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Hot Pot: Why I Love Lacrosse Camp

I have worked a lot of different lacrosse camps in my day. Big time instructional camps, team camps, and recruiting camps, I’ve seen them all. But nothing gets me more excited than a small lacrosse camp, with a high counselor to camper ratio.

This week I’m working one of those very camps I just talked about for Doc’s NYC and Maximum Lacrosse Camps, and so far, it’s been a great experience. The kids all have their names taped on their helmets, but by day 2, I could already name most of the kids there, without the tape. I got to see the holes in their game, and we have been able to create or use drills that will help them.

No one gets lost, or overlooked, and everyone gets better. It is the ideal set up to learn lacrosse, and become a better player, as well as person.

We have a huge mix of talent, and sometimes Juniors in HS are doing the same drill with 7th graders. This could result in unfair match ups, but early on, we stressed that PLAYERS must control their own improvement, so most times, the kids actually just find ways to test themselves.

Instead of just burning a defender, and ripping on a young goalie with their strong hand, our older kids have been dodging lefty, and then trying to finish with a fake inside. Instead of throwing a check that might not work on a kid their age, our better poles are playing more body, and experimenting with the finer points of defense. The younger players benefit exponentially from the better competition as well.

With all the talk about recruiting events, which camps are “best”, and how “elite” level camps are the only option for future college players, I’m glad to have once again found something different…

The kids here in NYC (and at countless other small camps across the country) are working together to improve, trading tips and tricks, meeting lots of new people from their own gigantic city, and having a lot of fun.

THIS is why I love camp.