Meet the MILA: Colorado Sabertooths

In our coverage of the Midwest Indoor Lacrosse Association, we will be introducing you to several MILA teams. Today, we talked to Colorado Sabertooths co owner Matt DiRocco. The Sabertooths are a MILA expansion team. Two of the Sabertooths home games will be live on The Lacrosse Radio Network when our MILA schedule will be announced.

Background:

Owners: Matt Ogden and Matt DiRocco
(Former High School  and College teammates)
Matt & Matt  grew up playing lacrosse in Southeastern, PA together as teammates in high school, in college and now many years later re-connected on a unified goal to “Give Back to the Great Game of Lacrosse” and are partners and owners of the NEW Colorado Sabertooths Semi-Pro indoor lacrosse team.

Head Coach:
Brian Langtry
(NLL: Colorado Mammoth All Time Leading Scorer and current MLL Long Island Lizards Player)
John Gallant
(NLL: Colorado Mammoth)

Advisory Board:
Steve Govett (Colorado Mammoth GM)
Robert Hamely (Colorado Mammoth Head Coach)

What will the Sabertooths organizational goal be?
The goal of our organization is to first and foremost provide a platform for elite indoor lacrosse players to have an opportunity to compete and progress by learning from some of the best players and coaches in the game. Our motto is Passion, Performance and Progression. We want to create an opportunity for players to showcase their talent and if they have what takes, the potential opportunity to compete at the highest level in professional lacrosse. We are also focused on the passionate fans by providing an incredible opportunity for them to see elite indoor lacrosse right in their backyard! Lastly we will be engaging in some great community outreach programs with camps and clinics with the youth players and future of the game.

* What will ensure the success of the organization long term?
Our hearts are in the right place! As any entrepreneur and business owner in this game knows,  the game of lacrosse is growing at a extraordinary rate across the country. However, lacrosse is still a very unique sport at the earliest stages of the growth cycle and thus you take on a lot of risk. Which is why from the beginning of this endeavor we made the decision that we are doing this for all the right reasons…the players… the fans….and the game itself. In addition the ownership of this organization has a track record of success in leading large organizations and in numerous entrepreneurial ventures. Our passion runs deep for the game of lacrosse and we have an incredible group of leadership and experience supporting our organization.

How did you get Brian Langtry as a head coach?
Great question that may be better answered by him! However, we believe the most passionate player and coach in the game is Brian Langtry and any opportunity Brian has to give back, coach and influence the future of the game, that he is all-in! We are fired up to have both Brian Langtry and John Gallant at the helm. The players on the Sabertooths team are provided an incredible opportunity this season to have these guys leading the way and elevating their skill sets to an entirely new level!

Do you have any players in place?
We had our first combine on July 17th and it was a great success and a testament to the talent that is out there. We have another combine taking place later this month and we will then begin to to draft a competitive team to attack the MILA title.

Are you excited about having a partnership with the Colorado Mammoth?
We are not affiliated with the Colorado Mammoth; however, we are very excited to have Steve Govett and Robert Hamley on our advisory board. Working closely with the Mammoth organization will provide a great synergy and partnership for the game, its players and fans in the community.

Closing comments:
At the end of the day to be able to do what you love and love what you do is priceless. We are so pumped to be able to provide this opportunity to the future elite players coming up through the ranks of this great game!  Be sure to look for more information on our website at www.coloradosabertooths.com, Facebook and Twitter at COsabertooths and get out support your Sabertooths on opening night at the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO on August 24th!