Winning culture. Those were the words that emanated through my head after spending the first 48 hours at the Rochester Knighthawks trainings camp. There was a swagger, an expectation of we are the best – and we know it. But it was never spoken of literally and certainly nobody took anything for granted.
All I heard from the training coaches and staff was how much better shape the key role players like Sid Smith had come to camp in this year. Guys like the Dawsons seem to always be in peak shape, but seeing it up close was something else. It is one thing to bring size to the table as a lacrosse player, but when you can package that with quickness and speed, you get some pretty special players.
All the while you never got the sense of cocky, or over confident. Everyone was there to put in the time and reps, and show off all their hard work that was done during the off season to the coaches and teammates alike. With world class players spread out through the roster, there was undoubtedly inner competition. These guys got to where they are in the game of lacrosse by having that passion to be the best, and that doesn’t stop or go away. Weather it was a loose ball drill or a shooting drill, everyone wanted to WIN – even if nobody was keeping score.
One surprising aspect that was very surprising was the lack of talk about last year, or previous years. They have after all won 3 championships in a row, and while I am sure that celebrating was definitely something they cherished, nobody seemed content. Everyone talked about next year and the upcoming season. That drive to win is growing with more and more success and the winning attitude appears to be something contagious.
They put us through some rough Fitness testing Saturday morning after physicals, then a 2 hour break followed by a 2 hour practice. Let’s just say if you weren’t prepared for this you were in big trouble. This is the fastest game on two feet – so running was to be expected. There were rarely any drills however where you felt like you were being ran into the ground. There was always passing and shooting mixed in, but 100% effort was always put forth.
This winning culture is something that athletes who are part of successful teams know well. It’s like a virus or stigma that follows the team, and the Knighthawks do not seem to have wavered coming into this season. It’s clear what the goal is for the upcoming season is, nobody had to even say it. It’s 4 in a row or bust.
