Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 9/22/12
From Press Release
Tri-State Lacrosse has announced the launch of the Eagle Indoor Lacrosse Association a Canadian style box lacrosse program for high school lacrosse players.
The Eagle Indoor Lacrosse Association will train and play games this fall and winter under the guidance and supervision of Ginny Capicchioni at Turf City in Wayne, NJ. Capicchioni has the distinction of being the first women to play in a men’s professional lacrosse league in 2003; the first American-born goalie to play in a Canadian box lacrosse championship and the first female to be selected to the US men’s national team.
“Our goal is to give field players the opportunity to experience the fast paced and physical action of box lacrosse while at the same time helping them to improve their skills through intensive Canadian-style box lacrosse workouts and games,” said Capicchioni. “Box lacrosse is a great forum for identifying any bad habits they might have picked up playing field lacrosse and is exceptional at teaching spacial awareness.”
The Eagle Indoor Lacrosse Association’s fall program will be capped at 80 qualifying players and will train on Mondays 5:00-7:00 pm and may expand to include a 4:00-5:30 and 5:30-7:00 sessions. Players will be divided amongst four rosters and given a full schedule. The Winter session will be capped at 120 qualifying players and feature a similar format with competitive tournaments throughout the winter.
“Canadian style box lacrosse differs from field and modified 7 on 7 indoor lacrosse on several levels,” said Ross Turco, head coach of the prestigious Peddie School lacrosse team and Tri-State boys youth All-Star director. “While the pace of box play is much faster than field it is also organized very differently from most hybrid forms of indoor lacrosse.
“The most notable difference is the four by four goal and the bulky padding worn by the goalies. Defensive checking in box lacrosse allows for cross-checking and moving picks. All players play with a short sticks.
“These rules create a vastly different environment on both sides of the ball. Consequently, the ball must move faster in box in order to retain possession. The addition of the shot clock speeds attempts to score. The Canadian style game is essentially the highest form of off-season work for the American field player, if played correctly.”
Goalie’s also will benefit from donning the pads and getting between the pipes. In box lacrosse goalies are forced to save shots with their bodies and have to anticipate shots on a much higher level. Box lacrosse is excellent for improving a goalie’s field vision and their ability to react to rapid-fire shots.
“The successful box goalie has a strong awareness of the net behind him and the mental toughness to defend it,” said Capicchioni. “This is perhaps the hardest skill set to teach young field goalies.
“Our new box lacrosse program is definitely going to have immediate and lasting benefits for all of these athletes and everything they learn will have a huge impact when the go back to playing field lacrosse in the spring.”
