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Xcelerate Lacrosse Camp: Olympia, Day 1

This week LaxAllStars.com got an opportunity to join the crew at Xcelerate Lacrosse for one of their last camps of the summer in Olympia, WA. We’ve been told Xcelerate puts together a quality camp all across the U.S. and I’m excited for the chance to check it out. They have the advantage of having a strong footing in the market and a good base of Field and Box Lacrosse Pros on staff coaches. Just check out their 2011 Camp Crew.

Coach Malcolm Chase addressing the campers.

It also helps that these are some very organized individuals. I arrived today, checked in and then received my itinerary for the week. It’s very nice to see a full layout of each hour of each day.

At the beginning of camp, there were many similar messages for campers to those at the Rhino Camps I attended all summer. To me, this was a great sign – because these are messages that are important to the success of each and every camper. You know what they say, great minds think alike!

Coach Brennan Lake going through some dynamic warm-ups.

Coach Malcolm Chase kicked the day off with a little message to the campers about the ‘R’ word: respect. He made some great points that every camp should really take into consideration. At an overnight camp, it is very important for camp directors to lay down the law right away and set a precedent for how campers should conduct themselves throughout the week.

After we got all the campers checked in, we headed out to the field for our first session of the day. Getting the campers going and knocking off some of the rust was the main goal of Day 1, which would allow us to analyze the campers and make sure they were placed in the right groups. Then, after a short break for dinner, we got right back out on the field and went at it hard for the last session of the day.

Today’s agenda: Groundballs. 3v2 Attack-the-Cage, 2v1, Musical Groundballs, Groundball To’s… you name it, we had it going somewhere on the fields. Check it out!

I’m lucky to be able to float around a little bit at this camp and check out every aspect as I’m needed. Today it was great to be able to walk around and chat with all the different coaches. There are some smart people here ready to give out a wealth of knowledge on the game, and I’m just as ready as the campers to take it all in.

I’m especially looking forward to seeing some of the goalie lessons this week. Xcelerate has brought in Max Zarchin, a 2x All-American Goalie and 2x NCAA D3 National Champion with a 63-1 NCAA career. Seriously? Yup! Get excited. Day 2, our first full day, begins tomorrow bright and early!