The tough part of participating in the MLL is that schedules are restrictive. Unlike other sports that have athletes paid millions of dollars to dedicate their lives 24/7 to their game, lacrosse players squeeze in practices on the weekends in between full time jobs.
Practices usually take place at a local high school facility. Teams don’t have the advantage of learning their home field or playing a schedule that is convenient to them.
The New York Lizards gathered as a team on Saturday, had a daytime team meeting, held a clinic for youth players, and then held a team practice late into the evening.
Players got what rest they could (luckily for Lizards players, the majority of the roster lives locally in Long Island/NYC, getting to sleep at home) and hit a new field at 11am Sunday. This time, they were at MacArthur High School in Levittown, NY.
All lacrosse stretches are pretty universal, so let’s get right down to the bulk of it. Line drills to warm up the players. Then, shooting drills for all attack and midfielders while defense and goalies performed different slides and transitions with a ghost offense.
Next came the match ups, 1v1s, 2v2s, and 3v3s half field off fast breaks. Then running different formations.
All in all, the team looked to be coming together. No one player in particular stood out. The big name athletes were in attendance, drawing in a small crowd of young players, and all participants were working and moving, coaching and listening.
