IMG Academy Lines Up Its Lacrosse Team

' new lacrosse team is ready to take the field with head coach Bill Shatz. 

The fielding of this team, with players coming from local towns and as far away as Canada, comes on the heels of IMG announcing its intention to , earlier this month. 

Lacrosse has gained popularity in Southwest Florida in recent years. Manatee High School also created a . 

IMG's lacrosse team will debut Shatz's new offensive system, the "DoubleCrosse," created to cause defensive confusion as the offense attempts to score.

“As one of the only academic institutions in the world to offer both box and field training, and integrate player skills development with intensive performance training, we felt that it was a great time to respond to the growing demand from our young athletes and their families to offer an Academy program similar to IMG’s other sports,” Shatz said.

“Now, we have an immensely experienced coaching staff, an exciting philosophy towards player development, a unique offensive system and some extremely talented players joining us. It’s a very exciting time for the IMG Academy lacrosse program.”

Players include senior Ryan Dance, midfielder from Tampa; senior Parker Smith, goalie from Memphis, Tenn.; senior Cody Gray, attacker/midfielder from Lithia, Fla.; junior Sal Trinchetto, attacker from Sarasota; junior Nick Katz, midfielder from Old Tappan, N.J.; Craig Willoughby, defense from Peterborough, Canada; sophomore Tyler Snyder, midfielder from Bradenton; and sophomore Jackson Costello, attacker/midfielder from Tampa.