The practices start on Wednesday night for PeeWee, Bantam, and Midget teams.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Jr. Knighthawks will hold their first practices on Wednesday, August 3rd at Total Sports Experience in East Rochester. That evening, the PeeWee, Bantam and Midget teams will start preparing for the fourth annual Jr. NLL Tournament.
The practices will be under the direction of defenseman Mike Manley, who said he takes a lot of pride in teaching local kids the game of box lacrosse.
“For me, it’s an honor because I grew up playing in Penn Yan. Back in the day, they had some Knighthawks come down and teach us the ropes and demonstrate their abilities,” he said. “It’s awesome to be able to give back to the community and give back to the next generation, and, hopefully, some future Knighthawks.”
The road to the Jr. NLL Tournament begins on Wednesday. The PeeWee team practice session will start at 6:00 p.m., which will be followed by the Bantams at 7:00 p.m. and the Midgets at 8:00 p.m. The second and third practice sessions are scheduled for Wednesday, August 10th and Wednesday, August 17th at TSE at 435 West Commercial Street.
The following week, the three teams will travel to Oakville, Ontario to play in the league’s most prestigious youth event. The tournament, scheduled from Friday, August 26th to Sunday, August 28th, features junior teams from other NLL markets like Buffalo, New England, Colorado, Toronto, Vancouver, Saskatchewan and Georgia.
The Jr. Knighthawks teams will be coached by current Knighthawks players and members of the coaching staff. Already confirmed to coach are former Knighthawks star Mike Accursi, and Knighthawks defensemen Derek Searle and Brad Gillies. The Jr. Knighthawks will participate in the NLL sponsored tournament, which will be played using NLL rules.
“I am very excited to really start to teach the fundamentals of the box game,” said Gillies. “Getting them into a practice situation will make it a lot easier to develop their box skills.”
To follow the Jr. Knighthawks journey to the Jr. NLL Tournament, parents and fans can go online to www.knighthawks.com/jr-knighthawks.
For more information, please call the Knighthawks Office at (585) 454-4295.