WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT THE WAVE!

Jennifer Varma, parent

“Bay Area Wave has been instrumental in giving our daughter the strength & confidence she needs on the field and helped her improve her playing all around.  Michele really believes in the girls and helps motivate them to play their best. Wave has given our daughter the opportunity to play with girls from all of the Bay Area and the opportunity to travel & play teams from all over the country. Michele has a really good coaching style that emphasis's a girl's strengths and works to constantly improve their level of play.  The girls have a tremendous amount of respect for Michele and its apparent they really look forward to playing with Bay Area Wave each summer.”

Nancy Biffar, parent

“My 2 daughters have both found WAVE a phenomenal experience, including the camps, clinics and summer/fall program. WAVE is unique to this area in what it offers: unbelievable coaching at a level where players learn the skills they need, to be able to get a feel for what real girls' lacrosse can look like. My girls learn so much from the coaching staff and find Michele demanding, inspiring and most of all, fun. MIchele's commitment to raising the level of competitive girls' lacrosse in California is passionate and contagious, and her players are motivated to rise to the challenge, while thoroughly enjoying the game. WAVE completely transformed the way my daughters now experience and enjoy lacrosse.”

Lou Biffar (Middle school player, age11)

“I really like the atmosphere of fun with WAVE, while

at the same time it feels like my lacrosse is  taken seriously. It was really hard to find any chance to play lacrosse at a competitive level as a Middle Schooler, but the WAVE coaches were really nice and didn't treat me like a beginner just because I was younger. I had a really good time at the camp and met a lot of new players who were really nice. I became such a better lacrosse player in just a few days because the coaches really gave us all a lot of individual attention and were so encouraging that I felt really motivated to work hard and play my best.”

Alyssa Sherman (Middle school player, age 13)

Leah Sherman (High school, age 15)

There are a lot of reasons I have enjoyed playing for WAVE.  The most important is that WAVE has allowed me to learn and polish my skills to become a better player.  At WAVE, the end result such as a goal doesn't matter as much as the technique of shooting.  But through focusing on technique I have been able to get that end result, such as a goal, a lot more often in a game.  I like that at practice it is often encouraged to drop the ball or miss the net as long as the process gets better.  There's also a competition at WAVE between players, but in a way that makes us better as a team.  A lot of the team will go to the wall and practice their skills, which motivates me to work harder to help my team and to make myself a better player. This constant practicing also allows the team to focus on new plays or other drills instead of basic fundamentals. I also like going to WAVE because of the summer tournaments, which while help with recruiting, also help me to learn the game.  By playing teams that may be better than WAVE, it's easier to pinpoint what I need to work on.  I think it would be great for other people to join WAVE to represent the west coast lacrosse leagues.  WAVE has been a great atmosphere to learn new skills and become a better player.

Jen Lee, Head Coach, Menlo School

“As a coach of a successful program one of my goals is to see the growth of lacrosse on the peninsula and its blatantly apparent that the level of play has risen in the 2009 high school season as a direct result of one to many more than one players from 18 different programs in the Bay Area.”

“It’s an invaluable experience for them to play out of season. The travel opportunity that the wave presents is head and shoulders above anything on the peninsula.”

“Its amazing to see the difference in even some of my more experienced players, after a season with the Wave, and what it has done for my less experienced players is like night and day.”

“Michele believes in the Learn, Play, Represent motto, and I use it consistently with my high school players.  One of Michele’s goals is to improve player’s ‘Lax IQ’—I see it in my player’s competitiveness and preparedness.” 

Jen Gray, Head Coach, Palo Alto HS

“Paly lacrosse is in its 2nd season. Our record the 1^st season: 3-12. Our record this year so far: 10-1. Eight of my starting varsity players played for WAVE in the summer, the fall, or both between seasons. The results speak for themselves. We throw and catch with consistency, we shoot with power and accuracy, we move on and off-ball more effectively, we defend with more confidence, we know more of the game and can react to situations more quickly. In essence, we have learned to play lacrosse and play it well!”

“All that aside, every time we go to a tournament or play another team in the area, there is this big reunion of WAVE players. It brings together girls from so many different teams and the camaraderie among them is so evident and infectious. They come watch each other play, cheer each other on, and also compete against each other very seriously. That is what makes it so fun and so beneficial. They truly learn to love the sport when they play for this club.”

“With the various teams WAVE fields, the development team and the travel teams, there is a place for players of all experience levels. I have recommended this program to my entire squad, JV and Varsity, as well as incoming freshman, for this summer.”