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  The Peak South event in West Palm Beach featured fourteen college coaches spending the weekend coaching, evaluating, and getting to know over 100 prospects from around the country. There were about sixty Floridians, mostly from the South Florida area, and over forty players from around the rest of the country including Deerfield Academy, Gilman, Seaton Hall, Loyola, and many of the country’s other top preps. The day and a half long camp had an interesting format.   The player to coach ratio was about 10:1.  The players spent the first half of Saturday going through drills as basic as throwing mechanics, ground ball technique, and goalie basics while getting feedback and instruction from the coaches they hope to play for in the future.

After a morning of drills and instruction the players were treated to a 45 minute discussion on the recruiting process including do’s and don’ts, how to make contact, and the various opportunities to play at the next level. The players were divided up into four teams and played a round robin style tournament. They played several games and finished the day playing under the lights at Cardinal Newman HS until 7:30 in the evening.  The players and coaches returned on Sunday for more lacrosse wrapping up at noon. The coaches took an active role in coaching the teams.  The coaches actively coached their teams and the competitve drive that makes these guys successful coaches in the NCAA ranks was evident on the sidelines. Mike Daly (Tufts) and Brett Holm (Providence) teamed up to coach Team 1.  Team 2 had Jason Archbell (Bowdoin) and Matt Ranaghan (Trinity) at the helm.  Keith Bugbee (Springfield) and our own Rory Whipple (Tampa) had team 3 and Team 4 was lead by Casey Broderson (Bryant), Peter Milliman (Princeton), and Rick McCarthy (Wesleyan). We took the opportunity to speak with a couple of coaches about the camp and what they think of Florida lacrosse.

  Several Florida players made great impression on the coaches.  One such player was Zach Schwartz.  The junior attack at St. Thomas Aquinas piled up goals with his super fast release and non-stop off ball movement.  Zach seemed to be the open guy most of the weekend always finding a seam in the defense. Another Florida attackman who scored plenty of goals was Palmetto Senior High School’s Dylan Silverman.  He has a hard shot and was able to beat defenders top side from the wings and get his hands free, hitting the corners throughout the weekend.  Silverman was the biggest surprise of the weekend for us. Coach Brian Johnson of Spanish River brought most of his team up for the event and his junior attackman Adrian Franzone made the most of the opportunity.  He is another player who stayed busy off ball was able to finish well on transition. Adrian is a quick, crafty dodger from the low wing.

The top d-pole at the camp, in our opinion, was St. Thomas’ Patrick Monaghan.  The junior has very impressive size, speed, and plays solid position defense.  He was able to move the ball well up field in transition as well. St. Andrews’ Reid McCool played well at the LSM position.  The ground ball magnet was just named the MVP of the St. Andrews football team where he plays wide receiver and defensive back. Reid has great speed and a solid stick.  He picked up a ton of GB’s working as a wing man on the face offs. Connor Poetzinger, a junior goalie from St. Andrews, was impressive between the pipes.  He stuffed more than a few good attackmen over the course of the weekend and played smart, taking care of the ball on the outlets. Connor communicates well and looked very comfortable playing against some very skilled offensive players.   We spoke with a couple of attendees including NY’s Jack Gilinas and St. Thomas Aquinas defender Patrick Monaghan.   The Peak South event was produced with the help of the Palm Beach Sports Commission and they did a great job in helping the folks at Peak Lacrosse get their first foray in the Sunshine State off the ground.  It was a great event with each player getting plenty of one on one time with the coaches and plenty of time to meet and spake with players from around the country.