Lacrosse Carries on at Yorktown in the Summer

It's one thing to play a lacrosse game in front of a big crowd, especially when a sectional championship is on the line. It's another to have the work ethic to practice during the summer when no one is in the stands.

That, however, is what two No Limit Ballers boys lacrosse teams were doing at Yorktown High School July 13. The teams are made up of Yorktown High School varsity and junior varsity boys lacrosse players.

Adam Lodewick is one of the No Limit Ballers coaches along with Sean Carney, Brendan Carney, Tom Interlicchio and Steven Settembrino.

"We do this to keep the guys who have played together during the spring, to keep them together over the summer and playing against different teams and schools in the area, go to tournaments and try and keep that edge during the spring," Lodewick said. "Last year was the first year we had it and we had one team. This year we have two teams."

Lodewick said No Limit also has some youth teams that are in middle school and elementary school. No Limit started the high school level team last summer because there was no Empire State Games, which were due to budgetary reasons.

"These kids needed an outlet to play some lacrosse and go to some recruiting tournaments so this year we just decided to keep it going," Lodewick said. "We thought it would be good for the Yorktown lacrosse program, but also it gives these players a platform to play summer lacrosse and hopefully get seen by college coaches."

Senior Jake Thorp is one of the players who feels the experience of playing for No Limit is valuable.

"It's really important to play in the summer," Thorp said. "Playing with your teammates outside of the high school season really helps out with the chemistry the following year this coming March. We are definitely going to need it to. Playing just once or twice a week with the same guys is really going to help out come the high school season."

The atmosphere, around the No Limit program, is another aspect Thorp said he enjoyed.

"It's a lot more laid back," Thorp said. "It's like a de-stress from all the pressure that is put on us, especially being from Yorktown during the high-school season. Just being with all the boys during the summer and having a stick in your hand is a good thing."

Another advantage of playing in the summer is that it is a confidence builder for the athletes, Lodewick said.

"You see the level of their confidence grow and as you see their confidence grow, you see their level of lacrosse get better," Lodewick said. "There is still a lot of work to be done, but the whole theory behind these teams is to iron out the kinks and understand what these kids are capable of doing. It just gives them that confidence when they start the high school season in March, it's not like we are taking two steps forward and they stop playing over the summer and take three steps back. You just keep building upon the year, the season and you just get ready to go right into it full force."

With confidence, comes improvement, Thorp said.

"Our older guys, the seniors, really stepped up," Thorp said. "Everyone has been improving themselves by going to the weight room and keeping the stick in their hands. Even the younger guys are starting to develop a better feel for the varsity level by being able to compete in tournaments."

No Limit will participate in a tournament at Hofstra University on Saturday and Sunday. The team will be guaranteed five games against elite competition.

"Hopefully, there will be college coaches there to get them exposure and be seen by some colleges," Lodewick said. "It's our last tournament, but then we will do open lacrosse with everyone. We will just try to keep the guys together once a week if we can."