Fire Lacrosse Club

The concept of a "combine" has been around since the early 1960's when professional football teams competing in the National Football Legaue pooled scouting resources and shared basic information in an attempt to save time and money evaluating college players eligible for the annual NFL draft.  The combine idea has evolved somewhat in the years since it was first formed but, as a concept, had been mostly confined to the National Football League until 2007, when the Tampa Bay Fire established the Tampa Bay Lacrosse Combine.

In pioneering the first lacrosse-specific combine in the United States offered at any level, the Fire Lacrosse Club applied the concept to organize the evaluation and selection of lacrosse players interested in competing at the elite level ( U-11/U-13/U-15/U-17/U-19).  Since 2007, our Combine has not only grown in stature and recognition, but is now regarded as one of the most comprehensive lacrosse combines available anywhere. Incorporating performance-based testing and measurement in addition to the standard skills assessment component of the evaluation and selection process into the evaluation process, the Club now records, tracks, and monitors player performance and progress by the coaching staff; and provides feedback to the player and parent as an integral means of assessing development towards individual player goals and objectives. 

All players interested in playing for the Fire Lacrosse Club are expected to participate in and attend their respective area Combine in order to be selected to any of the 2012 teams.

Entering its sixth year, the Fire Lacrosse Combine this year will move to the IMG Lacrosse Academy in Bradenton, with more than 200 prep lacrosse players slated to participate. Scheduled for Dec. 10, 2011, the Fire Lacrosse Combine at IMG Lacrosse Academy is the state’s premier skill evaluation and combine testing event. By moving to the IMG Lacrosse Academy, it will give hundreds of the area’s top players access to the professional-quality fields and facilities at the world-renowned IMG Academies.

“Over the last five years, the Fire Lacrosse Club has been at the forefront of establishing the lacrosse-specific combine concept as the most complete approach to evaluating lacrosse player potential and skill,” said Bill Shatz, Director of the IMG Lacrosse Academy. “With IMG Academies’ Combine360 testing, Total Athlete approach to training and world-class facilities, we believe this year’s Combine event will represent one of the most advanced lacrosse evaluation programs ever offered in the United States.”

Registration is now open for boys of all ability levels (ages 10-18).

The skill evaluation portion will include top lacrosse coaches like Rory Whipple (Head Coach for the University of Tampa and Combine Director), Steve Beville (Head Coach of SUNY Cortland), Bill Bjorness (Head Coach of Hartwick College) and Mark Burnham (Assistant Coach of Iroquois National Team). Skill evaluation will include a series of progressive drills by position that allow the coaching staff to assess level of competency.  Positional drills are followed by transition drills that lead into settled and unsettled situations designed to assess field awareness and game-level IQ.  The drills then transfer to age-specific scrimmaging to determine a player’s ability to produce team-level results in a competitive situation.

The combine testing portion will be delivered by IMG Performance Institute specialists, who created the revolutionary Combine360 platform in accordance with Under Armour. Assessing athleticism, movement and character, the C360 evaluation measures overall athleticism and records sport-specific ability and mental aptitude, nutritional level, ability to communicate and a variety of other performance disciplines allowing athletes of all abilities from across the world to compare their scores.

The 6th Annual 2012 Fire Lacrosse Combine-Florida will be held on Saturday, December 10th, 2011. 

Registration/Check-in will begin at 7:00am on Saturday followed by morning and afternoon skills evaluation sessions.  The Combine will conclude later in the evening with the performance testing session.

The 1st Annual 2012 Rochester Lacrosse Combine will be held on Thursday, December 29, 2011 at Total Sports Experience in Rochester, NY.

Registration/Check-in will begin at 7:00am followed by morning performance testing sessions. The skills and drills portion of the combine will follow immediately after performance testing. The combine will conclude with team scrimmages for evaulation.

The 6th Annual 2012 Fire Lacrosse Combine will be held at the IMG Lacrosse Academy in Bradenton, FL.

The 1st Annual 2012 Rochester Lacrosse Combine will be held at Total Sports Experience in Rochester, NY.

The Combine consists of two (2) distinct components:

1. skills assessment (drills & scrimmages); and
2. performance testing/measurement.

The goal of our performance training/tesing/physical conditioning program is to expand the athletic potential of each player by enhancing overall athleticism.  Relying on the latest in performance training scientific research, our experts have created a uniquely harmonized performance enhancement program that is dedicated to achieving athletic excellence and maximizing athletic potential.

Player performance at each Fire Lacrosse Combine is treated as a component of the Fire's overall Player Development System (PDS) and, therefore, recorded as part of the longitudinal data tracking system.

Click here for details on the Fire's Player Development System (PDS).

Prior to accepting the Head Coach position at Division II University of Tampa, Rory was the men's lacrosse coach at Florida Southern College. Prior to FSC, he was the men’s lacrosse coach at Bryant University (R.I.) for seven seasons, starting the program in 2000 and producing a 75-39 record during that time. Before going to Bryant, Rory was the men’s lacrosse coach at Hartwick College (N.Y.) for 12 years. He took over that program in 1987 and became the most successful coach in the program’s history, producing 10 straight winning seasons and an overall record of 114-65. He took Hartwick to its first NCAA tournament berth in 1995. Prior to taking over the Hartwick program, he coached the Clarkson University (N.Y.) men’s lacrosse team for seven seasons, setting the school record for wins with a 10-5 record in 1986. At the same time, he also was the head wrestling coach at Clarkson. Rory has over 240 NCAA wins.

Steve Beville begins his fourth season as Cortland's men's lacrosse head coach in 2010. He has led the Red Dragons to the NCAA Division III championship game in each of his first three seasons, including a national championship in 2009.  Beville was selected as the 2009 United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division III National Coach of the Year as his team won the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) tournament title and established a new school record for victories during a 19-2 campaign.

Cortland won four NCAA tournament games, capped by a 9-7 victory over Gettysburg in the national title game in Foxborough, Mass.  In 2008, Beville's squad finished 18-2 and won SUNYAC tournament and regular-season titles. The Red Dragons defeated Springfield, Middlebury and Ithaca in the NCAA playoffs before falling to Salisbury in the national title game in Foxborough. 

A native of Syracuse, N.Y., Beville graduated from West Genesee High School in 1981 and went on to enjoy a highly successful playing career at Washington College in Maryland. He was a two-time Division III National Defenseman of the Year and played in three Division III national championship games.

Mark Burnam grew up outside Syracuse New York and played at Henniger High School, where his team won the 1980 New York State Championship and he received team Most Valuable Player.  Attending Syracuse University, he was a member of the 1983 DI National Championship team.  Mark played professional lacrosse for the Buffalo Bandits, Rochester Nighthawks, and Syracuse Smash of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League and played in the Canadian Indoor Lacrosse League for the Tuscarora Thunderhawks and Akwasane Thunder.  He is a five-time member and team captain of the Iroquois World Cup National Team and has been appointed the defensive coach for the Iroquois Nation Team competing in England in 2010.  

Bill Bjorness returns for his 13th year as head coach of the Hartwick College men's lacrosse team.  Over the course of his career at Hartwick, he has piloted the Hawks to six post-season berths in his 11 years as head coach.  In the last two seasons, Bjorness has guided the Hawks to 11 victories and a 6-10 mark in the highly regarded Empire 8 Conference.

Bjorness started his collegiate coaching career as an assistant at Keuka from 1986-88. He then served as an assistant coach at Hartwick from 1989-1991.  After his stint as an assistant at Hartwick, Bjorness moved on to become an assistant at his alma mater, RIT, from 1991-1993.  He then became the defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Dartmouth College from 1994-1998.  With then head coach Rory Whipple, Bjorness helped turn Hartwick's lacrosse program around during those seasons.  When Whipple left Hartwick after the 1998 season, Bjorness took over the controls of the program for his old boss.

While Bjorness was a student at RIT, he was a three-time All-American lacrosse player and a left wing on the ice hockey team that won the national championship in 1983.  As a sophomore, Bjorness led the NCAA in scoring with 86 points and was selected as a first-team All-American in lacrosse.  He was honored as a second-team pick as a junior and returned to the first team as a senior.  The captain of the lacrosse team as a senior for the Tigers, his teams went to the Final Four twice and went to the NCAA Tournament in all four of his seasons (1983-1986), while compiling an overall record of 49-10. Bjorness finished a stellar four-year career with 152 goals and 112 assists. He was honored for his athletic accomplishments when the school inducted him into the Rochester Institute of Technology Sports Hall of Fame on November 13, 1999.

Brad Jorgensen was hired as the first-ever head coach of the Saint Leo University men’s Lacrosse team in January 2005.  Saint Leo fielded a Division II varsity team for the 2005-06 school year after having had a club program for the previous two years, becoming the first, four-year private or public institution in Florida to field a men’s Lacrosse team.  The Lions recorded a 3-9 record in their initial year of competition.  Jorgensen came to SLU from Wheaton College where he was head men’s Lacrosse coach at the Division III school in Norton, Mass. since 1997.  Wheaton tied a program record for most victories (10) in a season in 2004, and hosted its first ever Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) tournament game. Reaching the semifinals of the ECAC tournament for the second time in three years (first time was 2002), Wheaton posted a 10-5 record and was ranked nationally in multiple statistical categories.

Jorgensen led the Lions to an 8-8 record in 2008, setting a new program record for wins in a single season.  Saint Leo also recorded its first-ever post-season win in 2008, as the Lions upset No. 9 ranked Wingate University 8-7 in double overtime to advance to the program's first-ever Deep South Conference Tournament Final.  Saint Leo had the DSC Freshman of the Year for the second consecutive season in 2008, as Gregg Geiss earned the honor and he was joined on the DSC All-Conference Team by four teammates. 

Jorgensen is a 1995 graduate of Springfield College (Mass.) with a bachelor’s degree in movement and sport science. He was a midfielder for four years on the Division II team and was named First Team All-American in 1994 and 1995. Springfield won the NCAA Division II Championship in 1994 and was national runner-up in 1995. Springfield won the ECAC Championship in 1993.

Chris was a three time High School All-American out of Golden High School in Golden, Colorado and was recruited to the University of Colorado where he was a four-year starting goalie for the University of Colorado. He was a four time USILA All- American while playing at CU and 4-time team captain. In 2007, Chris was selected as a goalie by the Chicago Machine in the Major Lacrosse League and has been on the roster in each of the last three years.

Players and parents will have an opportunity to purchase a variety of t-shirts and hats.  There will also be a discount bin for those who would like to add to their vintage wardrobe!!

For the first time this year, we'll be offering a full-line of food (hamburgers, hot dogs, pastries, etc.) and drinks (coffee, soda, water, Gatorade, etc.) at the Combine as a convenience for our players and parents.  Food will be provided by PBJ Food & Vending, a Tampa-based, family-owned food service company.

The fee to participate in the 6th Annual 2012 Fire Lacrosse Combine is $115.  Players attending this year's Combine and selected to any of the 2012 Fire Lacrosse Club teams will receive a $150 discount from their annual membership fee.