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Xcelerate Lacrosse Camp: Olympia, Day 3

Welcome to Day 3 of Xcelerate Lacrosse Camp in Olympia, Washington! Campers are really starting to get into the flow of things and test out their skills.

In the morning session today, we worked on getting the campers going and moving in fast situations. After a nice dynamic warm-up with Coach Lake, we moved on to the Hamster Drill, sometimes more commonly known as 3 man, 2 ball.

Coach Chase on the Hamster Drill.

Once the players got warmed up, we brought them back together for a quick demo on fast-breaks, highlighting the responsibilities of each position both offensively and defensively. This lesson was very informative and the campers even got a quick show at the end when a few campers filled the roles of the defense to take on the coaches.

Surprisingly, the coaches missed a couple key shots and let the victory slip to the hand’s of the defense, giving these poor campers a little penalty to pay for betting on the coaches to win.

Push-ups!

Before finishing up the morning session we broke the campers into groups and did continuous fast-breaks with each age group. The coaches got their hands dirty and dove right into the action, giving tips and critiques to all the campers, helping them through the drill.

Continuous Fast-breaks.

In the afternoon, Coach Saporito AKA Jazzy broke down the nuances of the draw, going over a few different moves for the campers and all the fundamental basics needed to get better at them. After that we broke off into drills to test out their new moves and then a King of the Ring Face-off Competition to determine a champion for each age group.

In the evening session, the coaches got together and drafted teams for the rest of the week, giving them a little familiarity and something to fight for as they play in the games each night. Players continued to try out new things and work on their fundamentals. It’s great to see a consistent increase in the players’ knowledge and field awareness from day to day.

Coach Stelling working with his players during their bye game.

Yesterday we were able to get an interview with 2x All-American goalkeeper Max Zarchin. Today I was able to grab one with Coach Malcolm Chase, who is Camp Director this week at Xcelerate: Olympia. Coach Chase brings a lot of experience to the table and he has been working with Xcelerate for several years. Check out a little of his background below:

– 2007-2011 Head Coach – Univ. of Southern Maine
– 2009 Conference Coach of the Year – USM
– Founder – LongStickMiddie.com– Founder – Maine Premier Lacrosse
– 2007-2008 – U.S. Indoor Lacrosse Developmental Team
– 2004-2005 – Assistant Coach – Connecticut College
– 2003 – Assistant Coach – Roanoke College
– 1998-2001 – Whittier College (Defense)

Make sure to come back tomorrow for Day 4. We have a BIG day in store for the campers with some great station work, skills competitions and plenty of prizes to be handed out. Can’t wait!