The Varsity Boys Lacrosse team is taking the next step as an athletic program as the 2010 season marks the first year of competition as a Varsity sport.
Established as a club a few years ago, the program will be guided by first year head coach Joe Zmikly, who has previously worked with the wrestling and baseball programs at Oxford.
‘We’re really looking forward to the season and the kids are really pumped up,? he said.
According to Zmikly, this year’s squad has a good mix of veteran players and players who are just starting lacrosse.
‘There are a lot of young guys and some people have never even played before, but there is a lot of experienced guys too,? he said.
Out of the 37 players on this year’s squad, only 14 are returning from last year’s club team.
With such a young squad, Zmikly is going to look towards his Captains, seniors Adam Cook and Derek Stinson, to provide the leadership for the younger and inexperienced players.
‘They bring a lot of leadership and stability. They are the guys that we are going to lean on to set the tone in terms of work ethic,? he said.
He added that seniors David Bousson, Corey Olson and Marcus Villarreal will also be called upon to lead by example in their final season.
‘It’s their last chance to have a season and they are pretty excited about it. They are good kids and there isn’t a bad apple in there,? he said. ‘They work hard and buy into what they are doing.?
The squad also has 12 juniors, eight sophomores and 12 freshmen.
Even with the inexperienced players, everyone is going to have a role on the team and they are working very hard in practice, according to Zmikly.
Zmikly added that the teams biggest strength is going to be their conditioning.
‘We are going to be the best conditioned team out there,? he said. ‘That’s going to be our strength when it comes to the third and fourth quarter. We’ve got an advantage over the other team because we are in better shape because we work harder than they do and we just get after it more,? he said.
He added that he isn’t concerned about wins and losses for this season, but about building a solid foundation for the future of the program.
‘Our main goal is to build a solid, respectable program because it has been a club in the past and we want to go and prove that we belong out there with the legit varsity program,? he said.
Their first game is at home against Heritage High School starting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 31 before taking on West Bloomfield at home on Monday, April 12.