/Creek Indians.  Now with the help of Rob Singer and all his efforts with the CAMLC youth teams, we can develop our own talent in house rather than waiting and holding our breath for outside transfers.  This is going to be one of the biggest things to hit CA lacrosse in a long time. 

January 26, 2006: Last night I attended the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League meeting for the men's spring league that my team 5280 plays in and it was a great reminder of how great lacrosse is.  I loved playing a number of sports throughout my time at Colorado Academy and at East High School.  Of all the sports I played lacrosse and hockey are the only two sports I continue to play at some sort of competitive level today.  I really enjoyed high school football and rugby but now in my stage of life I never have the desire to play either of those two.  But even at my age I am still a student of lacrosse.  I read in Lacrosse magazine that at the post collegiate level there is a lacrosse tournament every weekend year round somewhere in the World.  That is amazing to think about since of all the high school football teams, that there are no post collegiate leagues.  It just shows you how long your lacrosse career can be.  -Coach Spangler

January 19, 2006:  Well even though I am on the road I had to get on line and make an announcement to everyone.  I am very happy to announce that the Mustang family has grown by one: David Colodny just had a baby girl who is healthy and happy and so are the proud parents!  Congratulations to the Colodny family, we are all very happy for you three.  -Coach Spangler

January 18, 2006: I am headed down to the family ranch this week in Texas for some cattle work and fence mending so I will be out of reach for a few days.  I hope everyone is hitting the wall and trying to play in the afternoons as the season is about a month away.  Our schedule is set and up on the website so please take a look and mark your calendars.  -Coach Spangler

January 12, 2006:  Another great day in conditioning class.  We had 22 players including some CA grads come out and attend conditioning class at CA.  It was great to see some of last year's seniors showing their support and helping us with getting in shape for the upcoming season.  Keep it up and it will pay off in the season.  -Coach Spangler

January 8, 2006: Since it was Sunday and due to CHSAA rules I could not have contact with the team so coaching was left up to the participating college coaches.  Ben Horne reported to me the happenings and seems that we had a few more players show up but due to illness and injury we were very short handed (again).  Based on our participation and in comparison to the other schools that played in Winterfest, I know 7 other teams we are going to finish behind in 2006 unless something changes and very soon!  Every team we faced had a minimum of 24 players and was made up of mostly freshman, sophomores, and juniors.  I think Kent had the fewest with about 18 guys but Golden, Creek, Mullen and all the rest really showed their off season commitment through their numbers.  I hate to say it but lacrosse in Colorado is becoming more and more of a year round sport for those teams that want to have a shot at state.  That does not mean everyone has to play year round but it does mean we need to get on the same page and at least let the coaches and fellow teammates know what each one of us is doing for training and playing in the off season.  I hope that we start to see more initiative on the part of the underclassmen for the upcoming season. -Coach Spangler 

January 7, 2006: Well to say the least it was a tough day.  I had a number of players out with the flu which seemed to hit last night after our meeting.  We were really short on numbers.  For those of you who did play it was great to see the effort and dedication.  I can promise you that it is going to pay off come game time this season.  Brian Kearney turned a lot of heads at the tournament with his aggressive play and face off ratio.  An example of how a coach finds out about a player is after Brian would win a face off, run down and score I would have a number of coaches asking about his name, year in school, and interests in colleges.  Brian was well prepared as he had printed a number of athletic resumes and he and I were handing them out to interested coaches.  The rest of the guys who played also got a lot of reps as we were very short handed.  I hope tomorrow brings us a few more players as we will need.  Also Carson thank you very much for showing your dedication and driving all the way out to the indoor facility after a long night of basketball.  It was a big help. -Coach Spangler

January 4, 2006:  Well I hope everyone had a great New Years and that they are ready to play in the Winterfest tournament this weekend.  We have 15 people signed up and a few more would be a big help since we are planning on playing 3-5 games each day.  A number of college coaches are going to be there and it should be a good match up of our skills with the rest of the state.  Let me know if are interested so I can get you signed up right away.  For those of you who have not been on it, the new turf field is one of the best surfaces I have ever seen.  If you have a chance please go out and try and play a few games on it, especially since the weather has been so nice.  Also my men's club team is hosting a sprint clinic at the Denver Athletic Club every Monday from 5-6 starting this Monday and lasting till the start of the season.  Anyone interested please email or call me as spots are filling up fast. -Coach Spangler  

December 23, 2005:  Hope everyone has a great holiday break.  What ever your holiday I hope it is one enjoyed with friends and family.  -Coach Spangler

December 19, 2005: So the winter league is finally over and we are proud to announce that we are the 2005 Winter league Session I champions!  Not exactly state but it was a good time for the players that put forth the effort.  We were yet again short handed but with the help of a few scabs we continued our winning streak. 

   Now on to the next event.  We are participating in the Winterfest College Recruiting Tournament which is January 7th and 8th at the Foothills Indoor arena.  As a team we are all invited and I have only heard from a handful of you guys if you are in or not.  Please get a hold of me and let me know if you are in or out so I can plan accordingly.  Also we are ordering team gloves and I need to know if you want to purchase those as well.  This is a one time order and we need a minimum order of 24 to get the team discount.  You can down load both sign up sheets under our News Articles section.  I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday vacation and get  ready to go come the first of the year.  -Coach Spangler

December 2, 2005: Last night we had a quick team meeting to see who was interested in the Winter Fest Lacrosse Tournament and we had a great turnout.  The tournament is January 7th and 8th and will be coached by Chris Spangler, Nate Rinfret and CA alumni Karl Koch.  It is a two day tournament where the top 8 finishers from last season test themselves in the preseason while being actively recruited by some of the countries top collegiate coaches.  The roster is limited so make sure you secure your spot as soon as possible.  The tournament will also have coaching round tables and recruiting round tables for parents and players to ask questions about the recruiting process.  We will have a document that you can down load in our news section very soon.  Please keep checking our website.  No games are scheduled for this weekend so enjoy the mountain snow that is supposed to hit Saturday and Sunday.  -Coach Spangler.   

November 22, 2005: No game this weekend.  Have a great Thanksgiving holiday. 

November 15th, 2005: We had a very solid performance this weekend against Regis High school.  We had to play iron man ball as we only had 10 players for the entire game.  We took a lot of high quality shots and we converted a good number to goals.  We did have a few penalties which I think were taken just to get a rest.  Excellent job all around and nice win, I just would have liked a few more players.  We play this Saturday against Columbine at 2:50 which is always a physical game, again please let me know if you are not going to be there and please find someone to replace you.  Please be there 30 minutes before so we can get warmed up and ready to go.  -Coach Spangler   

November 9th, 2005:  We have a game this Saturday at the family sports bubble at 7:00 vs. Regis.  Please be there no later than 6:30 so we can get properly warmed up.  If you cannot make it please tell me and have your spot filled by someone else.  It should be a good evening game so let's take advantage of the situation.  -Coach Spangler