BBGC Lacrosse Alums Burning Up the Summer Circuit

By Steve Kuciemba

As the sport of lacrosse continues to explode nationwide, the rise of “summer tournament teams” has grown beyond belief.

June used to signal the conclusion of the spring lacrosse season, and a rest from the rigors of running up and down the field with helmets and gear. Now June has become the start for the summer tournament circuit, with club teams from around the country getting together every weekend through early August for highly competitive games at all levels from elementary to high school.

For boys lacrosse at the high school level, these summer tournaments have also become heavily focused on recruiting, as college coaching staffs spend their weekend on the fields with notebook in hand, trying
to find that next superstar in the making.

The rise of the summer tournament circuit has not gone unnoticed here in Bowie, where current and former boys lacrosse players from the Bowie Boys & Girls Club (BBGC) recreation league are traveling
around the country showing their skills as well. With alumni playing on a half dozen different teams, Bowie Lacrosse is on the map and definitely getting recognition.

Five recent graduates from the BBGC program are playing together on a High School team called the Zingo’s, based out of Howard County. Austin Hossick (goalie), Devin Morris (midfield), and Aaron Smoot
(defense) are all rising Juniors who played their last game with BBGC in 2009.

Alex Morris (midfield) and Gabe Kuciemba (attack) are rising sophomores who played their last game with BBGC in 2010. Devin and Gabe both attend in Laurel, while Alex, Austin, and Aaron attend in Hyattsville. They all credit their years with the BBGC Lacrosse program as helping get them where they are today.

“It's great to see our alumni having so much success after they leave BBGC” said John Hutson, their former U15 coach with Bowie Lacrosse. “We have former players on some of the very best club teams in the United States and the best high school teams in the area. When I look at the younger kids coming up, it appears that we are just getting started."

The Zingo’s team featuring “The Bowie 5” has already played a tournament at Rutgers University in New Jersey, and at Chesapeake High School in Pasadena, MD.

The BBGC alums made an immediate impact in both tournaments, with Alex, Devin, and Gabe each getting on the scoreboard; Aaron playing almost every minute of every game at both close defense and long stick midfield; and Austin racking up saves and keeping the Zingos competitive in every game.

This weekend they travel back to New Jersey for the massive Tri-State Lacrosse Tournament, where they’ll play several teams from the highly competitive New York leagues, along with teams from New Jersey and Pennsylvania. And the following week they’ll play just Northeast of Baltimore against highly competitive teams from around Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

The Zingo’s club program also fields a U13 team jam-packed with current BBGC lacrosse stars, and they had a huge impact as that team took victory in the Maryland Rockfish Cup tournament also
held at in Pasadena. Zach Hahn, Josiah Peterson, Nick Spurgeon, and Kyle Smith have all grown up in the BBGC system and recently helped lead the Bowie Juniors to the SMYLA Championship this past May.

Disclaimer: Gabe Kuciemba is the writer's son.