St. Augustine, Florida – The 2009 Heatwave Championships were among the most competitive lacrosse championship events you will come by! Period. Here are the reasons:
24 High School, 7 Middle School, and 3 Women’s teams competed in the 2009 Heatwave Championships. The total of 34 teams nearly doubled the number from 2008 (19 teams) and almost tripled the teams from 2007’s first-year (12 teams). The lacrosse growth in the southeast on the ladies side is truly booming!
The Venue – The ONLY lacrosse park in the south is Landrum Lax Park in Ponte Vedra Beach. It has perfect fields, and is 1 nautical mile from the beach. Its strategic fencing (for lacrosse) and layout provide a great team tent environment and atmosphere.
The Teams – With 34 teams attending and multiple ability brackets, the competitive levels were better than ever and the teams improved as the games were played. Seven middle school and three women’s teams rounded out the field. There is something for everyone there.
The Format – 7-v-7 on a small field (35 yards by 60 yards) with ‘instant clears’ in a tournament format. Plus, this year’s 3-v-3 Championship (sudden victory; single elimination) and the 2nd Annual Braveheart Championship (sudden victory; single elimination), added to the hysteria.
The Location – Ponte Vedra Beach is at a cross-roads. 5 1/2 hours from Atlanta, 4 1/2 hours from Miami, 5 hours from Naples, 2 hours from Orlando, 7 hours from Charlotte. It’s a great place to meet for a weekend tournament and with planning, teams can drive to town or catch a cheapee flight into JAX.
The Intensity – There are a lot of club programs who attended. The sheer intensity of the Maniax playing each other for their own ‘in-house’ bragging rights and the other club programs raising their intensity in that spirit makes the event more ‘college-like’ than other tournaments intensity-wise. Plus having women’s teams there is a big help in showing people ‘how’ to play the game.
Club programs who attended the event included: LaxManiax Elite (4th year club), HOTlanta Lacrosse (3rd year club), SOFLA (4th year club), Team Trident (2nd year club), and Beaches, Planet Lax, Eagles Stix, Copperheads, and LM Lax, all first-year clubs. It was an excellent showing for the teams who made the trip. Other than a 30-minute lightening delay during pool play, the weather cooperated. Scheduling a tournament like this in the morning is key in Florida this time of year.
The tournament was everything it was supposed to be – a lot of competitive action and excitement for players, fans and officials alike.
Middle school teams played well too. The Championship game in the Sawgrass MS bracket was won on a braveheart tie-breaker by CFL 2014. The win avenged CFL ’14’s only loss of the tournament, a 13-10 loss in pool play to Maniax South-Central.
The Atlantic Championship was taken by the Maniax Southeast, after not winning a game in pool play on day #1. The Southeastern FLA girls rallied for two in a row on Sunday and a Championship award!
4-4 Titles were claimed by TFG 11-12 State (Maddy Blakeman, Olivia DiCarlantonio, Taylor McCord – all 15-year olds), and Maniax South-Central (Brenna Pinneke, Ali Williams, Mari Grace Gabrovic) at the Middle School level. Poetic justice for these teams whose championship runs were cut short in the 7-v-7.
Amy Leonard cools off at the HEATwave.
Braveheart titles were won by Emotion Silvestri (Mustangs Lax 2010), and Olivia Blakeman (Maniax South-Central). Silvestri, who plays for the LaxManiax 2010 White team during the summer/fall, chose to put together a team of players from her high school to enter the Heatwave Championships. It was the first major tournament that girls from Mandarin High School, FHSAA District 1 runners up in 2009, had ever participated in.
One of the interesting stats of the event is the goals for vs. goals surrendered number. This is often a great way to show the competitiveness of a tournament. The Heatwave’s winners averaged 11 goals for and losing teams 6.5 goals for. This tells me two things: the games are very competitive and that defense determines who wins them. 6.5 goals on that small of a field over 24 minutes is not very many.
Winning is mostly due to defense, goal keeping and clock management. Less about attack.
The scores were slightly higher on the middle school side, with the point spread closer to 5-goals between the teams on average.
When polled, most members and coaches of other clubs enjoyed the 4-v-4, and Braveheart, Championships and the excitement they brought to the event. Plus, even if your team is not ‘on’, you can still ‘win’ something. Everyone likes to have a chance to win something at the Heatwave!
And they do!
Emotion Silvestri and her goal keeper Amber celebrate her win in the Braveheart Championship.
And the RESULTS:
High School Aged Champions/Runner Ups:
Sawgrass Championship –
Maniax Team Florida Girls 2010 Black
Maniax Team Florida Girls ’11-’12 CFL
Atlantic Championship –
Team Trident Zebra
Maniax Team Florida Girls 2010 White
St. Johns Championship –
Copperheads 2010
Eagles Stix Red
Middle School Aged Champions/Runners Up:
Sawgrass Championship – LaxManiax Central ’14/LaxManiax South-Central
Atlantic Championship – LaxManiax Southeast/Eagles Stix White
All-HEATWAVE Team Selections: Renete Woolsey (TFG 10 Black), Morgan Derner (TFG 10 Black), Madeliene Laschenez (TFG 10 Black), Isabella Franca (SOFLA), Katya Ruszczyk (SOFLA), Katie Kastner (TFG 11-12 Central), Anna Lanpher (TFG 11-12 Central), Haley Bolt (TFG 11-12 Central), Taylor Figura (TFG 10 White), Kaitlin Rooney (TFG 10 White), Ally Williams (South-Central Middle School LaxManiax), Ya Ferucci (South-Central Middle School LaxManiax), Mary Kate O’Sulliva (Southwest Florida Maniax Humid), Kendyl Davidson (Southwest Florida Maniax Humid), Sarah Ragland (North Middle School LaxManiax), Julianne Hanrahan (North Middle Schoo LaxManiax), Mary Umana (Southwest Florida Maniax Heat), Tori Krupa (Southwest Florida Maniax Heat), Margaret Franklin (Southeast Maniax Elite), Jasey Sanders (Southeast Maniax Elite), and more coming soon! Check back as they come in – we will post!