I had the privilege of being located near Hatfield, PA where the Philadelphia Wings hold their annual training camps at BucksMont Indoor Sports Complex courtesy of a season ticket-holding fan. I not only got to see good lacrosse (considering it’s training camp) but also had the chance to make many observations and be educated on the Wings specifically.
I spoke with Rocco Granato, the ILWT representative who writes about the Wings. He told me about the Philadelphia Wings fan club and it’s connection with the team. You’ll agree with me, once you read the quote, that this team has a rare and special relationship with its supporters, one of the closest and more personal I’ve ever heard of:
“If you’re a season ticket holder, you’re automatically in the Fan Club. You get to attend every home game, and each season the team sponsors tickets to an away game of the Wings’ choosing. Four team buses lead the way followed by close to one mile worth of
tailgating cars. At the highway off ramp exit, all four buses pull over and allow the cars to pass. The last car honks its horn, and the buses fall back in line. They’ve got their fans’ backs”
Quite literally, they’ve got their backs. That’s how close these players are to their fans, and how much they respect their loyalty.
Another spectator at the 8am Saturday morning practice was Austin, a 13 year old laxer from Cherry Hill, NJ. He made his dad drive him an hour or so out to the practice (good job, Austin!):
“Even though it’s just practice, they’re diving in the crease and missing a lot of shots. That can turn into a lot of crease penalties if they make it a habit.”
If there’s one thing the Wings will have for certain this season, it will be aggressiveness. Consecutively, three players had to come off the field and head to the locker room for new shafts and heads. The third player to come off the field was quite frustrated:
“Stupid cheap sticks.”
It’s also clear what the coaches felt the team needed to work on in the 6pm Saturday practice session:
“You’re running one dimensional down the turf. Work the defense, make some angles [cuts] and set a hard hip pick.”–Blane Harrison
There are also players who are beginning to stand out to the Wings’ staff:
Jim Milligan: (referring to James Thul) The backhand is nice
Blane Harrison.: Yeah he’s growing on me. He’s like a [edited] freight train coming down the field
Tom Hajek?: We gotta use that size.
Jim Milligan: Picks are off
Tom Hajek?: Yeah, you either have guys cutting straight to the goal or looping around picks. No one goes to the ball
Blane Harrison: Maybe we work on timing then. (implying the players will fall onto the same page while working on it)
Finally, I got a quick word with AJ Masson about his experience in Philadelphia: Grew up a Rock fan so there’s the obvious rivalry. Then my roommate in college was from Philly. I like it here so far.”
An awesome feature of the practice facility is that the “glass” (boards) are see-through from the floor to the 8-10 foot height standard. Any ground balls being fought over were clearly visible the entire time.
With that, I noticed when many balls were loose against the pane, defending players were pushing high which allowed the offenders to snatch the ball off the ground. I believe it would be beneficial for the defenders to hit a little lower and really shove the opponent
off balance.
This was a quick glance into Wings Training Camp; hope you enjoyed!
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