(September 1, 2012)… The next great American indoor goalie might owe his success to a Canadian. An eager group of high school and college players from the U.S. learned from Rochester Knighthawk and two-time NLL Goalie of the Year Matt Vinc and a cast of veteran box lacrosse coaches and players at the 3d Lacrosse's Box Immersion Camp.

The 85 kids at the four-day clinic were mentored by the likes of 3d Lacrosse founder and CEO Jamie Munro, camp director Dave Jenkins, Knighthawk Pat McCready, Vinc, and former Minnesota Swarm Head Coach Mike Lines. The clinics were held in Niagara-on-the-Lake at the Centennial and the Meridian Credit Union Arenas.

“It has been something new for me just working with Americans in the box game. We were just trying to get their stick skills to the same level as Canadians. What we have seen is their athleticism is there and they are willing to try new things,” said Vinc during an interview with Inside Lacrosse’s Casey Vock. “All the kids worked really hard. If they keep at it, one day we will see a couple of these guys in the pro league.”

Vinc even jumped in the cage to face the young shooters. It was a thrill for the kids to shoot on a goalie who won the 2012 NLL Champion’s Cup, not to mention one who earned 2011 All-World Team goalie honors with the gold-medal winning Canadians at the World Lacrosse Championships. The experience was a change of pace for the perennial NLL All-Star.

“It was a little different. It was great seeing them get really excited trying to score on me. I had a little bit of fun with it. Some of these guys were good shooters. I tried to outsmart them and get them to shoot where I wanted them to,” said Vinc. “It was a good experience. It’s always good to give back. No one shot at my head so I was happy with that.”

Vinc, a St. Catharines native, provided players with a field and box lacrosse perspective having played both at a high level. In the field game, he won gold in 2006 and silver in 2010 with Canada as a long-pole defenseman in the FIL World Lacrosse Championships. In 2006 he was a member of the Rochester Rattlers and in 2010 he played for the Toronto Nationals of Major League Lacrosse. In his college lacrosse days, he was a four-year starter at defense for Canisius and a two-time team captain.

“The think both of the games complement each other very well. A lot of the guys in the pro league now definitely put their time in and played both types of games. I think that makes you a more complete player,” said Vinc. “For Americans to see box lacrosse will not only make them a better box lacrosse player, but a better field lacrosse player as well. In the next era of lacrosse there will be a lot of really good players if people continue to play both sports.”


Story used interviews and facts from Inside Lacrosse story written by Casey Vock.