NexStar is the brainchild of Coach Doug Shanahan, the inaugural Tewaaraton Trophy Winner and current Varsity Men’s Lacrosse Coach at St. Brendan’s High School in Miami.  Over the weekend of January 9th-10th the latest iteration was held as Coach Shanahan partnered with Coach Ryan Burton, Varsity Men’s Head Coach at Stoneman Douglas High School and Field Director for the Stealth Travel Lacrosse program, on the new grass fields at Pine Trails Park, in Parkland. Through the years NexStar had achieved a solid following with DI, DII, DIII, and competitive MCLA club lacrosse programs; coaches looking for lacrosse athletes in the up-and-coming hotbed environment that is Florida, come to NexStar among other showcases.  Sam Talkow of BU, recently featured in Florida Lacrosse News, is an alum and the Rutgers, Marquette, Rollins, Saint Leo, Hofstra, and University of Tampa programs all have players that have been part of the NexStar showcase.     “Doug and I have a mutual respect for the programs that we have developed for our players in the last two years and it was a pleasure to host the NexStar Showcase and Youth Lacrosse Clinic in Parkland, Florida” said Coach Burton when interviewed for this article. The Parkland area has become one of the up and coming hotbeds for South Florida Lacrosse.  Former Parkland players have been recruited and have played on the college level.  The area has even played host to International teams including Team Israel’s men’s U-19 team last summer. College coaching staffs that showed up to scout included Hofstra, Furman, Rutgers, Marquette, Fairfield, Nazareth, St. John Fisher, Oglethorpe, University of Tampa, St. Leo’s, University of Miami and FAU.  Even a rare early morning fog on Saturday did little to affect the event’s draw to the participants.     The NexStar Showcase fielded its’ largest roster ever, with nearly 130 HS Players.  NexStar showcase players were placed on teams which competed at class year appropriate levels.  Players were coached directly by the college coaches themselves, who also took time to train their teams and evaluate players in skills assessment sessions and in live game play. On Sunday afternoon the participants were invited to play in two All-Star games.  The first game featured ‘Young Gun’ players including 2020, 2019, and 2018 players.  The second game billed as the main event featured top 2017 and 2016 players.     Based on participant feedback, for the Young Gun All-Star Team the following players stood out:   2019 Brock Gonzalaz Attack, Saint Thomas Aquinas 2019 Grant Laman Attack, Saint Thomas Aquinas 2019 Thomas Frank, Attack, Stoneman Douglas 2019 Nick Yovino, Midfield, Saint Thomas Aquinas 2019 Bryce Nabridge, Defense, Stoneman Douglas 2018 Adam Brodsky, Midfield, Stoneman Douglas 2018 Sam Bailen, Attack, Stoneman Douglas 2018 Bryce Daub, Defense, David Posnack School 2018 Ryan Leahy, Goalie, Saint Thomas Aquinas     For the U-19 High School All Stars the following players stood out:   2018 Colin Sypek, Midfield, American Heritage Boca Delray 2018 Noah Cash Defenseman Saint Thomas Defense 2018 Ryan Marek, Midfield Archbiship McCarthy 2018 Dante Moore, Midfield, American Heritage Boca Delray 2017 Joseph Guglielmo, Midfield, Saint Thomas Aquinas 2017 Kyle Gurr, Defense, Stoneman Douglas 2017 Austin Figas, Midfield, Stoneman Douglas 2017 Kevin Horwitz, Midfield, Stoneman Douglas 2017 Robbie Syrop, Defense, Jupiter 2017 Joseph Weisberg, Goalie, American Heritage Plantation 2017 James Harrington, Attack, Saint Thomas Aquinas 2016 Tyler DiVita, Goalie, West Boca 2016 Jason Wyner, Goalie, Stoneman Douglas   An additional part of the event was the hosting of a Youth Clinic on Saturday where Coach Shanahan and Coach Burton were able to match up the participants with many of the college coaches present, as well as a number of staff members of the local school programs, including STA, Stoneman Douglas, West Boca, Davie and others. Another great event for our area and it looks like the kids had the best time of all!