Fire Lacrosse Club

The Tampa Bay Fire will be holding its 4th Annual Tampa Bay Lacrosse Combine on December 5th & 6th, 2009.  This first-of-a-kind weekend event, which was pioneered by the Tampa Bay Fire in 2007, continues as one of the only lacrosse "combine" events offered in the United States.  Our annual event is organized as an intensive 2-day Combine camp that gives each participating player a unique opportunity to receive unparalleled state-of-the-art coaching and training, showcase their athletic and lacrosse capabilities, and play for one of the 2010 Tampa Bay Fire teams.

The Combine is open to all area competitive lacrosse players.  Interested players, even those who have not yet played for an elite or select team, are welcome and strongly encouraged to try-out for either an Elite Level team (Gold-U-19, Silver-U-17, Red-U-15, and White-U-13) or Select Level team (New Tampa, South Tampa, or Fire).  Due to overwhelming interest and requests, we will also be adding a U-11 team for the 2010 season!   All players interested in playing for the Tampa Bay Fire (Elite and Select) are expected to attend the Combine.

The process is conducted by college coaches who assess the skills, capabilities, and potential of players interested in playing for the Fire.  The Combine consists of two components.  The first is a skills-evaluation component, which is under the direction of Rory Whipple, Head Coach, Florida Southern College.  Covering a series of position, transition, and offensive and defensive drills and scrimmages, leading college coaches and professional players including Steve Beville, Head Coach of DIII National Champion SUNY Cortland; Mark Burnham, five-time Iroquois National World Cup team member; Brad Jorgensen, Head Coach, St. Leo College; Bill Bjorness, Head Coach, Hartwick College; and Chris Bluse, MLL goalie with the Chicago Machine, will evaluate each players performance and capabilities.

We are also excited to introduce the innovative concept of performance testing as the second component of our Combine this year, and as an addition to our Player Development System.  Performance testing at the Combine will be lead by nationally-recognized sports conditioning experts, Titus Sports Academy.

As you make your plans to attend this year’s Combine, here are a few points to remember:

1) The Tampa Bay Lacrosse Combine is a first-of-its-kind event and continues as one of the few lacrosse combine events offered in the United States;

2) This year’s event will incorporate performance testing into the Combine.  For more information about performance testing and a complete description of the Fire’s innovative Player Development System, please click on the link on the Home page;

3) The Combine is open to all competitive lacrosse players interested in receiving high-level state-of-the-art training at the Combine and playing for any of the Fire’s Elite and Select teams in 2010;

4) The Combine will consist of Saturday (Dec. 5th) morning and afternoon sessions and two Sunday (Dec. 6th) sessions;

5) For more in-depth details about the Combine and to complete the Registration and payment process, please click on the Combine link on the Home page.  The registration deadline is December 1st, 2009.

Finally, every year we receive many calls from disappointed parents and players that did not receive our Combine invitation or were unaware of our annual event.  So please help our lacrosse community by sharing this information to any and all families that you think may be interested.  Better they should know than to have to wait another whole year!