When Team USBOXLA steps onto the floor at the Poirier Sports Centre next month, not only will the group feature some of the top pee wee, bantam and midget box lacrosse players currently competing in the country, they’ll also be sporting an elite coaching staff as well.

For the second straight summer, Team USBOXLA will be participating in the Trevor Wingrove Memorial Tournament in Coquitlam, British Columbia. In recent weeks, Team USBOXLA rosters and their upcoming schedules were announced.

This year’s Team USBOXLA  bench staff includes an array of instructors who have coached at the grassroots, high school, junior, professional, and even international levels in both box and field lacrosse. The 2017 Wingrove coaches include: Elliot Bender, Aime Caines, Roy Colsey, Allie George, Ben Prepchuk, Shaydon Santos and Kyle Sorensen.

“We really want to provide our players with the best coaching and instruction we possibly can,” said Santos, who in addition to serving on this year’s staff, is also the association’s co-founder alongside University of Denver Associate Head Coach Matt Brown. “I feel this year’s coaching staff provides these elite players with some of today’s most experienced and educated box lacrosse instructors in the US or even Canada.”

Caines, Colsey, Prepchuk, Santos and Sorensen are all former National Lacrosse League players, who since retiring from professional lacrosse, have dedicated themselves to growing the grassroots level of the sport.

Like this year’s Team USBOXLA rosters, which will showcase 60 players from 14 different states, the coaching staff will also be coming to Coquitlam from all over the country. In fact, one will already be in the city when the Wingrove gets going.

Bender (Cali*Lax ALL-STARS) and George (Bucktown Lacrosse), who were integral members of last year’s Team USBOXLA staff, are considered two of the country’s top youth box lacrosse teachers. “Elliot and Allie have both developed into top box coaches in the US,” said Santos. “The work they do has been integral to our growth at the grassroots level in this country, and now they’re impacting our national program as well. ”

Prepchuk coached last year’s U18 team during the #bctour and is presently growing the box lacrosse population in Phoenix through USBOXLA member the Arizona Outlaws. Cains and Colsey, who are coaching the national program for the first time, are doing the same in Minnesota (True Minnesota) and Connecticut (Superstar Lacrosse) respectively.

Currently a scout with the Vancouver Stealth, Sorensen had previously captained and coached (defensive coach) the Stealth. He also presently serves as an assistant coach for the Coquitlam Adanacs, a Canadian Junior ‘A’ power that has recently dominated the BCJALL landscape, last year winning the Minto Cup.

Team USBOXLA opens their Wingrove schedule when the Midgets play host Coquitlam on June 9 at 9am (PT). Click or tap here to see Team USBOXLA’s full opening round schedule.

Photos: Shaydon Santos by Sherri Thomson and Aime Caines by Jeremy Garcia