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Rhino Lacrosse Academy: West Linn, Day 3

It just keeps getting better and better. With the Rhino Lacrosse Academies stretching their reach all the way to Louisville, KY and Syracuse, NY this year, you need to make sure you set yourself up with the opportunity to attend one of these camps. It is such an incredible experience to be able to have so many great minds from the game in one spot, willing to give you every ounce of knowledge they have to make YOU a better player.

Yesterday the campers went the extra mile to start the day out hot, and today the coaches had their chance to return the favor. After a quick introduction by Coach V, Brett Hughes took the stage and absolutely killed it. He talked about one of his most influential coaches from his youth, Nick Roman (former player for the Cincinnati Bengals) and what it takes to truly become a great player. One of my favorite quotes from his talk was one he borrowed from Michael Jordan:

“I may be exhausted, but my heart is never fatigued.”

Throughout the day, with the heat bearing down on the campers, the coaches made sure to offer some educational opportunities during breaks. One of the morning breaks featured Coach Ben Gaebel‘s story from his days at Cortland, how hard he had to work for the starting spot as keeper, and the road to Cortland’s National Championship win.

Coach V reinforced this with the word of the week, PASSION. The players seemed to really take this to heart and it showed throughout all of the games at camp.

Coach Benny G working hard with the goalies.

After lunch, the campers split into two groups. The younger campers took part in a new (and very difficult) Rhino challenge while the high school aged players were given the opportunity to take the field with many of their mentors and coaches from camp. The coaches gave each of the “Pro” teams a chance to take them on and while none of the boys were able to defeat the coaches, it was still a lot of fun to watch whenever they got the upper-hand.

This youngster was a little hesitant to line up next to Coach Joel White, but he did a great job!

One thing I love about Rhino camps is the mindset at camp throughout the entire day. The level of intensity is the same at 8:45 am as it is at 11:30 am, as it is 3:30 pm. Coach Joel White wouldn’t even let the littlest ones get off early – with under five minutes left to go in the afternoon, he brought everyone in for a quick pep talk that helped to keep everyone’s focus on one thing: getting better.

Coach White rallying the troops for a final push.

While Coach White was keeping the youngsters working hard, Coach V was giving some very valuable recruiting tips to the high school boys. One of the bigger takeaways he gave them was to maximize your abilities and be proactive. His message was simple really: you can’t wait around for someone to come drive by your practice field and see you playing well. If you want to be recruited, you have to go out and make relationships with coaches and schools. Take heed to these words youngsters. When someone with a resume like Coach Ventiquattro shares his wealth of knowledge with you, you listen.

Coach V sharing his wisdom with the campers.

Only one more day of camp left, it’s ridiculous how quickly time on the lacrosse field flies by. Just goes to show how important it is to take advantage of every chance you get with these coaches. Make sure to check out our Facebook album dedicated to Rhino Lacrosse Academy: West Linn!