Hey guys, Max Schmidt again. After week one of training camp the Ohio Machine squad was poised and ready to hit the ground running come weekend number 2. We felt like we set a great foundation in the first week and we were all exited to get back at it again. Day one started pretty early in the morning as we all gathered at St. Charles high school for the first session.
We welcomed some new faces that were not able to be at the first weekend’s event and promptly began practice at 9AM. The morning session was filled with drills and footwork for the defense and shooting for the offense. We worked our way up to some full speed 6 v 6 and ended the morning session with some man up v man down.
Ohio weather is very streaky this time of year… you never know what you’re going to wake up to. This Saturday was particularly nice as the weather sat around 70 degrees. I’m just glad we didn’t have camp the following Tuesday because it snowed about an inch after being 70 plus for the past four days! After a long summer in South America, I can’t say I was upset about the winter weather. The second session was a scrimmage with the local Columbus Lacrosse Club.
They gathered former college and pro players, like my former teammate Chris Ready, former Buckeye Todd Miller, and attackman Randy Kleinman who played for the Philadelphia Wings. They formed a pretty good squad for the Machine to scrimmage that afternoon, and it was refreshing to play against some different faces. Day 2 we welcomed back the big man, Coach Mariano, who was unable to make it the past day and weekend.
It was great to have his energy and defensive mindset back on the field. We had a great two sessions on Sunday and it was evident that the team was beginning to mesh and come together well as a unit. One thing I will say is that the leadership on the 2014 Machine squad is definitely not lacking. We have a great group of veterans and returners who are taking it upon themselves to lead the team in winning direction. A couple leaders to mention are veterans Greg Bice and Kyle Harrison. Greg has been in the league for a long time and has basically taken the role as the coach on the field. He is an excellent leader and is a returning captain for this Machine team.
As you all probably know, Kyle has been out of the MLL for a couple years now competing with the LXM tour. I think Kyle is going to have a huge impact for the midfield this year, not only as a powerful two-way midfielder, but also as a fearless leader of the pack. Kyle didn’t miss a beat the past two weekends of training camp and he immediately assumed a leadership role at the midfield. His lacrosse pedigree speaks for itself, but his leadership is not always what is noticed. I can tell you from first hand experience that this guy is a first class leader. We are very excited to have Kyle as a part of the 2014 squad. As training camp #2 came to a close, excitement for the first 2014 game was in the air.
We travel to Charlotte this week to take on the Hounds on Saturday night. I am confident that we did what was necessary to prepare ourselves for a W in week one. This year’s team has a new focus and a new mentality. We are all excited to be where we are, and we are grateful for every experience and opportunity. We are headed into this season with a mentality of enjoying every minute we have as a team and as a group of buddies. There is no place I would rather be than competing with these guys in the heart of OHIO.
Oil Up!
