It’s hard to counter the point that lacrosse is one of the fastest growing sports in Colorado. The statement holds true for the country as well, but for the purposes of this weekend, the focus is on Colorado.

It’s no accident that some of the best talent in the game from a national level is heading to the Centennial State to help develop the next generation of stars. And they’re doing it by using the experience they had growing up in the game and trying to apply some of the missing components that will help kids today.

Kylie Ohlmiller is a perfect example.

She grew up in New York, a lacrosse hotbed, but wasn’t a highly recruited prospect coming out of high school. That didn’t stop her from putting together a great career at Stony Brook which carried over to the US National Team. She connected with TJ DeMartino and along with another East Coast legend in Casey Powell will be a part of a three-day youth lacrosse camp aimed at giving middle and high school level kids an opportunity to refine their skills.

“We’ve discovered the holes that are missing with what lacrosse players are doing with their development,” Ohlmiller said. “A lot of what’s out there are some one-off clinics where you go meet the faces of the sport, run through a couple of drills, and a lot of the drills are very similar. These players are just seeing a lot of situations that they’re used to.”

Show up, participate, go home.

That’s the model of these one-off camps that Ohlmiller has seen throughout the country. What the TBD Camp is looking to do is coach the players in a way that develops their strengths of the game and apply the training in a way that the kids can apply it to their individualized workouts once the camp is over.

“If I was back in my younger shoes and I saw something like this where I can go to an event, get high-level reps from great coaching and a professional player and then leave then event with actual controllables and an actual plan that’s programmed to my individual goals and my success and my weaknesses, I think myself and my parents would have been all for that,” she said.

That’s the goal that she’s heading into this weekend with. The camp will take place from March 3 to 5 in Boulder and registration is open to all middle school and high school age kids.

And this is far from a specialized camped aimed at only catering to top-level youth players. All skillsets are welcome because helping kids understand and fall in love with the game is another priority for Ohmiller. It helps that Colorado has become a little bit of a lacrosse hotbed in recent years at both the collegiate and professional levels.

“For Colorado, there is a ton of athletes, just like any area when you have some professional sports to grow up watching and fantasize about playing,” Ohmiller said. “Not only lacrosse is big professional there, but there’s football, basketball, hockey. Seeing lacrosse develop at the youth level from the grassroots, it’s getting those athletes to envision those moments for themselves.”

And all it might to take to spark it, is learning the game from one of the best that the sport offers.

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TBD Lacrosse Registration

Event schedule

Friday March 3
5:00pm-9:00pm
5:00pm-7:00pm: 5th-8th grade Co-Ed
7:00pm-9:00pm: 9th-12th grade Co-ed
Glory Star Athletic Center
5466 County Road 3, Erie, CO 80516
This is a combine event and will be open to anyone who is attending the event.

Saturday March 4
9:00am-1:00pm
9:00am-11:00am: 9th-12th grade Co-ed
11:00am-1:00pm: 5th-8th grade Co-Ed
CU Boulder Indoor Facility
2150 Colorado Avenue, Boulder, CO
Skills and development camp with Guest Kylie Ohlmiller

Sunday March 5
Led by Alivian Jorgensen
Camp Experience with Casey Powell
Only 25-30 spots available, age range 8th grade and older
5:00pm-7:00pm
Glory Star Athletic Center
5466 County Road 3, Erie, CO 80516