Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/6/10
Former Philadelphia Wings great Kevin Finneran made a trip back north to Philadelphia for two reasons Saturday – one to catch up with old teammates at a Wings game and the other to promote the new IMG Lacrosse Academy.
Finnean, who led the Wings to four National Lacrosse League (NLL) championships from 1993-2002, was recently named Director of the Academy, part of the nationally-known IMG Academies in Brandenton, Fla.
“I have been talking to coaches and players and I hope to spread the word to the Philadelphia lacrosse community,” said Finneran. “There is a lot of great lacrosse up there.
“I have been associated with Philadelphia lacrosse for over 15 years and I want to reach out to kids in the Delaware Valley and let them know about the IMG Academy and what we have to offer down here.”
The IMG Academy is a multi-sport, year-round training center known for helping produce many world-renowned athletes in sports such as tennis (Pete Sampras, Serena and Venus Williams), golf and soccer. This year the lacrosse academy was added and the job of director was entrusted to Finneran, who has much experience coaching in the professional ranks and in camps. (Click here for movie.)
The IMG Lacrosse Academy offers weekend, week-long and full-time training that focuses on comprehensive development of skills as well as strength and conditioning, mental conditioning and nutrition, Finneran said. Programs are for boys and girls.
“We are an academy that caters to the devoted lacrosse player, someone hat wants to take his or her game to the next level,” Finneran said. “We’re a facility that not only maximizes the potential of the player on the field, but also off the field as well.
“Part of the academy is our performance institute. It’s a series of eight disciplines from a strength and conditioning framework. It includes physical conditioning, mental conditioning, vision conditioning, nutrition … all off-the-field disciplines that our players will be exposed to.
“That, coupled with a state-of-the art facilities here and our 30 years of experience of developing top athletes in other academies makes IMG an amazing destination for lacrosse players from the Philadelphia area.”
Weekend camps begin on April 16 and run into the summer. The summer program begins on June 13 and continues through mid-August.
There are week-long summer programs and also multi-week programs, all developing field training, team training and as well as off-the-field development. The multi-week programs, which run for three and five weeks, stress a series of different drills and skills sets for each week.
The five-week summer camp also can include SAT training in the on-campus school. Attendees also can take college prep course at the University of Miami campus. Finneran also said the Academy is hoping to offer a full-time lacrosse program beginning in the Fall.
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