By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 11/15/11
Garnet Valley junior midfielder Vail Urso turned in the fastest shot of the weekend at the F-4 Showbine when he fired a 101 mph blazer in a shootoff at the combine at Flemington, N.J.
The reward? Quite big.
Urso became the 10th and final player attend professional lacrosse player Paul Rabil’s unique shooting clinic called “Under My Wing.”
The clinic was held Sunday at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. It was organized in conjunction with Warrior/Red Bull and the F-4 Showbine. Eight of the top players from the tourney were pre-selected to participate and two others that won the shooting contest at the Showbine’s combine earned their spots.
Saucon Valley sophomore Paul Houck was the other shooting contest winner. He ended up being selected by Rabil to receive mentoring all year long in a special promotional prize. (see story.)
Urso, who has committed to Drexel, was thrilled to learn from on of the world’s top players.
“I had the pleasure of meeting Paul Rabil a few years back at the USA dinner that my Dad was invited to and that was awesome,” Urso said. “This time it was even better to be instructed by him and learn some of the key techniques that he used to get as good as he is.
“He taught us how to get our entire body involved in our shots. He had us work on the little things that really made so much sense. We did some great passing and shooting drills that I believe will really help my game.
“Paul was an excellent instructor he really made everything make sense and simple yet it felt like it was really going to help how I played. He also seemed very serious around helping each of us and at the same time he was funny which made us all very comfortable.
“The overall experience was truly amazing and totally unexpected for me. I did not realize that if you won the shooting contest you would get this great opportunity. In fact, I did not find out until I won. Thank God I was able to break 100!
“The F4 Showbine was really a great experience and this really topped it off for me. All my teammates and I can’t wait to come back next year; what a great tournament and thanks Paul!”
