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New Jersey Box Lacrosse Turf City lax
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Bob Turco Shines Light On New Jersey Box Lacrosse

New Jersey Box Lacrosse Turf City lax
Good form, keeper! Boxlax in NJ is real!

I’m a big fan of box lacrosse all on its own, and not only in what it can do for the development of field players, but also on its own two feet!  Box is just a great game!!!  So when I heard Bob Turco, a New Jersey lax legend, was running a pretty comprehensive box set up in Wayne, NJ, I just had to find out more.

Bob played his High School ball at the Peddie School in NJ, and then went on to play lacrosse for Washington & Lee, which was then one of the best college teams in the country, graduating in 1974.  He returned to New Jersey where he coached at the Peddie School, and later Ramapo HS.  He is the founder of Tri-State lacrosse, AND he was the owner of the New Jersey Pride, the state’s first ever pro outdoor lacrosse team.

I got to email with Bob a bit, and what I learned was interesting… but more importantly, it makes me believe even more in the future of US box lacrosse!  If guys like Bob Turco think boxlax is well worth it, then it definitely is!  Today we have a quick intro to New Jersey box.  In the future we’ll hopefully have even more!  Grow The Game!

New Jersey Box Lacrosse Turf City lax
A little box action from NJ!

Hey Bob, thanks for speaking with us!  Can you provide a little background info on your New Jersey program and facility?  Please give us the basics!

“We provide lacrosse players throughout the tri-statea area (NY, NJ and PA) with the opportunity to improve their skills during the fall and winter months by playing box lacrosse. Our state-of-the-art Turf City Indoor Sports Center in Wayne, NJ, features a regulation size box lacrosse field with hockey-style boards/glass and the latest athletic turf field surface. Turf City also includes a newly turfed 1/2 scale practice field that has a radar gun encased in one of the side walls, team locker rooms and a weight room with the latest in training equipment.”

How long have you been there, how long has the box lacrosse been going on in the area, and who participates? 

“We have found that, over the past 10 years, box lacrosse is the best for pre-season lacrosse training.  How did we come to this conclusion?  It’s simple.  By those who have used it, and those who have benefited from using box lacrosse.

“In the past 5 years, box lacrosse has been the training choice of many top NCAA Division 1 Champions, MLL MVP’s and U19 Team USA players. Box is a tremendous tool to help aspiring players work on and refine their stick skills and improve their conditioning. Presently, we have leagues for boys in 5th through 12th grades at our Turf City location and also at the Von Family Athletic Center at The Peddie School in Hightstown, NJ.

WOW.  That’s a lot of box lacrosse!  Before we let you go, can you tell us a little bit more about Tri-State lacrosse?

“Sure.  Tri-State Lacrosse has built a reputation for being the premier All Star program in New Jersey and one of the top programs in the country.  There are no programs in New Jersey that rival the number of players we have sent on to play at top colleges and universities throughout the country.

“We are proud to say that Tri-State alumni are presently playing at such premier lacrosse programs as Navy, Virginia, Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, Duke, Penn State, Maryland, Cornell, Loyola, Dartmouth, Harvard, Yale, Delaware, Villanova, North Carolina, Army, Hobart, Rutgers, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Princeton and almost every other Top 20 Division I programs in addition to many top Division 3 colleges.

“Thank you again for your interest in our programs and everything you do to grow our sport.  We’re looking forward to more New Jersey lacrosse (box and field) being featured on LaxAllStars.com!”

So it seems like this box thing isn’t so new in New Jersey!  Who knew?  Well, other than the guys who were playing, now you know.  It’s a start!  Thanks to Bob and the Tri-State guys for Growing The Game and playing box lacrosse.  We’ll catch up to those pesky Canadians some day!