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Wales Lacrosse Denver 2014 - An Interview With Meghan McKay
AmeriCymru: Hi Meghan and many thanks for agreeing to be interviewed by AmeriCymru. Can I first ask you, what is your Welsh background and how did you become involved with the Welsh Lacrosse team?
Meghan: Hello Ceri! Thank you so much for this opportunity. It really is a pleasure to become a part of such a great organization as AmeriCymru. My Maternal Grandfather, John Probert was born and raised in the very small town of Pontblyddyn in Northern Wales, just outside of Mold. To make a long story short, he relocated here to the US after WWII and started a family. When I was the age of 7 or 8 years old, he moved here to Houston, Texas to live with our family where he stayed until his passing in 2003. This made him somewhat of a third parent to me. He was never boastful about Wales nor did he speak Welsh in the home (even though he was fluent) but was always on hand to answer questions and tell stories for geography of history projects for school.
We also kept in touch with his relatives who remained in Wales and continue to do so to this day. After he passed in 2003, our family of 8 travelled together to Wales to spread his ashes. We spent almost 2 weeks there and immediately felt right at home with the extended family, the way of life, and the big personalities! I suppose that trip is what initially sparked our desire to connect to our "roots" that were never really a forefront in our home growing up.
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 | .....it was a large feat to get over there (Thanks Dad!) but it was one of the best "Workcations" I've ever had. |  |
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As per the second part of the question, my younger brother Trey was playing lacrosse for a small university. My father (non-Welsh but has adopted the heritage) contacted the team in 2009 to see if there was any interest in having him tryout for the squad, in hopes to make the Senior Men's Team for the FIL World Lacrosse Championships which were being held in Manchester July, 2010. Management agreed to have him come participate in the August 2009 Celtic Cup and again in May 2010 for the British National Championships.
Trey made the squad! We were all very excited for him as it is such an accomplishment. Once he made the squad, my qualifications as an Athletic Trainer working collegiate women's lacrosse came up and management ended up extending an invitation to join the team for the Worlds. Needless to say, it was a large feat to get over there (Thanks Dad!) but it was one of the best "Workcations" I've ever had. Since that time, I have kept in touch with most, if not all, of the squad through social media, e-mails, and the team online forum. When it came time for the team to start planning for Denver, I reached out to one of the Captains, Paul Simpson to inquire if they would be interested in having me on staff again. Needless to say, they jumped on the chance to have the help and we began preparing.
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The Welsh team makes its entrance at the European Championships in Amsterdam 2012The follow up question most people ask is "What is an Athletic Trainer exactly"? Here in the US, an Athletic Trainer is a healthcare professional who has completed a Bachelor program (at minimum) at an accredited university. I am board certified as well as licensed to practice in Texas. We specialize in all aspects of sports medicine which include but are not limited to: injury prevention, management of emergencies, assessment, evaluation, and treatment of injuries and conditions, rehabilitation, environmental factors such as weather, altitude, playing conditions, sport performance, nutrition, organization and administration in regards to providing medical care. More information on Athletic Trainers can be found at athletictrainers.org
AmeriCymru: What is the challenge facing the team in preparation for their appearance at the FIL Championships in Denver this year?
Meghan: There are many great challenges facing the team as they prepare for this summers endeavor at the World Championships. As a whole, the final team roster was finalized this past January. Now that the final roster is in place, they really have to come together as a unit on the playing field while only having a handful of weekend training sessions together and a few games prior to the trip in July. Every last person on the team from player, to coaches, to myself have a day job. So making the commitment to train in the gym, on the lacrosse field, watching video, going over play books, as well as healing any injuries along the way (right now there are several) just shows the character and determination of everyone involved.
In addition, I feel the biggest monster is funding. The team is in no way sponsored by Wales Sport and is coming up with ALL of our funding on our own through personal donations and sponsorships. It is a high undertaking to say the least. Finally, logistics are a big task as well. Team management has to coordinate the 30+ official travel party, all of the equipment, medical supplies, etc. It surely is a huge undertaking.
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| | The team is in no way sponsored by Wales Sport and is coming up with ALL of our funding on our own through personal donations and sponsorships. | |
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Team Picture from theWorld Championship in Manchester - 2010AmeriCymru: What fund raising initiatives are in place already? Where can people go to help?
Meghan: There are many fundraising initiatives already in place. The major one is that the website is set-up to receive donations electronically. The website is www.waleslacrosse.com If a person wished to donate, they can do so from either the donations tab (and choose which persons portion of funding they would like to contribute it to) or from that persons individual biography page, which are listed under "the squad" tab. Individually, we are all doing whatever we can to create PR, seek donations and sponsorships, and save money ourselves.
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AmeriCymru: How has the Welsh team fared in previous championships?
Meghan: The Welsh team has progressively gotten better in each showing of the Worlds and we hope to continue to improve in this years endeavor. The teams rank for the overall tournament in the 1998 games held in Baltimore, Maryland, US was 11th... out of 11. The next Worlds in 2002, held in Perth, Australia showed slight improvement with a final standing of 12th out of a pool of 15 nations.
In 2006 in London, Ontario, Canada the team held a rank of 13th our of a whopping 21 nations. The 2010 World Championships held in Manchester, UK was an even better showing. The team won their division 3-0 and ended the tournament 11th out of a record 29 nations. I was a part of that squad and I can say that each game was a tough fight with many close scores and one overtime loss. It was a grueling 2 weeks of competition and practices with only 1 day completely off.
AmeriCymru: The Denver 2014 Team has already been announced. Care to tell us a little about the players?
Meghan: The final roster for the Dragons (the Men's Senior Squad) is composed of 23 fine men. Over half of these players were one the 2010 squad, while others are from the U19 team, University teams, and players who have been on various squads and clubs associated with Wales Lacrosse for many years. As a group, they come from all over Wales, some residing there still and others residing in other parts of the UK.
The team has a lot of experience mixed in with the new players to hopefully bring their best to the competition. They are striving for solid work in all aspects form attack to goal tending. I think we have a rather strong squad this year even though I was sad to see some familiar players from the last Worlds not making the final roster this time. I know it was a tough decision for the coaching staff but the team is confident that they are putting their best on the pitch in Denver.
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| | At the last World's endeavors I believe I recall 2 of the players doing an amazing version of Tom Jones Karaoke! I also know there are many practical jokes as my brother had to eat an entire leek! | |
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My personal impression of this group from my experience with them in 2010 is that they are extremely talented in lacrosse, passionate, and quite full of personality. While they work to no end to better their game individually as players, whether in defense, mid-field, attack or in goal they also provide the much needed comic relief to the experience of the Worlds. For example, they have an elected Fine Master (Andrew Hopkins) to collect fines of $1 for various infractions some valid to others decided by players and coaches on the fly. A valid fine is being tardy to a team meeting or being late to pay your fine which are due within the 24hour period.
An example of the more comical is my fine for having a shamrock tattoo (in honor of the Irish side of my family and our reunion in 2005)! All fine money is collected throughout the games and is used to buy our beers for an end-of-championships team party. At the last World's endeavors I believe I recall 2 of the players doing an amazing version of Tom Jones Karaoke! I also know there are many practical jokes as my brother (along with 3 other rookies) had to eat an entire leek! All in all, they are en eclectic group of individuals full of personality and talent, but most of all very driven to do their best on and off the pitch as we represent Wales in Denver.
AmeriCymru: Can you tell us a little about the competition itself. Over how many days is it played? What sort of attendance will it attract? Will it be covered by major sporting channels internationally?
Meghan: The competition itself is one of the most amazing experiences I've been a part of. In 2010, all of the Senior teams stayed at Manchester University in the dormitories, ate in the dining halls, and played at their fields. We built relationships with people from other teams/countries, had quite a few funny experiences (the team ended up being featured on a lacrosse website for the Boat Race they competed in against the German team after the last day of competition), as well as witnessed the best lacrosse in the world.
We shared a dormitory with Team Bermuda, I had breakfast in the dining hall with arguably the most famous and talented lacrosse player in the world, Paul Rabil, and we shared pints in the pubs with players, coaches, staff, and fans from all over the globe on occasion. I would imagine it is much like staying in an Olympic Village and participating in the Olympics. I have no doubt Denver will be an even better experience and on a much larger scale!
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| | We .... had quite a few funny experiences the team ended up being featured on a lacrosse website for the Boat Race they competed in against the German team after the last day of competition. | |
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Welsh Lacrosse team v Germany - Boat race!As for 2014? The team will be arriving a week prior to competition to do an acclimatization program due to the high altitude. Denver is literally the Mile High City being 1mile above sea level and that can pose a formidable challenge to ones fitness and performance abilities. The tournament itself is a 2 week long competition which includes practices as well as competitions. The teams will be staying at Denver University and playing at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Denver, Colorado which features an 18,000 seat stadium and is surrounded by 24 playing fields.
The competition itself will begin with Opening Ceremonies on July 10 and end with the Championship Game and Closing Ceremonies on July 19, 2014 . ESPN has already announced that it will be airing unprecedented coverage of the games. Coverage will include 60 games on all of its ESPN channels as well as ESPN3, which is online.
While the official Worlds is being played, there will also be the World Lacrosse Festival. The Festival is open to club, amateur, and university teams from all over the world. The festival is aiming for 220 teams to register and range in ages 11 to 60+! Needless to say it will be an extremely busy time with Denver expecting 20,000 out-of-town visitors in addition to the 5-7,000 in-town participants and spectators.
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Meghan McKay doing a sideline injury evaluation and taping during a match in 2010.
AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?
Meghan: I suppose to wrap up, I'd like to express what a massive this commitment is to each one of us individually. For myself, I will be taking over 3 weeks off of work (some of it unpaid) in order to work for this squad. I'm not intending to whine as this is completely my choice but it is definitely an experience that while it cannot be beaten, also takes a lot out of a person. In 2010, I worked along side the team for 2 weeks providing my sports medicine expertise to these men. In 2014, I have my work cut out for me as they may not have another AT or Physio traveling with the squad and will have a few players coming off of massive injuries (one is currently recovering from an Achilles Tendon Repair) .
This will put me in charge of all aspects of the squads medical needs which can range from my usual taping, stretching, on-field acute care, injury evaluation and assessment, daily pre- and post-game treatments to the unexpected such as coordinating any trips to urgent care facilities managing those who may come down with the flu, food poisoning, etc. I hope we do not have to deal with any of that, but I have to be ready for anything! All of that is just me! The coaches will be charged with scouting teams, practice plans, game strategy, etc. The players put their heart, souls, and bodies physically out there day in and day out for the duration.
We need all the help we can get whether it is financial donations and sponsorships to support for the squad as we represent Wales on this grand stage! Even the smallest commitment from the members of AmeriCymru (a $20 donation to letters of encouragement) is GREATLY appreciated. Wales is a small, yet amazing place and we often stick together like family. We need that family now as we try make new history for Wales Lacrosse.
Ceri, again I cannot thank you enough for this opportunity to speak to you regarding this. In the lacrosse community we often have a saying of "Lax for Life" as it describes how passionate we each are about the sport. Once you begin a life in lacrosse, it never stops. This has been an amazing opportunity to allow your readers and members to enter this world and learn a little bit of how Wales is a part of it! Thank you!
Cymru am Byth!
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Eoin Dragon: This is Eoin Dunne. The team votes a "Man of the Match" following each game and he has to don the Dragon outfit the remainder of the day! This was Eoin in 2010 and he definitely wore it with pride!
Support the Welsh Lacrosse Team - Denver 2014!!!!!