(PARIS, FRANCE) I would like to thank everyone at the FIL that funded my trip and gave me the great opportunity and privilege of growing the game of lacrosse in France. Additionally, I want to extend my sincerest gratitude to the members of the Paris Lacrosse Club, for their gracious hospitality and the great honor of directing the clinics in France July 11-13, 2009. Throughout the weekend there was a conscious spirit permeating the clinics leading everyone to feel that they were playing a role in building something special. My partner, James (Jim) Johnson, best described it as “surreal.” It was more than appropriate that these clinics take place on Bastille Day, France’s biggest national holiday.

I don’t think I could have had a more capable partner then Jim Johnson. He showed incredible leadership throughout the week. Jim did an incredible job with lacrosse specific instruction over the course of the clinic, but perhaps even more important, was his ability to apply his professional expertise in consulting to the Paris Lacrosse Club. The afternoon before the first session, Jim and I met with two members (Lee Sullivan and Louis Bondaz) of the Paris Lacrosse Club, we discussed expectations for the clinic and got a general sense of where the club was from an talent as well as organizational development standpoint.

That night I had dinner with Jim and we set three goals for the clinic; naturally, we first, wanted to deliver a professional, well run clinic that would provide the French club with the physical development they were looking for. Second, Jim and I wanted to acquire as much information as well could to provide them with an assessment of their club as well as some simple suggestions moving forward from an organizational standpoint. Lastly, with the World Games on the horizon, we were very intentional about fostering a sense of national pride, while emphasizing that from a historical perspective we were all participating in something very special.

—Kevin Dugan & James Johnson, FIL Clinicians