California Redwoods building a culture brick by brick

In the California Redwoods’ second matchup against the Utah Archers, rookie midfielder Andrew McAdorey had zero points for the first time in his professional lacrosse career. In fact, it was the first time since April 12 – when his Duke Blue Devils lost a one-goal game to North Carolina – that he went without a single point in a game.

But with 18 seconds remaining and the Redwoods up by one goal, McAdorey was given an important job: kill the clock. Coming out of the timeout, McAdorey sprinted from the sideline to the middle of the field and drew a penalty, finishing the job and helping California stop a five-game losing streak.

It was a moment head coach Anthony Kelly needed to recognize. In the locker room postgame, Kelly addressed the team.

“Week in and week out, we absolutely ride with this guy,” he said. “He is one of the most competitive guys I’ve ever been able to work with. He throws us on his [expletive] back. He led us out tonight with the flag, and he stepped up big-time and made plays. It doesn’t show up on the scoreboard, but this guy’s an absolute [expletive] dog, and I’m proud to have him.”

Defensive coordinator Chris Collins awarded McAdorey with a brick in what has become an important postgame tradition for the Redwoods – one that recognizes a player for a play or moment or effort that makes a difference not only in that night’s game, but in the culture and identity the team hopes to develop.

The concept percolated in Kelly’s mind before he left for training camp. In preparation for his first camp as a professional head coach, he got together with good friend and Ohio State men’s lacrosse head coach Nick Myers. Myers mentioned that instead of only watching film and looking for things to fix as a team or focusing on the opposition, it’s also important to “call out plays that make a difference,” which he calls making a “Buckeye play.” Myers defined it as any gritty play that has an impact on the game – something players can take pride in – and it can be as simple as a ground ball or a great ride.

At training camp, Kelly talked with the Redwoods players early on about how there were a lot of new guys on the roster as well as young players on the team; 13 of the players initially invited to camp weren’t on the team the year prior, and 10 were first- or second-year players.

“It was going to take time,” Kelly told the team. “As a group, we are building brick by brick every day we are together.”

It was a conversation he, Collins and offensive coordinator Chris Bocklet continuously referred to throughout the week. They would tell the players to “bring us a brick” – to make a play for the team, such as making one more save, making a great defensive stand or getting a faceoff win.

“It’s something guys have really bought into and understand,” Kelly said. “More importantly, it fires them up to get on the field and bring back some bricks for the team. I use the term a lot during the game to help guys keep their approach simple each shift. They don’t need to focus on anything more than, ‘Go out there and bring me a brick.’”

Prior to the first game of the season against the Denver Outlaws, Kelly told Collins and Bocklet he had an idea, and he needed an actual brick. One morning, they were walking to get coffee and found an old brick sitting on the side of the road. Collins picked it up and put it in his backpack.

After the game against the Outlaws, Collins awarded the brick to Chayse Ierlan, who made 10 saves.

“The brick symbolizes don’t give up hope,” Ierlan said. “Keep plugging away. Keep believing in yourself. Getting it from the coaching staff and the team is great. They’re like, ‘We’ve got your back. We know you’re going to hang in there. We know you’re going to keep getting better, keep getting more games and experience under your belt.’”

After that first game, Kelly logged onto eBay, where he found a brick from a home in California built in the early 1900s. It says “California” across it in large block letters.

“Our brick, it has such a tangible feel in regards to how we speak about its importance to our group,” Collins said, “so it’s only fitting that it’s an actual huge ass brick.”

McAdorey, Chayse Ierlan, Dylan Molloy, Brian Tevlin, BJ Farrare, Chris Kavanagh and TD Ierlan have been awarded the brick. Chayse Ierlan was the first player to be given the award twice; Kavanagh was given it a second time after the win against the Maryland Whipsnakes. The player who receives it keeps it in his locker for the next game.

While it can be easy to hand out an award after a win and celebrate, what makes the brick ceremony special is that it happens after every game, whether California wins or loses. Kelly said the margin for error in the PLL is small, and that even when they lose, the team is still getting better and coming together, and they need to make sure the coaching staff points out when players give their all.

“[It] gives guys the positive energy to attack the week and prep for our next game,” he said.

The players appreciate the ability to acknowledge the positives even when things didn’t go their way on the scoreboard.

“I love it,” defender Cole Kastner said. “When you lose, there’s no way everything went wrong. When you win, there’s no way everything went right. Rewarding incredible moments, incredible efforts by guys on the team is fantastic.”

“We’ve been in every game this year. We’ve taken teams down to the wire, and unfortunately, we’ve come up short in more than we would like, but that’s a product of being a young team, of still trying to figure out our identity and how we close out games,” Tevlin said. “It’s important in those games to double down on the plays that we’re making, because win or lose, there are good plays and bad plays all over the field. It’s important to recognize those good efforts because the more you recognize them, and the more you shine light on them, the more they will keep happening. In those situations, it’s important to look at, ‘What did we do well this game, and how can we do that again moving into the next week?’”

The Redwoods players needed the positive affirmation. After winning the first two games of the season, California lost five games in a row. In two of those games, California went into the final quarter either tied or winning; in the other three, it trailed by only a single goal. The Redwoods were outscored in the final quarter by a combined score of 23-9 in those five losses, however.

Tevlin, one of the Redwoods’ captains, said it was the mark of a young team learning how to close games. Chayse Ierlan said the brick and what it symbolizes helped keep the team focused and fighting.

“Those moments, you could feel sorry for yourself. You could complain about this and that. You could point the finger,” Ierlan said. “You could be negative about a loss, but the message with the brick is yeah, you we came up short. It doesn’t look great right now, but there was some good to take away. We did get better.”

Recently, the team seems to have turned a corner. In the past two games, California came from behind in the fourth quarter – outscoring the Archers and Whipsnakes by a combined score of 6-1 – to eventually win the game.

Heading into the final week of the season, the Redwoods are in a position where they control their own postseason destiny. They can clinch a spot in the playoffs with a win over the Boston Cannons on Friday.

“Now, it’s a matter of maturing throughout the season and trying to hit our stride,” Tevlin said. “Everything is right in front of us.”

After every victory, the Redwoods also award a chain for the Player of the Game, but Kelly sees players take more pride in winning the brick, which he believes says something about the group and defines who they are.

“We don’t play as pretty as some other teams, but we know how to do our job and work hard,” he said. “We scrap and earn every inch as a group of underdogs with a bunch of no-names. [It’s] everything you get from a real job site, guys that want to work together to build something special.”