This week we learned of the newest American indoor lacrosse league, Premier Series Lacrosse. ILWT caught up with league founders Larry Fila, Ginny Capicchioni, Patrick Crosby, and Julian Maliszewski to discuss the league.
QUESTION: What exactly is the PSL?
“Premier Series Lacrosse is an entity that is BY Americans FOR Americans TO HONOR of our American Armed Forces.”
Mission Statement: To honor, support and bring awareness to the brave men and women who serve our country in the armed forces and for those who have fought for our FREEDOM and LIBERTY, through the platform of indoor lacrosse.
Q: How did the idea come about tying things in with the military?
We wanted to give back and who better than those who preserve our Freedom and Liberty. Pat coming up with the idea to go in the direction of the military. The charity aspect of how everyone has helped and given so much and to celebrate them.
Q: How long have you been working on this?
We have been working on the concept for a year or so. Officially Est. July 4, 2015.
Q: What kind of players are you expecting to participate?
We except a very strong participation. We expect to bring to together our entire American community of indoor lacrosse through this platform and purpose, and expect to put the highest quality of American box lacrosse athletes out on the floor each event.
Q: What do you expect the reception to be?
The PSL will be a league of Honor and Integrity. We expect the reception to be great. This is a fantastic way to play the game we love in support of a great cause. You can’t talk about the cause without the play, and you can’t talk about the play without talking about the cause. These two are married together.
Q: The idea of the league being nonprofit is a far cry from other American indoor league attempts. What are some other things that make the PSL different?
The PSL is a celebration of the US and its Military. This is bigger than lacrosse.
We let the players know up front that they have to pay their own way. We have three of the founders expecting to play in the league, and they are all paying their own way. If the players cannot make that commitment they cannot participate.
Q: Why do you and your group think you can make American indoor lacrosse successful?
Our culture: “Premier Series Lacrosse is an entity that is BY Americans FOR Americans TO HONOR of our American Armed Forces. It is very unfortunate that the previous leagues have not worked out, as the American Indoor Players have suffered the most. However, with our registration fee and business model, we expect to sustain ourselves for an extensive period of time. Most importantly, EVERY YEAR we are in existence, we are providing awareness of our own people and their service, a strong fabric of our culture. So our stance on the problems and failures that have incurred in American indoor lacrosse—“Premier Series Lacrosse plans to move with purpose.”
We are blazing our own trail. This isn’t a comparison to any league out there because we are not like any league out there. This is a player driven league—if we have the number of players we need to run, then we are successful; if we do not get the players, then we are not successful.
Q: The tournament style is akin to the CILL and the ELL; what do you like about that approach?
We can bring together US indoor players from across the country. It’s nice that we are a traveling league. We don’t hold host to one particular market, we try and bring the best possible product to several markets in hope to grow a larger fan base for coming years to draw awareness of the league and the mission and message for which we stand.
Q: Do you hope the high level of competition will help players get looks from leagues like the NLL?
We are looking to grow the US Indoor Culture, and for the players and fans to have a great experience. We look to draw attention from all potential American athletes who are interested in playing in our league.
Q: Where did you come up with the name of PSL?
This took some time, with many ideas, but the group decided on Premier Series Lacrosse.
Q: What does the future hold beyond 2015?
The Future is very BRIGHT, but we are FOCUSED on having a great Fall 2015 season and build on it. We expect to expand extensively without hurting our professionalism and purpose. The more players and divisions that we have, the greater awareness to our US Armed forces, and the higher competition for our players. Who knows what the future holds. We just launched on August the 10th, have generated a good amount of interest. But once the application process leads to the monetary deposit, that’s when we will really see who is committed. It’s a player driven league so the message is strong, our charity is the key, and the celebration of the game we love. Who could ask for more?
