Just as lacrosse season was heating up earlier this year, I traveled to an oasis in the middle of the desert to experience one of the coolest educational events available to high school players. No, it had nothing to do with late nights, beaches or dune-buggy derbies. This wasn’t “spring break.”
It was Spring Training.
Grande Sports World sits just outside the definition of the middle of nowhere. Close enough to Phoenix, Arizona, that you don’t feel too far out. The area once served as home to San Francisco Giants spring training shenanigans way back when, so naturally the hotel pool is shaped like a baseball mitt.
Fifteen years ago, the idea of a lacrosse event being run at a baseball spring training facility might have sounded a little far-out. These days, however, nobody seems to wince.
Irony aside, Each team funded its own way to the Casa Grande for an all-inclusive butt-kicking and get-your-butt-kicked kind-of-week hosted by Trilogy Lacrosse. Trilogy CEO Ryan Boyle, known as one of the most gifted minds in the game, set the tempo from the start.
What follows is a photo essay depicting my time on the ground at Spring Training. It’s easy to shed light on what a top-notch educational experience looks like through these photographs. But my real hope is that they help inspire budding high school lacrosse programs to make the most out of the time they get together during the Spring.
Learning With The Best, From The Best
“It’s not spring break. It’s Spring Training.”
Special thanks to Trilogy Lacrosse for hosting me in Arizona. To learn more about Trilogy’s Spring Training, visit TrilogyLacrosse.com.
