Ice.  Lots of ice.  Sunscreen everywhere. Braces of all sorts.  Athletic Trainers sprinting from field to field like they are the athletes.  And more ice.  Yep, these are some of the first sites I spotted as I walked onto the field complex at Tequesta Trace Park in Weston on Saturday.

But I also saw a bunch of guys having a great time playing in a Masters tournament that has become a nationally recognized event.  There were a couple of hundred guys out there playing the game very well.   Players who really know how to play the game.  Players who may have been playing a little harder than their bodies wanted to, but heck, there’s plenty of time to heal up before next year. Beginning with just four teams in 2002, the event now hosts over 40 teams and the non-profit event has done more to help grow the sport at the youth level than most people realize. We spoke with Florida Youth Lacrosse Foundation board member Don Clinton about the tournament.  “We started off with four teams in 2002, quickly jumped to ten teams and now we are over forty teams.  The nice thing about this tournament is 100% of the proceeds go right back into growing the youth sport.  When we started forming the youth programs down here we knew we needed a source of revenue to support that growth. We issue grants to to different new programs that start up. We go to the Athletic Director or the Principle and we say ‘We’ll give you a full set of equipment to start your program’ so it’s like a kick start and it’s really appreciated.”

This help is available to any program anywhere in the entire state of Florida.  So fare the foundation has provided assistance to 130 programs.  For more information about the financial assistance generated from this event and who has received it in the past you can visit FloridaLaxClassic.com. You can also find a link there to apply for assistance for your program as long as it’s a “not for profit.”  Clinton says, “We rarely turn down any applications.” As far as the keys to the success of the event he said, “One, it’s the weather and two, it’s the camaraderie. What makes this flow, however, are the 13 board members who have played together and have been together for the past 35 years and the officials that we have here.  We have the top notch officials in the country here.  They have done NCAA finals, MLL games, these guys are at the top of their game.  We mix in some local officials to help them learn from them and that helps our local games.”

We got a chance to speak with a great bunch of guys who went to Virginia Military Institute together and reuninited to make the trip down.  “Two big things that stand out for me are the weather and the fields.” “This is my third year down here and it gets better and better every year. The facilities are amazing.” Tom Ripley, VMI Class of 1993, said  “The worsed thing that has happened down here was last year it was chili one morning. By chili I mean it was fifty! The other thing we like is that there is a ton of teams down here.  The talent at this tournament…well there are no easy games.”  “This is a great time to get together with my Brother Rats (VMI Classmates) it’s one of the neatest parts about this thing, I haven’t seen Dickey here in 23 years and once we get on the field it’s just like when we were in college.”

Head coach for Pope John Paul II and Florida Elite, Andy Bolger, played for Faber College in the tournament. “What’s cool is that you get to see guys you played with 30 years ago and you are playing with them again now.  The amount of talent that’s out here…all the names you’ve heard over the years..they are all here.” “It’s great to get out and play, we get to teach it all year long but now we get to get out there and play.” “The guys really know how to play and we can’t run that fast so you have to move the ball and it makes it fun.” On the competition level he said, “the competition is very friendly. Until it’s a tight game, then it gets a little more rough out there.” Jeff Circuit and Mike Palmer are two Pennsylvania based players who didn’t even take up the game until they were in their forties. The play in the “Half Century” division on the Hounds.  They have been coming down to this tournament for several years. They love that everyone is very casual.  “This one is more friendly than Lake Placid, guys are more mature since it’s only 45 years and up.”  “At Lake Placid everyone enjoys watching the open division with all the famous players but it also means there are a lot of college and young guys running around.  Around here you go out and night and it’s all of us more mature guys.”