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Why more and more teams are playing out of state early on

It was Thursday night in Tampa when the St. Joseph lacrosse team faced a mechanical bull.

The Green Knights were wrapping up a five-day, two-game business trip in the Gulf Coast heat when the players barged into a restaurant on a rodeo kick.

For coach Dan DaPonte, some ease in April can lead to victories in May and memories for a lifetime. That's why he's scheduled time for swimming, spikeball and searching for survivors on this year's team bonding tour.

“They just have a lot of fun together and it’s nice to see really calm kids come out of their shell,” DaPonte said. “We see them in a different atmosphere. We don't see them in the locker room or on the field in training. They just hang out.”

More and more lacrosse teams are incorporating travel into their spring plans. This year, at least seven North Jersey programs traveled abroad for an early game or scrimmage — not including short trips across the New York border.

This list ranges from traditional powers like Bergen Catholic and Don Bosco to Group 1 squads like the Waldwick girls.

The reasons for long-distance travel are diverse. Some chase warmer weather and tough opponents. Others are looking for a way to bring their players together.

Fundraising campaigns help cover costs.

“The kids are paying for the trip, but not an exorbitant amount,” said Marc Jacobson, Wayne Hills boys lacrosse coach. “Our support association and our fundraising help cover around 75 percent of the trip.”

Although Florida is a popular hotspot this time of year, not everyone is chasing the rays.

Jacobson likes to base his travels on a university campus and has made stops at Towson, Penn and Yale, among others. This year, the Patriots traveled to Boston for four days in March and watched Harvard in one game and one pass. During his time up north, Jacobson also took his team to Paul Revere's house and Quincy Market.

The idea to get away came from his father, Steve, a former lacrosse coach who logged many miles at Fair Lawn and Hunterdon Central.

“When (his players) come back for reunions, they don’t talk about the games. They talk about the experiences they had on the trips,” Jacobson said. “These were 30 or 40 years later and they talk about how good the trips were and how memorable they were. When I started at Hills, I wanted to bring that here. Our children can see parts of the country they have visited.” Not seen.

Another element of team building is room assignments. Before each trip, Jacobson will sit down with his captains to figure out how best to group players.

“It was position based,” Ramsey boys lacrosse coach Dan DeMartino said. “All attackers are together. All midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers. We wanted them to build a relationship with their comrades that was aligned with their line.”

“We intentionally brought together kids who are not best friends,” said DaPonte, whose team visited Nashville last spring and Charleston in 2022. “When we get room assignments, it's usually a senior, a junior and a sophomore. “We don't let the seniors all stick together.”

These days, with programs like LaxNumbers and companies putting together teams, finding the right opponent is easier than ever.

Using KSA Events for his preseason trip to Orlando, Ramsey suddenly had three teams from three different states on the schedule. Despite the daily theme park tours and temperatures in the 70s, there were still memories of home.

When DeMartino flew back, he and his players spotted at least five other Bergen County teams, including the Rams softball program.

“With the preseason being so short, it’s nice that we had this experience because it was almost like a training camp for us,” DeMartino said.

When it comes to travel, no region here has a greater geographical presence than the Gibbs. Ridgewood prevailed at Delaware, Bergen Catholic recovered from a two-game deficit at Virginia and Don Bosco booked April's games at Maryland and Connecticut.

St. Joseph, meanwhile, brushed off the cobwebs against two Florida schools late in the spring season.

“They’re ready to play,” DaPonte said. “They're ready for the 80-degree heat we'll see on Thursday. There's not much we can do to prepare for this atmosphere up here. It makes sense to put our children in uncomfortable situations and let them deal with it.”

Whatever the circumstances, the hope is that spending some time on the road at home will pay off in the long run.

“We told the girls before we left that they would go down as a team and come back as a family, and that's exactly what happened,” said Waldwick coach Christina Evans, who brought the Warriors to Orlando in March.

“Going out of state and traveling together and playing against competitive teams was really the boost we needed going into the season. The girls are closer than ever before.”

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