Recent graduate Michael Cox finished up a busy summer by earning a spot on the final Team USA roster for the U-19 Box Lacrosse Team. The team will represent the US in the upcoming World Games next month. Cox earned the spot after the team was whittled down after each of three tryout weekends, three training camps and three exhibitions in a grueling process that ended earlier this month. He will travel, along with 26 teammates, to challenge 11 other teams at the U19 Indoor Lacrosse Challenge at Six Nations, Ontario, Canada September 11-13.
Cox was introduced to box lacrosse as a sophomore by Dragon Varsity Head Coach Bart Sullivan. Sullivan included box lacrosse as part of his training program as a way to hasten his player’s skill development and toughness. Cox shares “By developing my box lacrosse technique I got exponentially better at the field game. It is fast-paced but also requires a lot of finesse and skill.”
Cox, who will play for D1 Siena this year recalls “Box lacrosse raised our competitiveness and I remember battling with the upperclassmen. Scott Dickey was particularly scrappy and Connor Harryman (now a sophomore midfielder playing at D1 Bellarmine) was always a tough competitor.”
Sullivan continues to train his teams with Box Lacrosse and the Southlake Carroll Lacrosse Association has adopted this philosophy as well. This Fall, SCLA will have again offer an all-local, all-box lacrosse league for the Youth Boys. Registration details, as well as information on the 2-week no risk trial for new players is available on their website at www.southlakelacrosse.org.
Lacrosse continues to buck the national trend of decreasing participation in traditional sports. The Youth segment, the largest group of boys and girl’s players, grew +5% last year. The High School ranks swelled by +27% for boys and a whopping +35% for girls. This growth is dramatic as NO other sport was above 10%. The Collegiate levels show a +37% from 2009-14.
Why? Lacrosse is a fast-paced, fluid game that is fun to play and entertaining to watch. Lacrosse can be practiced individually as well as with a group. ded coverage and more exposure via ESPN, ESPN3, and local cable networks. Lacrosse is a fantastic sport that compliments and develops skills also used in traditional sports – hand-eye coordination, endurance, seeing the field, play-making and creativity, spacing, footwork and thinking on your feet to name a few. Busy families also like the timed-games which help with planning and staying on schedule. More information is available at southlakelacrosse.org and uslacrosse.org