Hi Everyone!
As we approach our first week of practices and close out our inaugural Winter Program tomorrow. I did want to send out some helpful Lacrosse Media/Channels to follow along and watch the best of the best at the College and Professional ranks. Along with outlining some useful links and explanations behind some of the different ways the sport is played. Spring is by far the busiest time of year for Lacrosse and you have ample amount of options when it comes to taking in and observing the sport. I'm a huge proponent on Visual Reps (Film) and taking what you can see during games and applying it to your workouts, practices, and games. Specifically the little things and intricacies of what players do off ball, the flow of the game, subtle movements/cuts, and what skills these players use to be the best. So please take advantage of the endless hours of game footage available and ask yourself how you can incorporate the skills and IQ to your game...
COLLEGE LACROSSE
The college season (specifically NCAA DI) is by far the most popular among viewership and what moves the needle when it comes to fans. As Coach Joe and I have a soft spot for NCAA DII & DIII games they are a bit trickier to find compared to DI. The professional leagues have made tremendous strides to increase reach and popularity the past decade... but at the end of the day our sport's climax is Memorial Day Weekend where the best four teams in the country will battle for a national championship.
The best subscription for Lacrosse fans without question is ESPN+. Every weekend you will have access to tons of different games ranging from all over the country. It also includes Professional Lacrosse both Field & Box. Every now and then we will get a game a weekend on most cable subscriptions with ESPNU, B1G, ACCN etc. being the big three channels.
We also have College Lacrosse locally to watch live with Nebraska - Lincoln & Creighton having club teams. Along with Midland University in Fremont, NE being an NAIA program.
There are also workarounds to take in games believe me I know how busy our weekends are along with rising costs for subscription services. A sneaky great resource is YouTube... one follow that has been huge for my YouTube viewing is @ModernLacrosse which I'll have linked below. This account posts a majority of the weekends games in a condensed version with highlights instead of watching the whole game if you're in a time crunch. There are thousands of Lacrosse adjacent accounts if you need any recommendations please reach out and I can send over some good ones.
https://plus.espn.comhttps://www.youtube.com/@ModernLacrossePLL (PRO OUTDOOR)
The PLL hosts the best Field Lacrosse players in the world. It is rising in popularity since the two leagues merged a few years ago and is a perfect transition from College Spring to Pro Summer seasons. They are actually hosting an offseason "Sixes" tournament that opens TONIGHT at 4:30 PM on ESPN2/ESPN+. Sixes is a different variation of the sport and the reason Lacrosse will be in the 2028 Olympics. It's a different style compared to the traditional Field Lacrosse we play in high school. It's less players, shorter field, no long poles or face-offs, and much faster and higher scoring. If you've never seen it before it's worth a watch tonight and as the tournament goes on.
NLL (PRO INDOOR)
Also in season right now is the NLL which is the Professional Indoor League (Box). Box Lacrosse is again very different than what we're used to on the Field. This variation takes place on an turf covered ice rink and is extremely fast and much more violent. The physicality with cross checks and moving picks allowed and high pace with a short shot clock and substituting on the fly. It takes very heightened stick skills to play Box since you're dealing with much tighter windows, constant movement, and players always making contact and moving each other around... not to mention a goalie that takes up 95% of the already smaller goal to score on. The NLL is in the middle of there season and you can catch all games on ESPN+ each weekend.
I come from the camp that the best Lacrosse players play both Indoor & Outdoor. They feed off each other and round out the complete player with enhanced skills and Lacrosse IQ.
We live in honestly the golden age of lacrosse content... 10-15 years ago I had to rip streams and search countless corners of the internet to find College and Pro Lacrosse games. Now with TV contracts and enhanced internet and social channels to take in this great sport the video is out there... now is the time to take it all in and amplify your Visual Reps throughout the Spring.
Thanks!
Tyson Svoboda
GretnaLacrosse@gmail.com(402) 690-0670#BeTheStandard #WeTheG 🐉
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