Team Tampa Features Plant High Standouts

PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J. -- Rather than head to one of the sandy and sunny settings on Florida's Gulf Coast, Jack Murray and Charles Barber chose a far less conventional summer weekend.

The two Henry B. Plant High School lacrosse players packed water, energy bars and Gatorade for a trip to Princeton, N.J. to compete in the Tri-State National Summer Festival, an annual event that features the country's best high-school talent.

Team Tampa, a collection of All-Star athletes from Plant, Tampa Jesuit, Pineview and other area schools, finished 12th out of 18 teams in the Rising Senior "A" South bracket for kids under the age of 19. A team of Rising Junior "A" kids also competed, but lost five close games.

Not that the scores mattered.

"A lot of our friends are at the beach, but we love to play lacrosse," Murray said. "You can't play lacrosse in the middle of the day in Florida because it's so hot."

It was difficult to play in sweltering conditions in Central New Jersey, with 95-degree temperatures leaving spectators scrambling for shady areas and fighting off sunburns.

In last Saturday's round robin portion of the tournament, used to determine seeding, Team Tampa faced four teams, two from New York, one from Ohio and one from Maryland, allowing them to witness different styles of play.

That is especially helpful to Barber and Murray, who play in the unsanctioned West Florida Lacrosse League, which isn't yet supported by the Florida High School Athletic Association.

"It's great to see so many different players and levels of talent," Murray said. "The game is so much faster. This is one of the few chances to be in a real competitive situation.

"And being a rising senior, this is one of the last chances you get to play at this level, because there are no guarantees that [a college] coach will come to look at you in Florida."

Both players enter their final year of high school in the fall and relish the opportunity for exposure. While they compete for an IA State Championship, it largely exists as a recreational sport.

The Plant kids share the hope of playing lacrosse at a Division 1 school. In a perfect world, both said they would love to attend The University of Virginia, home of the 2011 National Men's Lacrosse Champions.

"It's a great opportunity and an awesome experience to play in a tournament like this," Murray said. "If you want to be the best, you have to play against the best. I feel we're doing that.

“Everyone has a common goal to get to the next level."