Hot on the heels of the 3D Florida announcement and our interview with director Mike Ryder, 3d Florida has announced it will launch in the late summer with the 3d Florida Tampa Training Series to be held on four Sundays: August 26, Sept. 9, 16 and 23. The training will be broken into two groups: 5th grade to 8th grade boys and high school-age players.
3d Florida will be led by Mike Ryder, who has deep roots in the region as an experienced coach at the scholastic and collegiate levels.
Ryder, who spent the last three years in Denver as the Director of 3d Colorado, recently returned to Tampa and will continue to lead 3d Lacrosse’s national recruiting offering – the STX Rising Showcase Series – while working to provide training and recruiting opportunities to players in the Tampa Bay Area.
From 2011 to 2013, Ryder was an assistant coach at the University of Tampa under Rory Whipple. After that, he spent two years at IMG Academy, helping build the Ascenders into a national private school powerhouse while working with players from all over the continent.
Ryder, who has experience as both a boys and girls lacrosse coach, intends to use 3d Florida as a way to unify coaches in and around Tampa Bay and collectively raise the level of play at the youth and scholastic levels.
“I’m excited to be back down to the Tampa Bay Area and working to provide athletes here with 3d Lacrosse’s world-class approach to teaching and developing lacrosse players,” said Ryder, who graduated from Salisbury University in 2008 and was a member of the Gulls lacrosse team.
Ryder said 3d Lacrosse’s training and coaching is a great fit for Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota and Pasco counties, all of which have growing numbers of lacrosse players and strong youth organizations.
He plans to begin building 3d Florida teams this fall and heading into 2019.
“The region is ripe with young lacrosse players who want to get better at a faster pace and want to increase their chances of playing at the next level,” Ryder said. “3d Lacrosse does a great job of bringing in the best coaches to help elevate and standardize teaching to maximize results on the field.”
The announcement of 3d Florida follows 3d’s plans to host two new events in the Sunshine State. The Sol Games, a new girls lacrosse tournament, will be held near Orlando on November 17 and 18, followed by the Tropical Thaw, which will be a boys event taking place December 28 to 30.
Anyone interested in learning more about 3d Florida and the opportunity to train and compete is encouraged to fill out the interest form available here: https://3dlacrosse.com/signup/3d-florida-interest-page.
Learn more about the 3d Florida Tampa Training Series at https://3dlacrosse.com/signup/3d-lacrosse-tampa-training-series.