REPLAY: JUNE 2023
About the Author
I'm Ricky Reyes, the new owner and director of the Carolina Lacrosse Association (CLA), and I'm excited to use REPLAY as a platform to share what we’ve been up to over at Team Carolina and the Carolina Lacrosse Association.
COMING UP: TRYOUTS FOR TEAM CAROLINA
REPLAY: TC SUMMER 2023
The Summer 2023 travel season has officially come to a close and it’s been great to have some time to reflect on the last 9 weeks. It was such a blast to be able to work with all of our Team Carolina guys (11 total teams) and all of our regional select teams (11 total teams between boys and girls) and we’re fortunate as a staff to have such great families and athletes who not only show up and put in the work each day but have also bought into the long-term vision we have as a club.
At Team Carolina, our ultimate mission is to build leaders to be their best when it matters most and I have full faith and confidence we have the coaches, leadership and culture in place to make that a reality.
Before I get into it, we want to extend a HUGE congratulations to TC 2026 midfielder, Jaxson Smithers, on earning a spot on the prestigious All-American South team after impressing the entire coaching staff at tryouts in Tampa, Florida. Way to go Jaxson!
Over the last 9 weeks, our 11 Team Carolina teams trained 3x a week, participated in weekly speed training with Performance Unlimited and had weekly positional training before practice with guys like:
Jake Phaup (PLL Cannons & Former All-American FOGO at Syracuse)
Dylan Bedell (Current FOGO at Marist College)
Tyler Campbell (Current FOGO at Wesleyan College)
Austin Leonard (Former All-Conference Midfielder at Queens University)
Jack Tenzer (Current Midfielder at Connecticut College)
Tate Boyce (Former PLL Atlas Goalie and Former All-American Goalie at Providence)
Andrew Miller (Current Goalie at Lynchburg University)
Thomas Sullivan (All-American Goalie at Belmont Abbey College)
Gage Turner (Current Goalie at Queens University of Charlotte)
Kevin Gowin (Assistant Coach at Charlotte Latin & Former Syracuse Defenseman)
Drew Tenzer (Current Defenseman at University of Richmond)
Payton Leonard (Former All-American Defenseman at Catawba College)
We also had our guys compete in a variety of tournaments throughout the summer from here locally in the Charlotte area, a few up in Maryland and Delaware and even some over in Denver and Vail, Colorado! We wanted to do our best to make sure our guys were playing a variety of teams from different places and it was great so see our guys compete at a high level at each event.
The events we participated in this Summer were:
SweetLax Summer Invitational by SweetLax in Frederica, DE
National Showcase Championship by Millon in Baltimore, MD
Summer Invitational by Adrenaline in Frederica, DE
Denver Shootout by 3STEP in Denver, CO
Vail Lacrosse Shootout by Adrenaline in Vail, CO
Lake Norman Lacrosse Classic by Carpetbaggers in Huntersville, NC
Carolina Shootout by NXT in Mooresville, NC
Big South Summer Classic by CLT Tournaments here in Charlotte, NC
Summer Getaway by Aloha up in Maryland
Summer Celebration by Capital Lacrosse in Williamsburg, VA
Legends Eastern Invitational by Legends in Richmond, VA
Asheville Summer Classic by Carpetbaggers in Asheville, NC
Every event was well-run, showcased a variety of different teams and appreciated the level of competition offered. There were weekends where our guys were holding up the Championship trophy and there were also games where we got kicked around a bit but both of those moments are critical in a players development.
The best games of the summer had to be some of the most intense ones we had including a tough OT loss to the Carolina Miners, a big OT win in the championship against the ‘Ville in Maryland and a crazy come-from-behind win against 3D Colorado in OT after being down a few goals in the closing minutes.
Across the board, we had such a fun summer and the guys developed both their skills on the field as well as their friendships off the field. We had some really cool experiences that we were able to roll out this summer such as our Summer Team Camp for our Youth teams, the Colorado and Mid-Atlantic Tours (read more below) and even having our young gun 2032s play at the halftime game of the PLL game!
A big shoutout goes to our families, specifically all of our team managers who helped coordinate so many great team events, outings and dinners for our guys.
REPLAY: TC SUMMER TOURS
If you have been following us at all on Instagram or Facebook this summer, you would have seen some pretty incredible behind-the-scenes action with some of our teams as they traveled to unique places and participated in some epic experiences in the form of the Colorado Tour and Mid-Atlantic Tour.
We strive to not only build leaders to be their best when it matters most but to elevate the player experience at Team Carolina. What truly sets us apart is not just the coaching or the on-the-field experience but our focus on making their time with us to be some of their most memorable moments in their lives.
2027 Colorado Tour
Each year, our 8th grade group ends the summer with the Colorado Tour almost serving as a “rite of passage” from middle school to high school. This year, our 2027s were able to embark on this once-in-a-lifetime experience and it was truly phenomenal.
They started off the week charter busing up to Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, NC — which, by the way, is one of the most beautiful campus’ we’ve ever seen. The team and their coaches stayed overnight for three days in the college dorms, ate in the dining halls, used their locker rooms and practiced on their fields throughout the week. We surprised them with a new uniform set specific to the Colorado trip and unveiled it in the locker room — their reactions were priceless.
It was such a cool experience for these guys to be able to spend quality time together disconnected from the outside world (no phones/no parents). Coach Dan McMahon, Coach Austin Leonard and Coach Gage Turner made the most out of the experience with them and tied in the perfect balance of team building and letting the kids be kids.
After camp, they flew out to Denver, Colorado to compete at the Denver Shootout where they ultimately took home the Championship and had the opportunity to play against teams from the Mid-West and West Coast. We appreciated the flexibility that 3STEP, the tournament organizers, provided in ensuring our guys would minimize the chances they played the same teams at their next event over at the Vail Shootout which would be the team’s final destination after Denver.
In their downtime, the families, coaches and players visited Red Rocks, went on hikes, ate some delicious foods and even found time to white water raft together. They hung out in one of the most beautiful condo-communities I had ever seen (stream flowing through their backyards) and were walking distance from each other the whole time.
They rounded out their Colorado tour competing at the Vail Lacrosse Shootout where they finished 3-3 and played some incredible competition.
2025 and 2026 Mid-Atlantic Tour
This year, we created the Mid-Atlantic Tour (MAT) in an effort to not only provide one of the most unique experiences offered in the club lacrosse world but to do our best to help minimize the expenses on the families end.
We learned that traveling up north to where all the major recruiting events were had cost an incredible amount of money and time. Through the MAT, the families saved on expenses by allowing their sons to be transported by Charter Bus from Charlotte, NC to Maryland/Delaware and staying overnight in college dorms and eating at the dining halls instead of driving/flying up there and grabbing hotels, rental cars, and food for the entire family.
The guys kicked off their 10-day trip getting picked up from our CLA office in Pineville and traveling up the the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. They practiced that evening on their fields and stayed overnight in the dorms for four nights with our 2025 and 2026 coaching staff along with Coach Josh Schwartz (Assistant at Christ School and Former Assistant at Catawba College) and Coach Jake Phaup (Former Assistant at Cabrini University and current PLL Cannons FOGO). Once they got to UMBC the first night, we also surprised them with a brand new uniform set and was so awesome to see their genuine excitement.
They competed at the prestigious National Showcase Championships by Millon where they played some of the top teams in the country. The place was covered with college coaches at every field and the event experience was great.
On that Monday, we were able to surprise the team with a trip to Washington D.C. to catch a Nationals vs Cardinals baseball game. It was a really great way to spend the off-day and the whole staff and team had a blast.
Before they left UMBC, they had the opportunity to tour the campus and its facilities from their weight room, locker room and everything in between. After they loaded back onto the bus on Tuesday, they stopped at Johns Hopkins and Washington College to continue to get an idea of what the college experience is like and what is offered at all different levels of the game. They would eventually make their way to the University of Delaware which they would call home for the next five days.
That Wednesday/Thursday, the team went on to compete at another high-exposure event in the Adrenaline Summer Invitational. Again, they faced some of the top teams in the country in front of numerous college coaches.
On Friday, the guys were able to learn more about the University of Delaware and had the opportunity to practice on their fields before spending the day down at Rehoboth Beach where the guys had a mini-lax tournament, spikeball tournament and just spent time together as a team.
This past Saturday and Sunday, they finished out their tour and their summer at the Sweetlax Summer Invitational which is considered one of the top recruiting events in the country. The event was well run and our guys were able to compete with incredible programs from all over the country including the #1 team by USCLUBLax.
Like I mentioned earlier, we strive to elevate the player experience. It’s creative events like this that, we believe, leave such a lasting impact on players. The wins are great and the losses stink but everything they did in between — running around in the dorms, sleeping in shared suites with their best friends, playing basketball and spikeball, beating up the coaches in NHL on xbox, experiencing dining hall food and traveling by bus to their tournaments are moments these kids will remember forever.
At the end of the day, lacrosse is meant to be a tool/resource used to enhance the growth of an individual. There’s an expiration date on how long our guys get to experience this game at a high level. They’ll never remember the wins or losses but what will stay with them forever are the relationships formed, the lessons learned and the incredibly fun memories that they shared together.
We’re really excited about the future of Team Carolina and hope you’ll be out at our tryout mini-camp this summer.
REPLAY: CLA SELECT TEAMS
This Summer, we were excited to launch boys select teams in the West Lake and South Charlotte as well as boys and girls select teams in York County. Between all three regions, we were able to field 11 teams across youth and high school! The mission behind our regional select teams are to offer a high-level experience with quality coaching at a fraction of the cost and time commitment.
After the conclusion of our Spring Rec seasons for boys and girls, we realized there was a big problem — lack of opportunities for newer players to play more. Most of the travel clubs, ours included, have been structured in a way that only tailored to the A and B level players when in reality there are a ton of players out there who want to experience something similar without the year-round commitment. In response to this, we offered a 4-5 week team experience where programs had a dedicated director and coaching staff, practiced 2x a week and played in two tournaments.
We’re excited to announce that we will continue to provide these select team options for the region and excited to see us continue the positive momentum into the Fall. If you are interested in elevating your game with quality coaching and compete in tournaments without the year-round commitment, you can fill out a free interest form below for your specific region:
York County Grizzlies Interest Form (Based in Fort Mill, SC)
York County Lady Tomahawks Interest Form (Based in Fort Mill, SC)
West Lake Select Interest Form (Based in Huntersville, NC)
South Charlotte Select Interest Form (Based in Pineville, NC)
THANK YOU all for spending the time to read this month’s edition of REPLAY. Ive truly enjoyed the opportunity to write about what we have been up to here at Team Carolina and the Carolina Lacrosse Association and hope to continue to share more and more with you all, whether you’re a member of our club, participate in our trainings or just a fan of the game.
Big things coming to Team Carolina and the CLA! Stay tuned for our next edition of REPLAY where we’ll cover some of our Summer Trainings, Camps and our Tryout Mini-Camp.
If you need anything or have any feedback, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at ricky@lacrosseteamcarolina.com.
— Ricky Reyes