THE REBRAND
ABOUT THE REBRAND
A few months ago, our team at Hammers Lacrosse was contacted by a company that had a similar name to our lacrosse program (as well as a similar logo). After discussions with this group, we both realized that the similar names/brands would cause continued confusion in our industries.
As a result, our team had decided to change our name and rebrand the club at the conclusion of this Summer season. We’ve had some historic moments and amazing memories as the Hammers Lacrosse Club the past few years from multiple championships, national rankings and sending over 100+ alumni to compete at the next level. Despite this, Hammers Lacrosse is merely a name for the incredible community we’ve built from the ground up.
Our true identity lies within our coaching staff, you the families and the student-athletes who have believed in our process for building up young men to be their best when it matters most.
We will also be using this rebrand as an opportunity to “level up” in a variety of areas within our organization, bring new/exciting ideas to the community and open a whole new door of opportunities for our players to compete at an even higher level and maximize recruiting exposure opportunities for our oldest athletes.
Coach Burke, Coach Zinck and Coach Beardsley will continue to lead the club with the added support of Founder Ricky Reyes and his team at Reyes Sports Enterprises. This direct involvement with RSE will elevate the current experience both on and off the field for the players, coaches and families.
We are excited to rebrand to TEAM VIRGINIA at the conclusion of the Summer and start this new chapter with you all.
THE NEW MODEL
As we begin transitioning to TEAM VIRGINIA at the end of the Summer, we will also be restructuring a variety of different aspects of the club to continue to elevate the player experience.
One of these is adjusting our “Full-Year Calendar” — going from the traditional Fall 2023 - Summer 2024 into Winter 2023 - Fall 2024. It’s a model that some of the top clubs in the country are migrating to for numerous, beneficial reasons such as:
Holding tryouts for Team Virginia in the Winter — if invited, a player earns a roster spot from the Winter through the following Fall. This allows for a more seamless calendar for our players, coaches and families.
Our non-HS teams will form in the Winter and immediately begin team practices to prep for Spring Howard County League (HOCO). After HOCO, our athletes will roll right into the Summer season where they’ll continue to train multiple times a week and compete in premier events. After the Summer ends in July, families can find peace and comfort knowing they already have a spot on the team through the Fall and will not be required to tryout. Families can use this time to vacation, relax or even compete in showcases, camps and even national team programs. When the Fall comes back around, our players will continue to train weekly and compete in tournaments. Once the Fall is completed, all players will recycle back and re-tryout in the Winter
Our high school teams will follow a similar model where teams will be formed in the Winter and will train on a weekly basis to prepare our guys to be successful at the high school level. During the Spring, we will simply work with them with recruiting but there will not be any physical practices — the focus is on their high schools. Once the Spring ends, our guys will compete through the Summer and Fall before recycling at the start of the Winter season.
The other new change to our structure that we are implementing are PLAYER POOLS for our age groups. You can learn more about Player Pools and the benefits by clicking here.
THE TRANSITION PROCESS — SUMMER 2023 —> FALL 2023
The transition process for this rebrand and new model is easy and simple — we are grandfathering all of our current HAMMERS ELITE team members at the 2024 - 2030 age groups for the Fall 2023 season. Every current elite team player and their families will have the opportunity to experience the benefits of TEAM VIRGINIA and the RSE NETWORK without having to worry about trying out this Summer. As we mentioned above, once the Fall season is complete, we will begin forming our year-round teams from Winter 2023 through Fall 2024.
We will be offering early-invites for the Fall-Only TEAM VIRGINIA player pools through the month of June. At the end of the month, our team will begin working on inviting other top players from the region to be a part of TEAM VIRGINIA beginning this Fall. Right now, we do not have plans on holding physical tryouts or ID camps for the program unless it is necessary — our goal is to build these teams through our existing elite team families while supplementing it with top players who have applied and reached out online or through coaches recommendations.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION