Every day from three to five, the boys on the lacrosse team do the same thing. No, they don’t pick up chicks or hold dank bro seshes. They go to Burning Tree Elementary School to get ready to dominate their competition during the upcoming season.

The guys carpool to the school and throw the ball around until the team is ready to start practice. To warm up, they stretch, jog and do various throwing and catching drills like practicing full-field passing.

Senior Pat Slawta says that the team works hard when it needs to but also knows how to have fun.

“We’re focused at important times,” he says, “but when we get a chance we mess around with each other and push each other around.”

The lacrosse players are known for their fresh clothing choices, but their style goes beyond lanyards and plaid shorts. They recently started wearing Timberlands to practice.

“Sophomore year I wore only compression shorts to practice,” says senior Riley Seiber, who used to come to practice in a big red puffy coat. “I’ve also worn a do-rag under my helmet. Cameron Dempster has the freshest shorts on the team; they have chili peppers on them. Everyone rocks the mid-calf socks, and Larry has a nice bandana going on. And it gets cold out there. Puffy red coats are classic; they’re a necessity.”

Once the team is warmed up and everyone has thoroughly analyzed each other’s clothing, coach Kevin Pope has the team move onto fast breaks and transitions. One drill the players do is the “54” drill, with five offensive and four defensive players working on half the field. The team then uses the full field to run fast breaks.

Slawta says that drills that require more than just straight throwing and catching are the most effective.

“Drills that get the ball moving around fast and ones that work on sliding and unsettled situations really work,” he says.

The boys also split up by positions. They break up into separate sides of the field to work on specific offensive and defensive segments. Offense works on shooting, dodging and making plays, while defensive players do footwork, checking and “banana cuts,” or cuts around the crease.

After splitting into groups, the boys come together to do six-on-six scrimmages. Some days, they will switch up the numbers and play man-up on one side to work on advantageous situations and defending while being one man down.

But while all players enjoy the scrimmages, the most entertaining part of practice for the boys is Coach Pope.

“I have way too many thoughts and opinions on that man,” Seiber says. “He’s an interesting man, and very entertaining. He always makes us laugh during practice, whether he means to or not. He’s a very special guy.”

Seiber says that Pope is known for some quotes in particular and that the boys like to imitate his manner of speaking.

“This one time when it was raining he started yelling ‘Oswego!’” Seiber says. “It’s a city in New York and he started telling us a story about how he had to practice in the rain in Oswego, and now whenever we have practice in the rain he yells it. Everyone does their own impressions

of him, but it’s mostly just mumbling words.”

Senior Ross Koehn recalls a moment at a tournament the team played in this year when Pope broke out into song.

“He just started singing the Filet-O-Fish commercial,” he says. “We all started cracking up. He’s a little crazy sometimes, but he’s a great coach.”

With the lax team’s outstanding stick skills and fresh attire, they are sure to dominate all the competition this season.