Creating strong friendships and building chemistry is one of the most important aspects to having a successful team and the boys’ lacrosse is no exception to this goal. With a team that consists of primarily new players to the sport, who are consistently training to improve each and every day, the team is especially focused on community this year.
Sometimes it’s difficult to build a well-rounded team with waves of seniors graduating and having to recruit new players who might have never played the sport before.
“You’ll have teams where they have one to two seniors and you’ll have teams that might have 12 to even 20 seniors,” varsity head coach and English teacher Nicholas Gensheimer said. “When those big classes leave, there’s a big hole to fill.”
This is shown through varsity sophomore Ben Raleigh’s experience as a younger member of the team.
“Before my freshman year, our team had a winning record,” Raleigh said. “This year, a lot of our team is brand new to lacrosse and right now we just want to win.”
With the season being around 10 to 12 weeks, the team makes the most out of building team chemistry and getting to know each other.
“The thing I enjoy most with coaching is watching the development of players,” Gensheimer said. “Someone might come in feeling like they don’t know a lot, and they leave the season feeling confident in themselves and their abilities.”
One of the key players on the team is varsity captain and senior CJ Barlow, who volunteered a couple of years ago to be an emergency goalie and came up big for the team.
“Our starting goalie was injured for the game,” Barlow said. “I never thought I would have to play goalie but the one game I did, we beat Fenton 9-6. The weeks following, I fully switched to goalie. It was the best decision I’ve ever made.”
As the team improves and gains more experience over time, they will continue to get better and become more successful everyday.
“I think we’ll get even better next year and the year after that as we gain more experience, ” Gensheimer said.
Gensheimer also strives to get his players in the right mindset to grow as a team.
“A lot of what we’re doing is getting in a strong mindset,” Gensheimer said. “As long as you’re trying each day and putting effort into every game, you can look back and see the growth you’ve made from day one to where you’re at now.”
