After spending off-season preparing, the lacrosse team is ready to dive into an action-packed, competitive schedule.
“We had morning conditioning workouts, which were very challenging, but we all knew they were going to help prepare us for the season,” Sixth Former Avi Mehl said. “We also practice in the mornings doing wall ball and shooting. The team comes first, but every individual needs to be at their best for the team to reach its greatest potential.”
Even with the season starting, the workouts, conditioning, and high intensity programs will continue for Fords’ lacrosse.
“Coach [Brendan] Dawson gave us the opportunity to have a practice with a Navy SEAL that gave us perspective on what it means to work hard and work as a team. Ever since then, we look at having challenging practices in a different light,” Mehl said. “Our practices are hard but very fun. We do a lot of defensive and offensive drills that get very competitive. How we practice is going to define how we play.”
Another significant addition this season has been in the coaching staff. The coaching staff added Grant Ament ’15, who played collegiately at Penn State University and currently plays professionally.
“We were lucky enough this year to get a new coach, Grant Ament, who is one of the best players in the world. He has been great in giving the players confidence,” Mehl said. “It is nice to have a coach that is currently playing the game so he understands what is going on.”
Coming into the season, the team has high expectations. Sixth Form Captain Teddy Malone knows the entire roster needs to contribute.
“I’d say the team is evenly distributed,” Malone said. “We certainly have many seniors who are going to contribute this year, but we also have some younger guys who will be needing to step up into larger roles.”
As leaders of the team, the Sixth Formers have ambitious goals.
“Obviously, we want to have the best season we can this year. The goal is always to go undefeated and to win the Inter-Ac championship,” Malone said. “However, being a senior, we want to leave Haverford lacrosse better than we found it, which goes well beyond the field.”
The East Coast will always be competitive in terms of lacrosse, and Haverford is in the mix of the best high school teams. Malone singled out a few opponents as the biggest games of the year.
“Some games we will have circled this season are definitely Loyola Blakefield, McDonogh, and Malvern,” Malone said. “They are all good teams that we often play every year. We’ll be ready, though.”
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