Even the coaching staff began to feel the effects of the 5:55 AM alarm for the 6:15 AM workout this morning. We spent some time last night discussing the importance of the final day though. It has been an intense week, but much of that effort would ultimately be for nought if our final day was anything less than our best effort. As they have done throughout the week, the guys responded well. There was quite a bit of focus during the workout, and we spent much more time stretching and breathing than running through circuits. If we wanted everyone to be able to put their best foot forward for our final two practices and scrimmage, then we needed to put them in the best position to do so. We wanted to make the most of our morning practice today with the high temperature for the day projected to be in the mid-90s by the afternoon. Ryan Boyle came back to work with our guys around nuances for both dodging and defending in our 6v6 systems. It was fun for the team to hear Ryan and Mr. Eckert weigh-in simultaneously about the offense. It is not often that you get two former Ivy League Players of the Year offering their insight on how the team should execute. Again, this much walkthrough will be largely uncharacteristic for us during the season, but it is much easier to do in Arizona than on the snow covered turf at Sprole Field. Sure enough, the thermometer read 92 by the start of afternoon practice, so our decision to go helmet and gloves seemed like the right decision. This final practice offered us the chance to split up and run through positional fundamentals as well as perform a complete review of the curriculum we put in throughout the week. We had spent so much of the week thinking about the big picture that it was a lot of fun to take a step back and think more critically about individual fundamentals. Despite the long week and the soaring temperature, there was a noticeable bounce in the step of the team as they knew they had a big scrimmage that evening. Notre Dame Prep is almost unanimously considered to be the top team in Arizona. Not only have they distanced themselves from in-state competition, they have also gone wire-to-wire with some top teams from the East Coast. We were originally not slated to play Notre Dame, but due to an abrupt cancellation of a previously schedule scrimmage, we were able to arrange an away contest up in Scottsdale against the Saints. It was fun to once again get "off-campus" and head to Scottsdale for an evening scrimmage. The team, and especially the seniors, felt a sense of urgency to begin to "put it all together" in this final event of the trip. Upon arrival at Notre Dame Prep, the guys were certainly impressed with the Saints stadium and the intensity with which Notre Dame was running through their warm-up. Often our guys lose sight of the fact that while we are very much just beginning to get our house in order for the season, in other areas around the country, seasons are well underway. They also often forget how teams from emerging lacrosse areas would love to knock off a team from a more traditional lacrosse area. They got a taste of that Monday night with Salpointe Catholic, and they got that feeling again Thursday evening.
All of the work that the team put forth throughout the week was on display from the outset this evening. They were taking much better shots that were a result of much greater off-ball movement on offense, and they were much more effective defensively as they took better angles to the ball and had more thorough conversations on the backside of the defense. Like in every scrimmage this trip, every player played in the game gaining important experience. While there will be much to clean up and add on to when we return to Lakeville, we left the field on Thursday night having made significant progress as a program. After the game it was an important time to offer a sincere round of thanks. Our guys could have been anywhere this week. They had friends in all sorts of exotic venues having terrific vacations, and they chose to grind it out in Arizona. This sacrifice is certainly not lost on the coaching staff. This week has made our program so much better. An enormous thank you also went out to Mr. Burchfield and Mr. Eckert. Similar to the players, they could have been anywhere else this week. They also have families that they could have been with, families who they do not get to see very often due to the demands of a boarding school schedule. This week was truly a terrific beginning to a new chapter in Hotchkiss Lacrosse, and we cannot wait to get started again on Tuesday.
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Getting up for the 6:15 AM exercise opportunity seemed a little easier for all today. There was also the promise of completed laundry, which our staff managed to do without ruining anyone's clothing. We took some more time with breathing cadences and stretches this morning, and by the conclusion of the workout, our guys seemed ready to start the day. There was quite a bit of pressure riding on practice this morning due to the fact that we would be taking a few hours in the afternoon away from lacrosse as a team. Our morning practices had been mildly inconsistent from start to finish, but the guys rose to meet the challenge this morning. We were up and down the field quite a bit cleaning up the details in our riding and clearing game. We also continued to hit on the finer points of our systems. There were moments when it seemed like many players were experiencing an information of overload, but they soon recovered and found their bearings. Every drill ended with a competition, and the white team came out on top, though there certainly were some disputes over certain calls. There was growing anticipation throughout the morning around our "Off-site Activity" today. The assistant coaches and captains conspired against the rest of the team to keep them guessing what that activity would be. By the time we got on the bus to leave after lunch, our guys thought they might be going to a museum, on a nature walk, or to a copper mine. Needless to say, no one seemed incredibly thrilled by any of these options. Thankfully there was great relief and excitement when we pulled up outside of Stratum Laser Tag in Mesa, Arizona. Stratum claims to be the world's largest technotainment laser tag arena, and with over 13,000 sq. ft. of arena space with certain structures standing over 20 feet high, we had a very difficult time disputing this claim. The guys were randomly sorted into teams for different "missions" that stressed various aspects of team building. At the end the winners received medals, and there was a serious dose of envy experienced by all. While Stratum was certainly a great deal of fun, we did have two scrimmages to return to. Tonight the boys matched up with Newark Academy and Rye Country Day School. Both are routinely strong programs that are well-coached. This year was certainly no exception. We came out of the gates quite effectively in both games, and all the guys received a significant dose of playing time over the course of the evening. Tomorrow will be our last day in Arizona, and we have a great line-up of events. We will of course begin at 6:15 AM, but we also have Ryan Boyle returning to give a dodging to our offense. It is supposed to be over 90 tomorrow, so our afternoon will be lighter. We also have our final scrimmage which will be off-site in Scottsdale, as we travel to play the best team in the state this year, Notre Dame Prep!
Tuesday can always be a difficult day in Arizona. The initial novelty of traveling to play lacrosse has worn off to a certain extent. The end of the week seems very far away, and that second 6:15 AM workout normally involves working through the aches and pains of that full Monday. It is during this tough day that, as a coach, you truly hope your captains and other senior leaders help the team get up and over the wall. We could not have been more content with the way our captains and seniors rose to the occasion. The workout was an even stronger showing than Monday, and there was quite a bit of focus in the classroom at 8:30 AM before that first 9:15 AM practice. We had quite a bit on the agenda that we need to continue to improve upon from the Salpointe game. While there were numerous aspects of our systems that worked quite well Monday night, we had a much greater sense of the details that needed to be cleaned up to continue to make important progress. The morning was spent taking a close look at our settled 6v6 offense and defense. We rarely take a great deal of time out for 6v6. The majority of goals in lacrosse are not usually scored in settled situations, so we do not place a significant portion of our limited time in this area. This is a fairly significant change for many players coming into the program, as they often come from programs where so much of practice focuses on half field scenarios. Much of time thus far this season has been focused on transition, riding, and clearing. A premium has also be placed on special teams. These are the areas where the majority of goals are scored. When we do conduct 6v6, it is usually for the benefit of the defense to get on the same page. At this early stage of the season, we do need to place a greater emphasis on 6v6 as we implement systems. This time is even more crucial this year since many of the systems are new. We still look to maximize reps so 6v6 happens at both ends of the field so there is minimal standing around. The focus from the early morning carried through our two practices, which put us into a strong position going into the evening scrimmage with Groton. We had another beautiful evening for our scrimmage. Groton was a tough physical team that had some considerable talent in key positions. Our guys rose to the occasion and put together some very nice series early in the first half. Both sides of the ball took important steps forward. Since our first practice we have spoken with the team often about taking the long view. Our goal is to be ready to play a tough game against Andover on March 31st. We are certainly looking to have success throughout this process, but the primary goal is to be ready for Game 1. Tonight showed that we are well on our way. Aside from some very critical contributions from upperclassmen returners, there were some important contributions made by some much younger newcomers to the program as well! Overall it was a successful evening on numerous fronts. The boys will be looking ahead to tomorrow, as we have an important morning practice before a little time off in the afternoon in advance of two evening scrimmages.
While that early morning alarm may have been startling to quite a few of the guys, all were ready to go at 6:15 AM for the morning workout. The most important goal of the morning workout is not to be demonic, but rather to get the team up and focused for a very busy day. Much of that time between 6:15 AM and 7:00 AM was spent stretching important muscle groups, breathing in different cadences, and thinking about the day. This way, by the time 9:15 AM practice rolled around, the team had been in the gym, had breakfast, and attended a team meeting. Our morning practice was spent working through pieces of schemes for our team offense and team defense. We were also treated to a great demo by Trilogy CEO Ryan Boyle who worked with our guys on different aspects of the two-man game that are relevant to our offensive systems. The guys definitely enjoyed an outside perspective, and the points made will be extremely helpful as we put in more complex concepts towards the end of the week. It was during this session that the team began to see how larger team systems had been scaffolded into much smaller pieces. Our afternoon practice would be spent putting all of these smaller pieces together in advance of our first scrimmage this evening. It was fun beginning to see both our offense and defense take shape this afternoon. There was a lot of talking that happened sporadically throughout the day, which is certainly not normal at our practices. The guys worked hard to execute all that was being thrown in their direction, and this afternoon was probably one of our most successful of this young season. There was certainly a lot of excitement around getting to match up with somebody else this evening. Salpointe Catholic is a perennial Arizona power from Tucson who is currently undefeated in the first third of their season.
This evening's game was a great first test for our group. They were a big, fast, athletic group that was quite similar to the opponents in our league. The energy that Hotchkiss brought to the table this evening was terrific, and there were aspects of our systems that really clicked at certain points. There were a number of terrific individual performances, but most importantly the guys were supportive of one another and all took advantage of the opportunity to play. We certainly have a very clear understanding of what we need to work on tomorrow, and it will all begin again at 6:15 AM. This post begins with a view of the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, because we spent a significant portion of our day there. Since our team was traveling from all over the country (and the world) to make it to our trip in Arizona, we became incredibly familiar with this oddly designed locale as we waited for everyone to land. The boys took this long and challenging day to begin to bond with one another and catch up after some good time away. Time seemed to pass relatively quickly, and we were on our way to Casa Grande around 2:30 PM. It was a gorgeous day here in Arizona, and the boys seemed to be energized by their surroundings and the expansive nature of the facility. We were given a quick tour as a team, and then guys were able to finally unpack their gear in the locker room and at the hotel. The was certainly an important sense of relief that the long day of travel was over, but no one was fully at ease, since the boys had their final physical fitness test to complete this evening, the timed run. While there seemed to be a great deal of anxiety at the outset, the boys performed very well across the board. We spent the rest of the evening practice shaking out travel legs and dialing in sticks, so that we could jump right into this short though intensive week. The scenery was certainly not a disappointing backdrop either. The evening ended with a final team meeting around 8:50PM where the guys were asked one short, though loaded, question: What is your why? These four short words seem simple enough, but together they create an incredibly loaded and personal question. Each person in the room was required to reflect on this question at the time and for the remainder of the evening. Coming to Arizona was a conscious choice for each and every guy who is here, including coaches, and each person has their own (or should) reason for taking the time to be here. We found it to be incredibly important to privately remind ourselves of our reasons at the outset of the week to really begin to put the season in the correct perspective. The right outlook will be important when the alarm rings at 6:00AM tomorrow morning!
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