New season, different helmets and a fresh game plan. This season the new boys’ lacrosse team is hoping to have a successful season under Coach Ryan Richardson.
Richardson has had ample experience coaching at the high school level, with nine years coaching under his belt, six as an assistant coach and three as a head coach, starting off at WS under Scott Setter from 2008-2010.
He also played in high school and college, playing in upstate New York at Homer High School and later at Lynchburg College in Virginia.
This season, Richardson has already to begun to make changes, taking an unusually large amount of players onto the varsity squad.
This large team may be a response to a new substitution rule, changing to a substitution method similar to the fast paced subbing of hockey, but Richardson also wants to build the future.
He plans on getting players into the program early to develop them into quality players for years to come.
“We want to build depth and keep guys in the program as much as possible,” said Richardson.
Along with building the program in the future, Richardson wants to instill good fundamentals in the players early on. Richardson believes that the basics are crucial and necessary to practice and master. If players begin to struggle, it can be attributed to lack of focus on fundamental skills that often get glossed over.
“We want to teach [the players] from the ground up… [and] teach them as much as possible,” said Richardson.
The focus on basics is a key process to make players that fully fit into their system. From the foundation of the basics taught early in the season, Richardson is able to create the type of players he wants on his team.
Players have responded well to the new coaching system that Richardson looks to introduce, buying into his focus on getting back to the essentials.
“We have a lot of young players, so it’s good we focus on the fundamentals,” said senior captain John Ide.
To go along with the high amount of young players comes a lot of inexperience.
Seniors must help the new coaching staff in leading and assisting the underclassmen throughout the season. His skill and ability to work with the younger players is easily recognized.
“He’s patient… like really patient,” said Ide.