The BSM boys varsity lacrosse team went on their annual team bonding trip at the end of April. The trip is a highlight of the season for the players where they can grow closer as a team, push each other to be better, and most importantly have fun.

This year, the team left on Friday April 21st and returned Sunday April 23rd. They took a road trip on a coach bus to Wisconsin and stayed overnight in a hotel. One new thing they added to the itinerary this year was training with Next Level Performance and NFL star JJ Watts. They had this training session after they arrived on Friday. After their training session, they had a practice at Kettle Moraine High School at 7pm, then they called it a night.

On Saturday, the team woke up and had breakfast together, and then they hit the field for practice. This team trip helped them improve their skills playing together as a whole and brought the team closer together on the field. After practice, they watched Kettle Moraine High School’s game against Hudson. After the game, they went back to the hotel and all hung out together. “This trip allows the team to spend a lot of time together and get to know each other very well. While also getting better at lacrosse, it allows for extra team bonding during meals and the bus rides. It also allows us to build connections with the underclassmen because we haven’t spent tons of time with them this year,” said Senior Team Captain Caio Stephens.

During the trip, a few team bonding highlights were playing WhirlyBall, having hard practices, and sharing hotel rooms. The guys went to Whirlyball in Milwaukee and had a fun time creating team captains and competing against each other in a friendly environment. They were also able to strengthen their connection during the practices that consisted mainly of cardio. Doing hard exercises and drills strengthened the team chemistry and helped them get in shape for state. Something else that was a big aspect of team bonding was staying in small rooms with a few guys on the team. “I would say a lot of people got really close with roommates because of how much time they spent with them and they had to share beds in a tiny room so that brought us a lot closer. One of the guys was too big to share a bed so his roommate had to sleep on the ground,” Stephens said.

When meeting with JJ Watts, the team learned many valuable lessons. He taught them important information about how to be a cohesive team and strengthen relationships with teammates. He also gave them life advice about future plans with school and figuring out what you want to pursue in life. He shared important advice on how to set goals and make them attainable. They also talked about injury prevention and how an injury can change your whole athletic career which can be very hard for some athletes. They then worked on injury prevention techniques with him. The trip was described as the perfect amount of hard work, team bonding, training, and discipline. “Our time at Next Level was really valuable as we learned new ways to help keep our bodies loose and it was another way for us to train to be the best this year,” Junior Gus Bell said.