Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/30/10
The top junior and sophomore prospects from The Eastern Pennsylvania Scholastic Lacrosse Association will be on display for college recruiters in the Second Annual EPSLA Showcase on Thursday, June 17 at Franklin Field on the University of Pennsylvania campus.
The Showcase will consist of two games, one for sophomores and one for juniors. Each game will feature a public school team vs. a private school team. The sophomore game will be played first at 6 p.m. with the junior game to follow immediately.
“The event will start a rigorous summer recruiting circuit for many of our players,” said EPSLA President and Episcopal Academy Head Coach Andy Hayes. “We believe the best players in Eastern PA will be showing their talents on June 17th at historic Franklin Field.”
This event has been created in the spirit of the EPSLA’s mission statement “to promote the growth of lacrosse in Eastern Pennsylvania.” The EPSLA had historically organized an end-of-year tournament for all high school teams in the region.
With the sanctioning of boys’ lacrosse by the PIAA last year, the state tournament is now limited to PIAA member schools only. The EPSLA Showcase is meant to provide an opportunity for all players in the region to participate in a high-caliber event.
The four teams for The Showcase will be selected through a tryout at Plymouth Whitemarsh on Sunday, June 13th. The tryouts are tentatively scheduled for 1-4 p.m. (sophomores) and 4-7 p.m. (juniors). More information on the tryouts will be released next week.
Each Showcase team will carry 22 players and will be coached by a staff of EPSLA head coaches selected by their peers.
The inaugural EPSLA Sophomore and Junior Showcase last year proved to be a valuable recruiting opportunity for the area’s elite lacrosse underclassmen. More than 60 Division I, II, and III head coaches and assistants attended the event.
“It will be an honor for both players and coaches to participate in this event,” added Mike Friel, EPSLA Vice-President and Springfield-Delco. “We have many elite lacrosse players in this area and The Showcase will be a great way for them to get exposure to college coaches.
More information about the The Showcase can be found at www.epsla.org.
