FLN has asked Head Coach Doug Shanahan of St. Brendan High School in Miami to continue to share his thoughts on how he is building his new program through what is now their second season and Doug has graciously agreed to do so. Here is his next submission for 2016! We thank Doug for taking the time to do this and letting our readers experience this unique insight.   The Pope Cup this past weekend was a great eye opener for us at St Brendan. Andrew Bolger, Head Coach at Saint Pope John Paul II put on another great Catholic School Lacrosse Preseason tournament, which we will be sure to attend for years to come.  The experience was a great one for our program even though all three of our games didn’t end up with St Brendan on top. We were able to see where our coaching has been falling short and which concepts aren’t being absorbed into our players’ “lacrosse DNA”.     I often have to remind myself that this is a 2nd year program. From my perspective, the biggest need that we have for improvement as a team, is that we are too reactionary in our game play. We need to be better thinkers on the fields to anticipate the game, have the vision, and the idea of beating the whistle.  These concepts all come with experience.  That notwithstanding, I am proud of these boys and the work they put in. We have 12 seniors this year and I look forward to them growing as leaders and seeing where this season takes us. Next up, Ransom Everglades on Thursday 2/11 at 6:30pm for St Brendan’s first ever District 30 lacrosse game, followed by Palmetto Ridge at home on Saturday 2/13 at 12pm. It’s Game Week!