Over the weekend of January 17th-19th the Florida Youth Lacrosse Foundation hosted the Florida Lacrosse Classic at Tequesta Trace Park in Weston, Florida.   The event served to crown a national champion in the Grand Masters (Age 45 and older) and Half Century (Age 50 and older) age groups.  Additional brackets were created for Ultra Grand (Age 55 and older) and even a Past Masters division for 60 and over!  Truly a passion to be greatly respected. The event serves two purposes, first to recognize the great players of the past and enabling them to continue a lifetime of competitive activity and more importantly to give that same group a wonderful place to catch up with old friends, older adversaries and their families.  Although the days of all-night keggers have been replaced by ice packs and aspirin (and sunscreen given where we were playing) the spirit never goes away.  Good food, a few drinks and even better conversation abounds, although in all likelihood the stories get more encompassing as the night goes on.  Marry the technological know-how of today’s youth with the personalities of this event and you would probably put today’s Facebook generation to shame.  To be a fly on the wall of Saturday night’s gatherings would have been priceless.  

  For me it was a bit of a trip down Memory Lane.  The 400lb. gorillas of this level of lacrosse over the past number of years has been one form or another of Statesmen, whether Elder, Eldest and just plain Old . . . which means to me a chance to meet up with some of my peers, some of my colleagues and most importantly, some of my classmates from Hobart College, class of 1980.  And sure enough there were a few.  Scott Petosa and Fred Mosher of the Elder Statesman were among the first few people I met.  Scott was quite the player in his day and I still remember a great goal he scored in a 16-4 drubbing of the hated Orange of Syracuse in 1979 (Yes Virginia, there was a period when Hobart DOMINATED Syracuse, winning SEVEN straight years – take that Casey!  It was only when Syracuse got good that they agreed to play for the Kraus-Simmons trophy.) and except for the hair Scott looked a lot like he did back then.  Another memory was seeing Bill Beroza, sharing the net with Hobart legend Rick ‘Wavy’ Blick.  Bill and I were able to spend a few minutes talking Team Israel lacrosse. And there was also a local flavor to the event as I caught up with Kevin Finneran, all decked out in one of the probably 500 Guys and Dolls hats he owns, Jim McAleavey of MacWear (who forgot his sunscreen!) and the Bolgers, Andy and Jennifer.  Andy partners with Jim in the company and also played a number of games.  Andy claimed to have scored six straight goals in a stirring comeback that just fell short but unfortunately the film crew managed to only capture one so we will have to await the official score book confirmation . . . Jennifer was asked to confirm but politely declined to do so, saying she doesn’t do media interviews (okay, I made that one up).  Both Andy and Jim looked the worse for wear (Andy was wearing the clothing accessory of choice for most at the event, an ice pack), so maybe I will give him the benefit of the doubt!     The results of the event took a familiar turn, particularly for this author, who didn’t witness too many Hobart losses in his four years of school:   Grand Masters National Champions: Elder Statesman          5-0 Koopers Tavern          4-1 Rusty Red                      4-1 Cleveland Cement      3-2   Half Century National Championship: Team Harley Davidson     5-0 Last Call Lacrosse               4-1 Elder Statesmen                  3-1   (Extra wind sprints for you!) Atlantic Sportswear           2-2   Congrats to both champions and to all of the other teams that participated in the non-championship brackets!  Checkmate wins the Grand Masters Brine Division and Faber Amphibians winning the Half Century Brine Division, while the Eldest Statesmen shined through in the Ultra Grand Masters Division and Cloudspitters winning the Past Masters group. Thanks to the Florida Youth Lacrosse Foundation for hosting the event and for all the referees and volunteers for their tireless efforts.  The FYLF provides support for Youth Lacrosse programs all over the State of Florida.  A wonderful organization at the forefront at making sure any kid who is interested in playing this great sport in the state of Florida can afford to do so, no questions asked.