By Stacy Case
For those who may be newcomers to the fastest game on two feet, the time to sign up for the Parkland Redhawks Lacrosse is NOW. The recreational league is currently open for online registrations and is ready for another season of great competition.
Although practices don’t get underway until later in January, the game that can yield further opportunities in the lacrosse world is offered right here at Parkland’s Pine Trails Park.
Sophie Speno, in fact, has firsthand experience on what her very own Redhawks playing days, spanning about eight years, have offered her thus far.
“Redhawks developed a strong foundation for my fundamentals; the program also makes it fun for the players,” says Sophie, who took her recreational talents to play the game at the varsity level on defense at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Ft. Lauderdale as well as for Club Xtreme. Sophie continues, “I started playing at a very young age with girls I still play with in high school and it definitely is one of the reasons we have such great chemistry on and off the field.”
The Redhawks, like many other area youth city-run sports programs, strive to continually bring in a quality coaching staff for all players from whom to learn.
Such can be associated with the expertise that Jan Malecki bestows unto her Redhawks players each season.
“Lacrosse sort of just becomes a way of life because once you start playing the game, it really does become one big family,” says Jan, who suited up on the lacrosse field for several years when she attended Yale University.
“I like to bring a perspective to the sport so that the players can focus on making it fun while giving them an opportunity to play hard.”
Jan, as a Redhawks board member and veteran coach, says that it has become an ever-growing sport in South Florida. While it can offer valuable lessons on the playing field, she continues to do her best to have such lessons translate into real life.
Jan and the Redhawks are expected to host both boys and girls from kindergarten through eighth grade this upcoming season against other teams under the South Florida Youth Lacrosse League umbrella, which extends beyond the county lines.
Even for those who have never touched a lacrosse stick cradled a ball or stepped onto a lacrosse field, the Redhawks offer a free-of-charge preseason clinic for those who have some interest in participating this season but maybe unsure of what the sport entails. The league hosted a clinic last month and is planning another sometime next month as well, in an effort to prepare potential new lacrosse teammates for the upcoming season.
The Redhawks offer play to those as young as U6 through as old as U14, in which Jan plans to once again offer her expert tutelage to the league.
For more info, visit parklandlacrosse.com
