Athletics

The Road to the NCISAA Division 1 Lacrosse State Championship

Leave No Doubt


 

"Leave No Doubt" could have been a very different film. Coaches can be superstitious to a fault, but all season long, Jeff Miles had no problem with allowing cameras on the sidelines and in his locker room. Access was one thing, but Christ School's first-ever state championship lacrosse team still had to do its job on the field.

The Greenies' historic run to 2017's NCISAA Division I title can now be relived in "Leave No Doubt," a 33-minute documentary which received its worldwide release Wednesday at 6 a.m. "Leave No Doubt" is directed by Associate Athletic Director Bobby Long, with production and editing credits going to Ross Weathersbee '10. The two sifted through 240 hours of footage shot by Long, Weathersbee, and Andy McMillan '12.

"The guys made the video what it was," Long said. "The love they showed for their program, their school, their coaches, and for each other, was real. They didn't have to fake it. It was that Greenies spirit that really made it an unforgettable state championship."

Miles got to view an advance screening of "Leave No Doubt" in the Patrick Beaver Student Center theater, experiencing a full circle kind of moment. That same theater is where the founder of Christ School's lacrosse program held his first organizational meeting in 2001. Of the 19 boys who showed up, 18 had never played lacrosse before. One of the more poignant moments of "Leave No Doubt" is when Miles tells that same story to last season's team just prior to the May 20 state championship game: an 18-2 home win over Charlotte Country Day.

"I knew that Bobby and Ross would do a great job, and they did," Miles said. "They were able to find the stories within the stories, and tie together all those bits and pieces. In my biased opinion, lacrosse has been symbolic of the growth here at Christ School. I started out as a wild 23-year-old coach and we had inexperienced players. Now we've had more than 30 kids play in college, and these are high-quality, high-character kids. The state championship was such a great way to link all our alumni together. I got over a hundred calls and texts from them, which was cool to see."

"Leave No Doubt" is the first film project from the Christ School Broadcast Network, which Weathersbee directs. "It's the biggest professional project that I've ever worked on," Weathersbee said. "It's a funny feeling to see something I thought was going to be 10-15 minutes long turn into something of that length. It's been a really awesome experience to see something manifest through the editing process like that."