Oct. 29, 2015
Irish fans: University of Notre Dame women’s lacrosse is coming to a town near you this winter! Head coach Christine Halfpenny and her staff are heading to Greenfield, Massachusetts, (December 6) and Atlanta, Georgia, (December 19-20) for their annual Attack the Pipes Girl’s Lacrosse Camp. The program will also host a “Fall Fright Fest” clinic on Nov. 1 at Arlotta Stadium.
“Our staff is excited to travel â⒬‹outside our region to continue to grow the game,” said Halfpenny. “Having the opportunity to offer â⒬‹young players a chance to â⒬‹improve their skill set with innovative and creative ideasâ⒬‹â⒬‹ â⒬‹while learning strategy from some of the best coaches in the country is really rewardingâ⒬‹â⒬‹.”
“Our staff takes great pride in our career as teachers of the sport of lacrosse.â⒬‹ We have the opportunity to foster an incredibly fun learning environment every time we host a clinic or camp. Our goal is that our campers leave our events with new ideas, techniques, and strategy that they can build on and put into practice as they aspire to take their game to the next level.â⒬‹”
The Fall Fright Fest 5v5 tournament and clinic will take place on Nov. 1 on the Notre Dame campus. Open for high school (grades 9-12) and club team players looking to take their games to the next level, campers will learn from the Irish coaching staff and current student-athletes.
All teams must consist of at least seven players (including a goalie) and cannot have more than 10 members. Individuals will be placed on a house team comprised of other individual players.
The event will begin at 10 a.m. and run until 3 p.m. at a cost of $100 per player when signing up with a team or $125 as an individual. The registration fee includes lunch and a t-shirt. Registrations should be submitted by Wednesday, October 28th.
The Attack the Pipes clinic in Greenfield, Mass., will take place at Indoor Action Sports on 1385 Bernardston Road, Sunday, Dec. 6. The clinic is made up of two sessions, one that emphasizes individual skills and another that covers situational play. The first session is $70 and the second is $55, or $115 for both. Participants must register and pay online prior to the event.
The first session is on individual skills and runs from 9-11:30 a.m. It’s open to girls of all skill levels that are in grades 7-12. Skills covered during the two-hour, 30-minute session will include shooting, faking, checking, ground balls, stick skills and draw control and will also show participants shooting and faking workouts in addition to wall ball.
Greenfield’s second session emphasizes small-sided situational play and runs from 12:30-2:30 p.m. It will include coaching on man-up and man-down opportunities, team offense and defense and crease offense and defense. This session will also feature a 5-on-5 tournament.
â⒬‹ In addition to the Irish Coaching Staffâ⒬‹â⒬‹, â⒬‹Greenfieldâ⒬‹’s clinic will also feature coaches from UConn, UMass- Lowell, and Bryant.â⒬‹
The second clinic is set for Cambridge High School in Milton, Ga., which is about 30 miles outside of Atlanta, the weekend of Dec. 19-20. There are two options.
– The two-day day camp is $250 per participant and is open to all girls in grades 8-12, with campers being grouped according to skill level.
â⒬‹In addition to the entire Irish coaching staff, the camp has feattured coaches in the past from Duke, Army, Vanderbilt and Kennesaw State. Saturday lunch and a T-Shirt is included.
– Saturday’s session is set to run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with Sunday lasting from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Skills emphasized during the two days will be individual play, small strategy and game-like situations with a camp tournament set to take place Sunday.
– There will also be a separate youth clinic in Georgia on Saturday, Dec. 19, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for second through seventh graders. That clinic is $55 per player and includes a free T-Shirt.
Participants in both clinics should bring their stick, goggles, mouth guard, water bottle and shoes for field turf surface. Goalies should bring all their usual equipment including pads and helmet.
Youth interested in either camp should have a parent or guardian register them at the official Attack The Pipes website atplacrosse.com, which has all forms and information readily available.
Any further questions can be directed to assistant coach Sarah Dalton (sdalton3@nd.edu).
Expectations for the Irish to make it five-for-five in NCAA Championship berths under Halfpenny abound in 2016. Notre Dame returns 11 of its 12 starters from 2015, including four All-Americans in Cortney Fortunato (first-team), Barbara Sullivan (first-team), Alex Dalton (second-team) and Casey Pearsall (third-team). Meanwhile, the Irish add a recruiting class which ranked third in the nation and included three Team USA starters from the recent Under-19 World Championships.