Philadelphia hosts national lacrosse convention

Philadelphia may be home to the constitution, cheesesteaks and Ben Franklin, but this weekend the City of Brotherly Love will also be the temporary home for Lacrosse. The 2012 National US Lacrosse Convention begins today and will bring together players, officials and fans from all over the country.

The conference, which is located at the Convention Center, will feature training clinics, physical education workshops and a fan fest.

The keynote speaker for the conference will be former professional football coach and Eagle’s cornerback Herm Edwards. His talk on Friday night will be followed Major League Lacrosse’s Collegiate Draft at 8:30 p.m.

On Saturday, the Philadelphia Wings will take on The Rochester Knighthawks in the season opener of the MLL season.

Among the expected speakers for the conference is Kelly Amonte, the head women’s lacrosse coach at Northwestern, whose team has won six of the last seven national championships.

Other speakers include Ricky Fried, head coach of the U.S. Women’s National team, Jim Berkman, the head coach at Salisbury University and all-time lacrosse coach in NCAA history and Gregory Dale, Director of Sports Psychology and Leadership at Duke University.