Long Island Lacrosse Forum | BackOfTheCAGE Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE CAMPS & CLINICS Checkmate Sharks Tryouts - September 16th/23rd, 2012

Definitely not GC kids. They have their own in town program.

There were about 20 kids for the 2019 team trying out Sunday. I know thats not alot...but from what I saw it looked like a good solid group of kids.

There were about 20 kids for the 2019 team trying out Sunday. I know thats not alot...but from what I saw it looked like a good solid group of kids.

Checkmate is the Sharks, and it is Gordon Purdie's program. Gordon is the athletic director at the Waldorf School (adjacent to the Adelphi campus in Garden City), a true gentleman, and possibly the nicest lax director for any program you will find anywhere.

But Gordon is not likely to be the day-to-day guy on the field for your son's team. Like every other club, whether your son has a good experience will depend on who his coaches are, and if the program puts the team in the right tournaments based on the talent available. Experiences will differ, and probably differ widely.

A side note ... the Sharks name carries more weight than you think. It was the club team that many of the Garden City national championship kids played on when they were younger. A bunch played for the Sharks, and others for the GC middle school, and when they combined at GCHS, well, you know the rest for the past 3-4 years.

At least that's what I've been told by those who were there. My kid is much, much younger than the group now playing for GCHS, and the recent grads playing for Ivy League and D1 schools. I do not know if the current Sharks program was inherited by Checkmate last summer, or resurrected by Checkmate, or what their affiliation (if any) is with the original Sharks program. Which means, I know very little, other than some positive history.

Hopefully they grow the program back to the level it was several years ago. Enjoy!

The old Sharks program was still part of Checkmate, but coached by one of the dads and limited to GC kids. If you Google "garden city sharks lacrosse" the first couple of links have articles and pictures going back to 2005-06, which reference Checkmate.

Really big names on those teams. Jahelka, Dwyer (this year's national high school player of the year), Fischer, etc. It appears the program went on hiatus when that group went on to GCHS (classes of 2011, 12 and 13).

Probably a long road back to where they were, but with the Checkmate and Waldorf School connection, it appears that it is at least technically the same program/organization.