Delaney Scores in Pro Lacrosse

A typical weekend for Sean Delaney goes like this: heads out Friday morning or afternoon to any one of six destinations. This week it’s Boston.

There’s practice on Friday night and another Saturday morning. On Saturday night play a game. There might be another practice Sunday morning and then it’s back home.

This is what Delaney does from mid-May to mid-August as a member of the Denver Outlaws of Major League Lacrosse. In addition to Boston and Denver, his sojourns take him to Annapolis, MD, Rochester, NY; Hempstead, NY; and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

He is not playing professional lacrosse for fame or fortune. He plays because he loves it and, when he has a game like Saturday, it is all worthwhile. Delaney scored his first two goals of the season helping the Outlaws improve to 2-0 with an exciting 13-12 victory over the Cannons.  

“There are only six teams in the league so it is extremely competitive,” said Delaney who led Outlaws rookies with nine goals and 13 points last year. “You look around and everybody is an All-American. In college you practiced every day. Here you get together once a week. You have to learn a lot quicker. You have to learn on the fly.”

Delaney began playing lacrosse in fifth grade. In 2006, he was the South Jersey Player of the Year, first team All-State and a High School All-American. From Moorestown High School he went to the University of North Carolina and was third team All-American his junior year and second team his senior year. He was drafted in the second round by the Outlaws, the eighth player selected overall.

“Lacrosse is a small world anyway,” Delaney said. “At North Carolina we played many of the elite college programs and the players getting drafted come from these schools so you’re playing against guys you played against in college. And sometimes that guy you pretty much hated for four years, well, now he might be your teammate.”

What they all represent is an amazing talent pool from which Delaney can draw as he begins his new venture, SD23 Lacrosse, with two camps this summer to be held at the high school. The first, SD23 Lacrosse Camp, will be June 20-23 and is for all players ages 7-17. The second, the Elite Player Positional Camp, will be July 11-13, and is for experienced players, grades 7-12.

“This will be our first year,” said Delaney who also serves as an assistant on Moorestown’s varsity boys’ team. “I always did clinics and private lessons but when I got out of school I formed SD23. It’s going to be locally focused. We’re going to bring the best instruction here.

“We’re going to have World Team players and first team All-Americans as instructors. It is an opportunity to bring guys into South Jersey, guys that I have worked with before, who are not only great players but great teachers too."

Delaney pointed out that the Elite Player Positional Camp will be limited to 30 players for each position. In the past players would have to travel somewhere to attend an advanced level camp.

"Now they're going to be able to get that level of instruction in South Jersey," he said. "We're going to have the best players in the world for their position coming in.

“I’ve had a lot of great experiences playing lacrosse. Hopefully this is way for me to give something back.”