Pro player and coach passes on his knowledge of the game
By: Jim Green
With lacrosse being one of the fastest growing sports in the country, it comes as little surprise that recreational and club opportunities for younger players constantly are springing up.
But for three years, residents of the Hopewell Valley have had an opportunity that is much rarer to learn from an organization spearheaded by an accomplished professional coach and player. Chris Sanderson, formerly a goalie for the Baltimore Thunder and Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League and currently the Wings’ offensive coordinator, has been organizing camps and club teams in Pennington since moving to the area in 2002.
This summer, Sanderson’s organization, True North Lacrosse, has added two new elements to its summer programs: a high school girls club team coached by Pennington School girls coach Brit Munsterteiger and a co-ed "Little Beavers" camp for 5-10 year-olds. In addition, True North will again have club teams for high school boys, 8th-grade boys and 6th-7th-grade boys, as well as separate summer camps for older boys and girls.
"There’s a lot of opportunities to attend lacrosse camps, but we really pride ourselves on tradition with a good teaching background," Sanderson said. "If anyone is interested in developing their skills, I highly recommend they come to our camps or our club."
Sanderson, who coaches the Pennington School’s middle-school boys lacrosse team, certainly has the résumé to back up his confidence. As a goalie at the University of Virginia from 1994-98, he helped the Cavaliers reach two NCAA Final Fours. He then went on to play for the Canadian National Team from 1998-2002 and helped the Baltimore Thunder win the 2001 NLL Champions Cup.
Three years ago, he joined the Wings and moved to Pennington, where he began holding the camps he originated in his native Canada during his college days. Through his collegiate and professional connections, he has enlisted the help of some of the best lacrosse players in the country, including A.J. Shannon of the NLL’s Baltimore Bandits and MLL’s Rochester Rattlers, who will be an instructor at the boys camp.
"What is neat is we have coaches that are dedicated to each team," said Sanderson, who will coach the high school boys club team. "Our mission is more developmental than some of the others that are more a tool for recruiting. We actually take advantage of our practice time to work on player development."
During the summer, the club teams practice twice a week and will compete in four tournaments over five weekends from June through the beginning of July. Registration for the boys teams costs $450, while the fee for the girls team is $350. Tryouts for the teams will be held May 21 at the Pennington School. The 6th-7th-grade boys team will go from 8-8:50 a.m., the 8th-grade team from 9-9:50 a.m., the high school boys from 10-10:50 a.m., and the high school girls from 11-11:50 a.m. There is a $20 tryout fee, and players can register for the tryouts at the organization’s Web Site, www.truenorthlacrosse.com.
The high school boys camp, which will have specialized coaches delivering instruction about each position on the field, is open to boys aged 7-17. The girls camp will be organized by Munsterteiger, who guided the Red Raiders to the 2004 Prep B state championship, and is open to girls aged 7-17. Both camps will run from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. June 27-30 at The Pennington School with a registration fee of $200. The deadline for registering is June 13. The Little Beavers camp will be held 6-7 p.m. on Tuesday nights from May 3-31 (five dates) at Pennington, and the fee is $150. Registration for all the camps can be done on-line.
In order to optimize the level of instruction for each player, True North is putting a limit on the number of players it will accept this summer. The club teams will carry 20 players each, while all the camps except the Little Beavers will carry 50 campers. The Little Beavers will be limited to 25 campers.
For the older camps and the club teams, Sanderson welcomes any experienced players who want to get better, with an eye possibly on playing lacrosse at the collegiate level. While the majority of campers come from the Valley, True North accepts players from surrounding towns, such as Montgomery, Princeton and Lawrence, as well.
"We look for kids who are passionate about the sport and have an interest in improving their game," Sanderson said. "As long as they’re dedicated to getting better as a player, that’s what we’re looking for."
The Little Beavers camp is aimed at children new to the sport. Interested players need only have a stick and sneakers.
"It’s actually a lot of fun," said Sanderson, who will coordinate the camp with Munsterteiger. "You’re going back to basics. With lacrosse, it’s been growing so fast that a lot of time and attention on the fundamentals has been lost. I’m getting players at the high school level who don’t know how to field a groundball properly. It’s neat to work with the young kids, because you can lay the foundation. It gives you a chance to help kids who may have missed out on that."
Sanderson’s goal always is to see as many campers and players as possible someday playing at the collegiate level.
"Our ultimate hope is to have a program that continues to feed itself as we graduate kids into college programs," he said. "Ten of the 13 seniors from last year’s high school team headed into college lacrosse. For us, that’s mission accomplished."

