by Shelley Marsh for The Florida Times-Union, October 10, 2014
The Ponte Vedra Patriots have a mission: to honor and support Wounded Warrior Project through lacrosse.
Ten percent of every registration for the lacrosse club is directed toward assisting WWP. Founded in July by Dan “Rhino” McAuliffe and Ed Dacanay, the travel club is one of four teams in the country to play and support the organization, an affiliation that came at the request of Adam Silva, WWP’s chief development officer.
The partnership also serves one of the club’s stated goals: “to provide boys and young men the opportunity to develop positive decision-making and leadership development skills through the examples of wounded service members and the game of lacrosse.”
“We want to make sure that we’re teaching character building,” said program director Gigi Dacanay, whose 10-year-old son started playing the game while in kindergarten. “On the back of their jerseys, they each have a character trait: duty, courage, honor, freedom.”
“As a graduate of the Naval Academy, working with the Wounded Warrior Project is kind of natural because I still have a lot of buddies that are still out there,” said Dacanay, also the club’s head coach. “So it’s kind of good bringing it home to these guys, and explaining to them what Wounded Warrior Project’s all about, what the Patriots are all about: developing that character of the kids as well as developing good lacrosse players.
“Really, we’re concentrating more on developing young men of character, and then lacrosse is kind of secondary. But that kind of all rolls together as building an athlete of good character, and that’s what our program’s all about.”
McAuliffe, who has been coaching lacrosse in Ponte Vedra for 11 years, said his love for the game keeps him working with kids.
“It’s almost as much fun to practice as it is to play lacrosse because everybody has a chance to touch the ball, constantly,” said McAuliffe. “It’s not like baseball where you’re in the outfield, waiting for that ball.”
McAuliffe said practice and games involve and challenge all players at all times.
“We do drills and everybody touches the ball. Everybody’s involved in practice,” he said. “The game is the same thing: the transition, constantly, up and down the field, everybody’s part of it. It’s a great game to pass on to these great kids.”
Another club, the Ponte Vedra Riptide Lacrosse Club was also co-founded by McAuliffe with Patti and Vito Lombrado in 2000. The club is a recreation program that teaches fundamentals and playing to locals. It started with third- to eighth-graders and later added Kindergartners and second-graders.
“I like going to the tournaments and scoring goals and playing in the games,” said Eli Bibler, 12, who has been playing lacrosse since third grade.
Teammate Andrew Sledzik agrees, saying “It’s a fun game. I started playing when I was about five. It’s fun because you always get to play different teams. I love playing it. It gets you in shape when you’re on summer break and just sitting around on the couch. My mom played in high school and college, and I wanted to try it.”
Training starts with the Ponte Vedra Lacrosse Club youth clinic for boys in kindergarten through second grade. Boys and girls can participate in the youth clinics in third through eighth grade, where they learn advanced techniques. The PV Patriots’ boys youth travel program features U9, U11, U13, and U15 age groups during fall/winter, spring, and summer sessions. Rising eighth- and ninth-graders enter the PV Possums system in the summer to allow for a continued, seamless program.
“Ponte Vedra lacrosse is united,” said Dacanay. “We work very closely to make the transition seamless.
“Many of the players will go on to play at local high schools. Ponte Vedra High School is the only public school that makes it to the final four, and we’re a feeder program.”
“One of the main reasons for our success and earning a spot in the 2014 Top 50 Lacrosse Programs in the nation is our excellent feeder program and Coach Rhino’s tireless work,” said Tom West, head coach at PVHS.
Last month while competing in their first tournament as “Patriots,” the U13 team finished in second place and the U11 took third place in the Florida Sunshine State championships in Stuart. In November, the team will participate in the 2014 Veterans Cup Invitational, a benefit for Wounded Warrior Project in Palm Coast, Florida’s largest fall lacrosse tournament.
If you’d like to support the Patriots, contact event coordinator Dana Vitulli at dana@pvpatriotslax.com.
