VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — JP Stewart has been coaching lacrosse at Virginia Wesleyan for 20 years, he's seen nearly every manner of team dynamic since the turn of the millennium. Somehow, 2022 has proven unique.
"I've got 4 team captains. Three of them are 5th year players and one of them is a 6th year player, in the master's program. That's something I've told these guys will never happen again, so it's very very unique," says Coach Stewart, noting that the strange alchemy doesn't stop with leadership. "You look at your 18 year old freshman, who basically missed their final two years of high school lacrosse. All of a sudden you've got a really interesting dynamic. As a coach it's been really unique."
To try and massage the chemistry of a group built in the face of a worldwide health crisis, Stewart fell back on a oft deployed coaching strategy.
A 15 hour bus ride to and from Alabama, with two games in between. There were no extra seats, there were far too many hours to keep headphones in, wall began to come down.
"No extra seats, nothing like that, how long are you gonna sit really to yourself? We got plenty of time to be together. Coach Stewart even let us know we're doing this for a reason. Of course it was great to go play different ball down south, but it's a way for us to come together and build that comradery," says one of those veteran captains, Cameron Blanchard-Taylor.
The team has been inconsistent to start the year, but the goal of an ODAC championship remains according to Stewart.