Lacrosse's SpringFling draws best college, high school players

By Jodie Wagner

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

WELLINGTON-- — In South Florida, Major League Baseball players aren't the only athletes who take part in spring training.

For three weeks each March, hundreds of women's lacrosse players come to Wellington's Village Park to participate in SpringFling, an annual event that draws the country's top college and high school teams.

"SpringFling is a spring training site for collegiate and prep school women's lacrosse teams," SpringFling director Gene DeLorenzo said. "It's an opportunity for these teams to take advantage of their spring break opportunities and travel to a warm weather site and play their sport."

Through March 29, 113 collegiate and secondary schools — an all-time high for the 10-year-old event — and 12 prep schools will practice and compete in officially sanctioned lacrosse games.

Among those scheduled to participate are three of the country's top-ranked NCAA Division I teams (Dartmouth College, University of Notre Dame and Loyola University) and two of the top Division III squads (Middlebury College and Salisbury University).

Also competing will be NCAA heavyweights George Washington University and Colgate University and 12 high school teams, including four from Florida (Wellington High School, Vero Beach High School, St. Andrew's School and St. Edward's School).

"We have the gamut (of teams)," DeLorenzo said. "We'll have teams here that are in the Top 10 in the nation in Division I. We'll have Division III teams that are just beginning. The high school teams that are here are very good."

Wellington, coached by Dave Blouin, is one of them.

The Wolverines, who took part in SpringFling last year, won Florida State championships in 2002 and 2004 and are expected to challenge for a third title this season.

"We're off to a great start," said Blouin, whose team is 8-1 after nine games. "I think this team is looking good."

Just how good might be determined by the Wolverines' performance at SpringFling, which began March 6.

"It's just an absolute tremendous amount of experience," Blouin said. "They're playing teams that are from the Northeast and from Colorado. These are all highly ranked teams. Their skill level is very high, their field presence (too). They're going to gain a tremendous amount of playing experience."

They'll also earn college exposure.

For high school players who aspire to compete in college, SpringFling provides an opportunity for them to preview their options.

"They'll see some of the best teams in the country," DeLorenzo said. "They'll see the best officials in the country. They'll see the game played at a high level. They'll also have an opportunity to see colleges and universities that the students might be aspiring to."

For that, DeLorenzo has the Palm Beach County Sports Commission, the village of Wellington and the Florida Sports Foundation to thank.

The organizations joined together to bring SpringFling to Wellington three years ago following a seven-year stay in Panama City Beach.

"Wellington offered us better weather," DeLorenzo said. "Palm Beach County offered us better infrastructure relative to ground travel, air travel, support from the Palm Beach County Sports Commission, support from the village of Wellington, support from the Florida Sports Foundation. It was just all-in-all a better environment and a better situation for us."