By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 10/6/15
Maplezone Sports Institute has recently completed construction of a 35-acre complex that can utilize seven lighted turf lacrosse fields in its arsenal.
The MSI Sports Village, located at 4881 Chichester Ave. in Aston, Delaware County, also has two Major League-sized baseball fields and two Little League fields and will serve as a host to tournaments, showcases, and events in softball, soccer and other sports.
But its impact on the lacrosse scene in the Philly region and beyond could be significant.
Next month, on Nov. 7-8, the Sports Village will host its first major lacrosse tournament, the Adrenaline Fall Invitational, Session 1, for 2016 and 2017 teams. This event will bring elite club teams from around the nation, many coming from the West Coast.
“We are looking to host more showcases and we are looking for that intimate atmosphere that will give the top teams their due justice,” said Maplezone Lacrosse Director Cory Malampy. “Intsead of grass fields, we offer a premier facility that’s well located. We plan to get plenty of college coaches so kids get the looks.”
The MSI Sports Village is located just two miles off of I-95, about 15-20 minutes from the Philadelphia Airport and within striking distance of Baltimore and the New Jersey-New York regions.
Click here for a link to Maplezone’s overhead video of the complex.
There are a total of seven turf fields and each field has lights (to be completed this fall) and scoreboards. There are three regulation lacrosse fields (multipurpose fields) and two lacrosse fields each fit on the Major League baseball fields, which have easy-to-remove mounds.
The Village has already housed baseball tournaments since July and events in field hockey, soccer and ultimate frisbee. Ultimate Lacrosse held its tryouts in recent weeks.
Malampy said there will be many lacrosse events. Next summer the I-95 Faceoff Cup will be held at the Village and that event is expected to draw face=-off teams from at least 10 states.
Malampy also said Maplezone plans to hold its own showcases at the Village. Last winter it held an indoor event that featured evaluations and drew much interest with little buildup. With the new complex, Malampy said Maplezone can easily expand.
“This is a big piece of the puzzle, having something set up permanently to have evaluators grading different players,” he said. “We want to set the bar and put meaning behind the numbers.”
