Why _do_ we call it the Gillman?

[AZReDWiNG]

I must not have gotten the memo, but I don't know why it's called a "Gillman" when the goalie chucks the ball downfield..

Anyone care to explain?

[glencoeattack]

me and our goalie were talkin about that the other day. anyways i have no clue. maybe some awesome goalie used to do it a bunch or somethin

[shiftylax]

The Gilman school in MD did it a while back and it stuck.

[PimpD-LaxRider]

ha thats so cool we were just talking about that today and no one knew how it came to be...:crazy:

[nemesis562]

haha yeah the other goalie yelled it today and i laughed becuase i just read this post =P

[AZReDWiNG]

The Gilman school in MD did it a while back and it stuck.

So Gillman's entire clear was the goalie chucking the ball downfield and hoping the attackmen get to it?

:OMG: How the game has evolved.

[Deutschlaxer]

So Gillman's entire clear was the goalie chucking the ball downfield and hoping the attackmen get to it?

:OMG: How the game has evolved.

The Gillman was designed as a last minute play to create an opportunity. It was based around the fact that at the time, attackmen were much better and faster then there defenders, thus if the ball were thrown the into the offensive end the attackmen would have the upper hand in getting the ball and creating a scoring opportunity off an unsettled play. In todays game though we know that the defense is just as good as their attackmen so it kinda takes away that advantage. Also in some cases it can involve Mid's switching up with the attackmen to create a one on one opportunity or inverse on a unsettled play.

That is all i know about it from what i learned in University. We never used it ourselves but it was part of a package play in the last minute with a team riding hard and us being down by a goal or 2.

[liveforlax19]

u kno its funny... i have never heard anyone call it the gillman... i thought most people just said "chuck it down the field"

i was never aware that there was a special name...

well hey, u learn something new every day

[3rdPersonPlural]

To add to Deutsch's comments, this term is quite old. It was in general use (i.e. you could refer to a Gilman clear and everybody who played would know exactly what you were talking about) in the mid '70's when I started playing.

The Gilman School is a perrenial Maryland Lax power, so the clearing strategy certainly was not concocted to compensate for poor stick handling among the middies and d-men.

I also should add that the 'Gilman' clear refers to anyone behind the restraining line tossing the ball into the attacking end. Not just the goalie.

[OutBurst]

The Gillman is Lacrosse as Hail Mary is to Football.

[livin4lax09]

yeah. Weird, I was just wondering this today too.

[Lax Turtle]

The "Gillman Clear" was started in part because in the late 60's early 70's, the school didn't have a defense that could clear the ball properly. So they decided to just have the goalie move out to one of the wings and chuck the ball down field. This works today as long as your mids & att. aren't covered by the other teams d-poles.

[mdawg]

guys no need to tell us every story of the gillam. turtle i think your story is wrong because were talking about one of the best lax programs ever. im sure they had a clear. deutch laxers story is much more accurate