Saturday night FAU’s stadium served not only as the site of a thrilling Florida Launch come from behind 15-14 win over the The New York Lizards, but also as the host for this year’s South Florida Chapter of US Lacrosse awards banquet.  As far as I am concerned, every chapter in the state should try to replicate this great way to celebrate its season, whether locally or better yet, coordinated with a trip to Boca Raton for the night when the Launch is in town.  The staff at the Launch, headed by Brian and Don Clinton, Michael Zeff and others put on a terrific evening and are doing a ton of community outreach (check out the photos at the bottom of this article to see an example).  The Launch management is building a great franchise. Thank you to everyone, including emcees Joe Chiarella, Eileen Pliske and Beth Donovan.  The hard work you and others put in made for a special evening for those in attendance. As I have written before it is fantastic to see the friendly interaction between rival coaches and players and the good which is the byproduct of this evening.  In addition, it was a pleasure to hear about these fantastic young women and men.  Honored were all-americans, academic all-americans who finished as valedictorians, salutatorians and top ten (not percent, but the actual number) of substantially sized schools, coaches of the year and the Bob Scott and Jackie Pitts recipients which highlighted the best of our Florida young lacrosse players who gave back generously to the community.  I was incredibly impressed, and I know these achievers are representative of many players throughout the state.   A few familiar faces were missing due to scheduling conflicts, but quite frankly the “pinch hitting” by assistant coaches, and in some cases opposing coaches, to present the players honored,  was special in its own right. One editorial note:  St. Thomas Aquinas Coach of the Year Samantha Maccurdy is one of our own, having played at Vero Beach before a career at Presbyterian College.  Our growth as a state is taking on a new level and it’s only upward and onward from here!

  The full list of honorees, congratulations to all: Girls South Atlantic North Region All- American Kristen Zenor – 2018 – American Heritage Boca Delray Caitlyn Wurzburger – 2020 – American Heritage Boca Delray Kylie Kempe – 2018 – The Benjamin School Kaitlyn Trainor – 2019 – Saint John Paul II Academy Lauren Mazzamaro – 2018 – Spanish River HS All- Academic Emma Braden – St. Andrew’s School Lizzie Lynch – Spanish River HS Carolyn Rose –  The Benjamin School Caeley Reever – Boca Raton High School Nina Houri –  The Benjamin School Jackie Pitts Award: Tammy Hutchison – 2017- Cardinal Newman HS Coach of the year: Beth Donovan – Cardinal Newman HS South Atlantic Region: All-American Tara Shecter – Pine Crest School Erin Bakes – Ransom Everglades Morgan Lusk – St. Thomas Aquinas Ali Beekhuizen – St. Thomas Aquinas Carley Steinlauf – St. Thomas Aquinas All-Academic Morgan Lusk – St. Thomas Aquinas Kasey Geddis – St. Thomas Aquinas Gabriela Ramsey – St. Thomas Aquinas Sofia Caro – Pine Crest School Abby Wolk – Stoneman Douglas HS Jackie Pitts Award Kasey Geddis – St. Thomas Aquinas Coach of the Year Samantha Maccurdy – St. Thomas Aquinas Boys All-American Griffin Bowie – 2017 – Benjamin Terrell Seabrooks – 2017 – Oxbridge Jimmy Harrington – 2017 – St. Thomas Aquinas Joey Guglielmo – 2017 – St. Thomas Aquinas Kevin Crowley – 2017 – St. Thomas Aquinas Christian Tomei – 2019 – Oxbridge Chritan Cropp – 2017 – Benjamin Max Buckner – 2017 – Stoneman Douglas Nick Iznaga – 2017 – St. Andrew’s Zach Frey – 2017 – Boca Raton Michael Dean – 2017 – Jupiter   Academic All-American Owen Bezick – 2017 – St. Andrew’s Mark Heatzig – 2017 – St. Andrew’s Stephen Brower – 2018 – Saint John Paul II Ryan Haag – 2018 – Saint John Paul II Spencer Dobkin – 2017 – Boca Raton Ryan Fiedler – 2017 – Pine Crest Adres Soto – 2017 – Pine Crest Ryan Finvarb – 2017- Miami Country Day Reid Quattlebaum – 2017 – William T Dwyer Will Ross – 2017 – Martin County Joseph Weisberg – 2017 – American Heritage Plantation Finishing up about the Florida Launch, two club teams, Extreme and Ninja Lax, played a spirited half-time game and I enjoyed a front row seat.  You, too, can arrange for your young players to play on the same field as the pros.