via the Launch   Sunday, March 11, the Launch held the first of two Open Tryouts for the 2018 season. This tryout was in Boca Raton, where both assistant coaches, Brian Duncan and Chris Burdick were able to evaluate a very talented group of former collegiate and professional players. They ran the players through various drills and scenarios to see which guys would be invited to our Training Camp in April with the entire team. The team is looking to bring 40 players to the Training Camp and currently have a few spots to fill and will do so through these tryout opportunities. From the first tryout, our coaches selected four players to sign to our Training Camp roster. Matt Bellando – Attack – LIU Post Thomas Klosowski – Defense – Ohio State Steele Stockstill – Midfield – Hofstra Lance Yapor – Attack – Hofstra The first player, Matt Bellando, was a 2017 Launch practice squad veteran who is now an assistant coach for the Division II Palm Beach Atlantic University men’s lacrosse team. He graduated from LIU Post in 2016 and also played for Stony Brook in his collegiate career. The attackman is a South Florida native and Boca Raton local, who was a prolific player for Saint Andrew’s High School, where he went on to win three Florida High School State Championships, while being named the Palm Beach Post’s Boy’s Lacrosse Player of the Year three times. The coaches were also impressed by defenseman, Thomas Klosowski from Ohio State University. Klosowski graduated from Ohio State in 2014 and attended Onondaga Community College before that, where he won two NJCAA National Championships and was twice an All-American. Another local product, Klosowski hails from Gulliver Prep and grew up in Coconut Grove, Florida. Currently, Klosowski coaches lacrosse at Gulliver Prep. This will be his first appearance on a professional roster. We also picked up midfielder Steele Stockstill. Another local Palm Beach County resident, Stockstill played his high school career at Jupiter Christian High School and went on to attend Hofstra University on Long Island, and graduated in 2015. Lance Yapor, yet another Hofstra grad, was added to the Training Camp roster as well. Yapor was a member of the Ohio Machine early in the 2016 and 2017. Before graduating Hofstra in 2014, the attackman went to Glenview High School in Illinois and currently works as a spine specialist in the Chicago area. This upcoming weekend we will be having our second tryout opportunity at Bryn Athyn College in Philadelphia, PA.  Check back to see if more roster moves are made as we enter Training Camp, April 7!