The team flight was cancelled due to snow, but the Girls’ Varsity Lacrosse team still made their way to Orlando, Florida, for their annual preseason training. The Wildcats went undefeated in seven scrimmages and hit several Disney parks, but the most important part of the trip was the team bonding, said head coach Jen Fulcher.

“It is so key because it gets us down there, it gets us playing, it gets us together, we get to know each other as a team,” said Ms. Fulcher. “I just think that time is so crucial, whether it is scrimmaging or riding Mt. Everest together. Whatever it is, it has sure been part of our success for the past ten years,” she said. Fulcher has coached the Wildcats for eleven years, and has been going to Orlando for preseason for ten.

Although the trip is a long-standing tradition, this year there was a situation that Fulcher had never encountered. The team flight taking seventeen girls and a coach to Florida on March 15 was cancelled two days before the actual flight. “It became a complete scramble to get everybody down there,” said Fulcher.

After frantic phone conversations and new flight bookings, most of the team managed to get to Orlando by Wednesday night, with a few players coming in on Thursday. “It was a miracle, a spring break miracle that we got everybody down there, and it was so worth it because we didn’t want anybody to be left out of the experience because it is all about being together,” said Fulcher.

The team played various schools, ranging from a New Jersey public school to Charlotte Country Day, the four-year North Carolina Independent School Champions. They also played regular season competitor Hotchkiss, as well as a club team from Florida and private schools from New York City. The girls practiced and did speed and agility work with Brooks Johnson and Tom Shaw, Olympic track and field coach and NFL speed and conditioning coach, respectively.

“I think people just really came out revved to go,” said captain Leah Pezanowski ’17. “It is going to be a great year.”

The team lost fifteen seniors last year, almost double the previous record of eight. “It is going to be a wild year of returners needing to step up in all new ways and new kids needing to step up,” said Ms. Fulcher. “We play the hardest schedule in New England. It has never been easy in any of the seasons we’ve had. I have great faith that they will work their hardest to be the best they can be.”

While the preseason play was vital to preparing for the season, the team bonding and chemistry was equally important to Coach Fulcher and the team.

“Florida helps with team bonding because we all room together and we get to know new girls on the team,” said Leah.

Junior Madison Fulcher-Melendy added that the best part about Florida was “just getting back into lacrosse with my favorite people.” Besides playing, the team also went to Disney Springs, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios, as well as the pool.

“We played seven scrimmages down there which is huge for us,” said Fulcher. “The stuff that happens off the field is just as important as the stuff that happens on the field, and that is the key to Florida.”