No Tewaaraton love for Division III?
Part of today’s article on Kylor Berkman included the Salisbury senior midfielder's being left off the list of 21 finalists for the Tewaaraton Trophy, which is awarded to the country’s best player.
Since the award’s debut in 2001, a Division III player has never won the trophy, and Hank Janczyk thinks that trend will continue.
"In my personal opinion, I don’t think that will happen," said the Gettysburg coach, who is a member of the selection committee for the Tewaaraton. "I think it would be incredibly hard for a Division III person to win the award. But I do think that if there was ever a Division III player to open the eyes of people associated with the Tewaaraton, it’s certainly Kylor Berkman."
Cortland coach Steve Beville said he thinks a factor is the media attention devoted to Division I lacrosse. With games involving Division I programs taking place at venues like M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore and Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands, audiences and coaches are exposed more to Division I players.
"But there are certainly Division III kids worthy of a look, and unfortunately, they’re just not going to get the same kind of exposure from a media standpoint that a lot of the D-1 kids are getting," Beville said. "I’m not saying that’s right or wrong. Those Division I kids are on a bigger stage. But Berkman is a name they should definitely throw around with a lot of the big dogs on Division I, too."
Salisbury coach Jim Berkman, who is Kylor Berkman’s father, was matter of fact when he was asked if there were a bias inherent in the Tewaaraton.
"Absolutely. Everyone thinks that D-I is better, right?" he asked rhetorically. "That’s supposedly where they are. They’re the scholarship athletes and they’re the best. Just to be recognized in that group is a special honor."
For his part, Kylor Berkman is not playing the woe-is-me role.
"The individual accolades are great, but it means nothing if you don’t go out there and win," he said. "We’ve lost a couple of games, and I think everyone has kind of realized that it doesn’t really matter who is scoring the goals because if you’re not winning, it sucks. What we’ve been trying to focus on is getting back on the right track. Whoever scores, it doesn’t matter. The goal that we have is beating teams and winning the national championship."
