Only two teams will be facing off for the MILA Championship, and Southern Ohio Box Lacrosse was not one of them in season one.
The expansion team, however, is happy with their first season on the turf. “The season has been a challenge, as I anticipated.” said Sean Murphy, the team owner.  “Getting players to commit to the travel involved is always challenging. With box lacrosse still being the lesser-known version in our region, it was difficult to get more than an eager, young core group of players excited and to get all of players in tune with the faster rhythm of the game.”
Murphy is a player coach, and is also one of the coaches with the Kentucky Stickhorses of the NALL. He says that he is happy with how the season went.
“The team has definitely grown in its appreciation for box lacrosse and its differences from field lacrosse. In particular, the offensive players have gained greater appreciation for how much harder it is to work the ball to the prime scoring areas in front of the goal. The defense has learned to appreciate the speed necessary to shut off transition scoring opportunities and support one another with slides.
“The challenges for Southern Ohio Box Lacrosse, like any club team, revolved around player commitment, mainly for travel. Â Since all travel occurs at the players’ own expense and we were traveling pretty widely throughout the midwest, it was a burden. Â The players who committed to the travel and made the effort for our away games made us a viable team and made the experience very worthwhile. Â Otherwise, just spreading the word about box lacrosse in our traditionally-field lacrosse area has been challenging, but everyone who came out has loved it and the excitement is spreading quickly.”
MILA isn’t the most stable thing in the world, with teams coming and going, but Murphy says SOB will return. “We’re definitely looking forward to Southern Ohio Box Lacrosse returning next year. The goal for this year was little more than to make sure we put a team on the field for every game and to get all of players introduced to the particular strategies and tactics of box lacrosse. That foundation has created some great excitement among the players in our area, so it should be much easier to assemble a committed crew of competitive players for 2013.”
