About Us

Burning River Lacrosse was founded in 2005 to provide developmental lacrosse opportunities at all levels (introduction to the game, improvement of skills, national competition and college exposure) to Northern Ohio's lacrosse community.  The company also hosts charity events such as the Fisher House Showcase (home away from homes for military families) and Shorting Cancer (Breast Cancer Research) to raise money and awareness for those in need and to teach participants about their responsibility to reach out and make a difference in the lives of others.

 

Our Values, Beliefs And Team Rules

The ethos of the team is that spirit which inspires athletes to compete. It derives from, and depends upon, the high degrees of commitment, self-sacrifice and mutual trust which together are so essential to the maintenance of morale.

To that end here are our Team Values / Convenant and Team Rules. (Broken Link)

 

Our Story

Burning River started in 2005 with a day after Thanksgiving day camp for High School players (mostly because coach Calleri did not want to travel to Buffalo for Thanksgiving). Total attendance at the camp was 11 players including 2 who were driven down from Detroit because their dad did not want to stay at his in-laws all day.

Since that time we have added Leagues (Summer, Fall and Winter - 6 different divisions from Kindergarden to College), Camps (Advanced Skills, Introduction to lacrosse), Clinics (Defense, Face-Off, Goalie, and Shooting), Travel Teams (6 teams starting in the 5/6 grade), Coaches Clinics (Youth, Middle School and High School) and College Recruiting Nights (High School players).

Our travel teams have seen phenomenal success qualifying for nationals in each of the last six years and winning or reaching the championship game at numerous tournaments. In addition, over 117 of our travel team players have commit to or are playing for over 61 different college programs.

In 2013, over 2,500 players from over 75 different programs attend at least one of our local/national event offerings.

Timeline

  • October 2005 - Wildcat Lacrosse (original name) was founded.
  • Thanksgiving 2005 - First event held. It was a 3 hour skills camp at the Dome in Valley View. We had 11 players in attendance including the 2 sons of a work colleague we convinced to drive down from his in laws in Detroit.
  • December 2005 - Our name changes to Premier Player Lacrosse (PPL) so as not to be tied to one high school program (St. Ignatius Wildcats).
  • July 2006 - Our first travel team offering. We take 1 team (19 players) to the MVP/Rutgers tournament under the Great Lakes Banner (to show more of a regional approach).
  • November 2006 - Our first league offering a 7 week winter indoor league held in North Olmstead. We had four 7th/8th grade teams (39 players) and 6 High School (75 players)
  • January 2007 - Our name changes to Burning River Lacrosse. This was done for several reasons including 1) there was a Premier Players Lacrosse Academy (too close to our name), a desire to have a more regional name that was linked to the Cleveland/Northern Ohio area (Premier Player had no ties to Cleveland/Northern Ohio), and a sense of humor (we were enjoying a Burning River beverage at the time).
  • September 2007 - Our first fall league offering a 7 week indoor league held at the Cleveland Multiplex. We had four 7th/8th grade teams (49 players) and 10 High School (122 players).
  • June 2008 - Our first summer league offering a 7 week outdoor league held at the Rec Center in Broadview Heights. We had six 6th/8th grade teams (119 players) and 8 High School (180 players).
  • December 2008 - Our High School Winter league moves to Cleveland State to accommodate the growth we are seeing. We now have 16 teams with over 225 players from 20 different area high schools.
  • July 2008 - We partner with Bill Pilat ("The Goalie School") to hold his first non-east coast goalie camp at Baldwin Wallace College. the event attracts over 100 goalies from across the United States.
  • July 2008 - Our travel teams win their first tournament (Elite and Rising Star teams win their divisions at the NDP Midwest Cup). The U15 teams finishes 2nd in their division.
  • November 2008 - Our U15 team wins the Presidents Cup Tournament.
  • June 2009 - We open our summer league to 4th to 6th graders for the first time. We have eight teams at the 4th to 8th grade level and 10 at the High School level (375 players).
  • September 2009 - We move our fall league outside to the Fields Complex in Broadview heights. The first league has 250 players (4th grade to High School) from over 60 area schools.
  • November 2009 - We begin hosting coaches gathering where area coaches can get together to discuss how best to grow the game, develop new coaches and officials and develop players to their full potential.
  • January 2010 - Our 2011/Select travel team makes it to the NDP / Tournament of Champions championship game (a 6-4 loss). At the same event, our U15 team finishes 5th and wins the consolation bracket.
  • June 2010 - We begin offering a Fundamental Skills and Shooting Camp to high school players. The camp quickly sells out and participants refer to it as the best thing we have ever offered.
  • July 2010 - Our 2012 / Select team wins their division of the NDP / Atlantic Cup Tournament. Our U15/2014 team reaches the finals and our 2013/rising team reaches the semifinals in their respective divisions.
  • November 2010 - We introduce a College Recruiting Night to help parents and players better understand the college recruiting process and timelines. Over 120 parents and players attend and hear presentations from our staff, parents and players who have been through the process and the coaching staffs of Robert Morris (Division 1) and St. Vincent (Division 3).
  • November 2010 - We split our 4th to 8th grade winter league offering into a Westside and Eastside offerings because of the growth we are experiencing. The combined leagues have players from over 35 schools.
  • January 2011 - Our U15 travel team makes it to the NDP / Tournament of Champions Semifinals. At the same event, our 2012 / Select team finishes 5th and wins the consolation bracket.
  • March 2011 - We partner with Millon Lacrosse Camps because we believe they provide the best overnight instructional camp available. The camps attract 100s of players from 35 different states and countries as far away as Japan, Australia, Singapore and England.
  • July 2011 - Our Select and U15 teams qualify for the NDP / Tournament of Champions.
  • October 2011 - We hold our first college lacrosse showcase. The event includes 6 college teams and raises money for the Stefanie Spielman Fund For Breast Cancer Research. The event raises over $12,000.
  • November 2011 - We partner with John Schiavone and begin offering our Face-Off Clinics. Over 100 local players attend in the first year to learn faceoff technique from one of the countries best.
  • May 2012 - Numerous of our players are honored with the following awards - Defensive MVP of the Ohio State championship game, Academic All American (1), All-American (6) and All Region (34 including 24 - 1st team)
  • June 2012 - Our Elite team win the 2012 MVP tournament. The first time a team from Northern Ohio wins a national recruiting event.
  • May 2012 - Numerous of our players are honored with the following awards - Defensive MVP of the Ohio State championship game, Academic All American (1), All-American (6) and All Region (34 including 24 - 1st team)
  • June 2012 - Our Elite team win the 2012 MVP tournament. The first time a team from Northern Ohio wins a national recruiting event.
  • May 2013 - Numerous of our players are honored with the following awards - Ohio Position Players Of The Year (3), Northern Ohio Player Of The Year (1), Academic All American Award winner (2), All-American Award winners (4), and All Region (39 including 28 - 1st team)
  • June 2013 - Our Elite team repeats as MVP tournament Champions. The first time a team from Northern Ohio has repeated as champions at a national recruiting event.
  • July 2013 - Our Elite Travel team goes undefeated at the SU Shootout and compils a 10 game win streak against national opponents.
  • September 2013 - Dick’s Sporting Goods selects BR Lax as A Top Youth Program. The award is given to only five US youth sports organizations. We are selected because of the success of our efforts to grow lacrosse in NE Ohio and due to the work we have done in the community through our Spielman College Lacrosse (raised $49,000+ for Breast Cancer Research) and Fisher House (raised $300,000+ to support the families of severely wounded an/or ill military service members).

 

Leagues

Burning River offers Summer, Fall and Winter leagues at six divisional levels: Open (High School Seniors / Juniors and College players),U19 (High School Seniors / Juniors), 9th / 10th, 7th / 8th, 5th / 6th, 3rd / 4th and K-2 grade divisions. Full descriptions of our league offering are under the 'League' tab.

 

Travel Teams

Burning River Lacrosse's travel teams have seen phenomenal success qualifying for nationals in each of the last six years and winning or reaching the championship game at numerous tournaments (see AWARDS page). Full descriptions of our travel team offering are under the 'Travel Team' tab.

©2020 Burning River Lacrosse