~~East Lacrosse~~

April 12, 2002, 03:58 PM

By Daniel Rowland
Special to The Denver Post

Since the late 1960s, when Jon Barocas spent his spring afternoons playing for Denver Country Day, he has exuded nothing but passion for lacrosse.

Barocas began and ended his playing career in Colorado, thousands of miles removed the sport's hotbed on the East Coast. Since his playing days ended, Barocas has built a powerhouse program at Denver East High School.

In a sport in which coaches come and go nearly as often as the athletes who play for them, Barocas hasn't strayed from the sideline in almost a quarter-century. In his 24th season as coach at East, Barocas has guided the Angels to nine state championships, including one in 2000, the school's only title since the sport was sanctioned by the Colorado High School Activities Association in 1998.

But the senior man in the state's coaching fraternity isn't just at the head of the coaching table, he also is the patriarch of what longtime East fans affectionately call the "first family" of Colorado lacrosse.

David Barocas, a junior attackman for the Angels, has been at East games since he was a toddler, hanging out near the sideline his father patrolled. Andrea Barocas, who plays first home on the
girls team at East has had a similar upbringing. Some might say the two were born with lacrosse sticks in their hands. Just for good measure, their father made sure his babies had sticks with
them at the hospital when they came into the world. With their father's enthusiasm for the game and proven coaching ability, it comes as no surprise the Barocas children are excelling on the field. Through Tuesday, David had 14 goals and 14 assists and is drawing interest from a handful of Division I programs, including Johns Hopkins. Andrea, a sophomore, has seven goals and 11 assists through six games. Jon Barocas picked up the paper one morning after East's boys and girls teams had been in action and realized a dream that has been in the making. "It's something that I've dreamt about for a long time, to see the box scores with both their names in there," Barocas said. "It's something that as a father I'd want to see anyway, but as a coach it's so gratifying." But for Barocas, whose will to win and intensity on the sideline is matched only by the volume of his voice during games, coaching offered a new challenge when David became a starter on his team. "It's hard sometimes to be the coach's son," said David, who found himself reacting to his coach's criticism in ways other players wouldn't dream. "We had a lot of problems last year. I would disagree with him and talk back like I was his son. Now, we kind of know our boundaries." But like Andrea, who experiences the more tranquil version of her father - the fan, not the coach - at her games, David always knew he would suit up for the Angels when the time came. "East is pretty much in their blood," their father said. "All through the time that they were old enough to walk they've been around the players and the game, and both of them have excelled in it in their own right, out of my shadow."

Others have excelled as well, and the talent level across the state is growing steadily. "We've seen the play get so much better, individuals and teams, over the last three years. It's just incredible," Barocas said. David has noted the improvements as well. "I think that lacrosse in Colorado has gotten so much better," he said. "The improvement and the depth of the teams from when I was growing up is a lot better." Jon Barocas also likes having better competition and the exposure sanctioning has brought, but said he believes it will take a few more season for parity in the league to set in. "It's very difficult because the competition in a lot of the conferences is not real good under the first two teams," Barocas said. East is the only team in the Southern League considered a contender this year, and Cherry Creek has similar status in the Centennial League.

Competition between David and Andrea, however, never has been lacking.

"We are pretty competitive when it comes down to everything," Andrea said. "Boys and girls kind of compete about whose game is harder and what game is rougher. I'm on the girls side about that kind of stuff, but I enjoy boys lacrosse just as much as I do women's."

The East girls, who fell to 6-2 after losing Monday night to top-ranked Cherry Creek, are looking for their first state championship. The Angels lost 12 seniors from last year's team. "I hope by the time I'm a senior, we'll be good enough to get up there," said Andrea, who is not ruling out her current team. "From the amount of seniors that we lost we are a really good team this year. I have really high expections and I think that we'll
do pretty well." David knows his team, which is 5-2 after defeating George Washington 9-1 on Wednesday night, always will be in the hunt as long as his father is running things. "He made this team," David said. "A lot of people come to East just to play for him." David and Andrea get all the time with the coach they need, and growing up in the "first family" certainly hasn't hurt their games. "It's fun," Andrea said. "If we have nothing better to do then the three of us can just go out and play. And now my little brother too can come out and pass it around." Yes, there is another. Eight-year-old Benjamin Barocas is an East standout in the making. He plays for the Redhawks, a competitive organization that fields teams for 8- to 14-year-olds. He also appears with his dad in the Angels' team picture every year, just like his brother and sister did before they were old enough to don the uniforms. Lacrosse simply is a way of life in the Barocas family. And seeinghis children embrace the sport he loves so much gives coach Barocas more joy than any of his nearly 300 wins at East. "I've tried to say, 'You want to play baseball, play baseball,' but Lacrosse has always been their love," he said. Passion breeds passion.

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