The Northstar Invitational was established in 2012 as a premier developmental and exposure opportunity, one of the first of its kind for young, high-level, female student athletes. The seventh annual 2018 Northstar Invitational will be held July 23-26 at the historic Northwood School in Lake Placid, New York.
InvitationIn today’s seemingly complex scholastic lacrosse environment, Northstar’s simple mission is increasingly relevant: calculated curriculum, concentrated competition, valuable education, and boutique recruiting exposure. The beautiful backdrop of the Adirondacks and Lake Placid’s historic sports atmosphere are intrinsic to Northstar’s unique character. Since day one, Northstar has embodied a holistic approach, focusing on sports performance, leadership, inspiration, mental fitness, recruiting perspective, fun, and camaraderie. Northstar plays a positive role in the endeavor of female student athletes to be the best they can be; attending athletes, leaders on and off the field, continue to thrive in this environment.
To enhance the Invitational curriculum and innovative development opportunity for attending athletes, Summit Lacrosse Ventures seeks meaningful associations, which complement the Northstar mission. In 2018, Northstar announces new strategic partnerships with Motive Pure, and SPEED Lacrosse, an addition to the Northstar Performance Index (NPI), and continued relationships with Victory Leadership Academy and Sports Recruits.
Motive Pure is a naturally flavored, zero-calorie, electrolyte hydration solution, founded by Jesse Hubbard, former Princeton lacrosse standout and member of the US Lacrosse National Hall of Fame. “It didn’t make sense for sports drinks to tout the idea of electrolyte hydration, when they were mostly full of sugar. Motive Pure allows athletes to benefit from electrolyte hydration while simply drinking water”, explains Hubbard. Motive Pure is trusted by collegiate, professional, and World-Class teams and athletes.
I regularly relied on Motive Pure to feel ready to compete during my MLL career, and as a member of Team USA. We are proud to incorporate Motive Pure into the Northstar Invitational, and to provide these high-level athletes with another valuable tool for health and success on the field
– Kevin Leveille, SLV & NSI
The event has always included small-sided play, and introduced “3by”, a backyard pick-up favorite, to the curriculum a year ago. Taking it one step further in 2018, Northstar will feature a SPEED Lacrosse session. SPEED Lacrosse® is a pioneering lifetime sport rooted in box and field lacrosse, utilizing key attributes from basketball, soccer, hockey and tennis. Sharing the philosophy with SPEED’s founder and lacrosse great, Casey Powell, Northstar believes that exposing high-quality athletes to the fast-paced, high-participation, creativity-inducing format of SPEED Lacrosse will generate unique experiences and enhance production on the lacrosse field.
SPEED Lacrosse puts athletes in situations they aren’t accustomed to, forcing them to adapt and think differently about executing the same fundamental objectives of offense and defense. It’s also a blast – we seek fun and productive competition, and SPEED is exactly that.
– Ashley Gersuk Murphy, NSI Co-Founder
In the vein of speed, the Northstar Performance Index (NPI), developed by prominent strength and conditioning professional, Ron Greenfield, consists of collegiate-level testing mechanisms, to quantify athletes’ speed, agility, endurance, and athletic capacity. In 2018, the NPI will include a Standing Long Jump, designed to measure explosive leg power.
We will demonstrate athletes’ explosive leg strength. This test is modeled after the NFL Combine, and is an important indicator of speed potential.
– Ron Greenfield, Strength & Conditioning Coach
Victory Academy’s Executive Director, Kristen Kjellman Marshall, a 2-Time World Cup Lacrosse Champion, 2-Time Tewaaraton Trophy Winner, and 3-Time NCAA National Champion, will again conduct a leadership session at Northstar in 2018. Victory’s mission is to Empower our Emerging Generation to Maximize their Potential, and to Make those around them Better. The goal is to challenge student athletes, to teach and encourage the attributes and traits of high performers, and to provide tools and strategies which will make a positive impact on our future leaders.
Northstar and Sports Recruits are in the midst of enhancing their collaboration, and will continue to offer metric-based exposure to college coaches, video coverage services, and valuable educational information about the college recruiting process, to both athletes and their parents.
Gersuk Murphy continued:
Each of our partners – Motive Pure, SPEED Lacrosse, Victory Academy, and Sports Recruits, represent our efforts to prioritize leadership, development, and the lifelong success of Northstar athletes. We believe that each unique element of our curriculum enhances the Northstar experience, but more importantly, contributes to the long-term empowerment of an impressive group of female student athletes.
The 2018 Northstar Invitational selection process is nearly complete, with 500+ recommendations submitted from well-respected high school and club coaches across the United States and Canada. Invited student athletes will represent the highest caliber of the 2020, 2021, and 2022 graduating high school classes. Past Northstar athletes have left large shoes to fill, with over 250 Northstar Athletes verbally committed to, or currently playing on Division I women’s lacrosse programs. A limited number of spots remain in the 2018 Northstar Invitational; recommendations can be submitted at NorthstarInvitational.com.
We aim for these young women to leave Lake Placid as more informed, motivated, and confident individuals, with a sense of where they fall in the national landscape, and what they aspire to achieve. Further, Northstar athletes return to their schools, teams, and communities, with a responsibility to share their knowledge, elevate their peers, and continue to work toward their potential as leaders, on and off the lacrosse field.
For more information, please visit www.summitlacrosseventures.com/nsi.
