Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/8/23 – Staff Report
Owner Matt Mackrides is proud to say that Blue Ox Lacrosse provides training almost year round, for multiple levels and ages, and for boys and girls.
This week marks the end of the Winter season for Blue Ox training (held at Berwyn Sports Club) in offense, defense and goaltending for high school and middle school boys as well as offense skills for high school and middle school girls.
“Our goal is to develop players of all levels,” said Mackrides, whose program trains between 250 to 300 players a year, also holding weekly sessions in the Fall and Early Winter (November/December). Blue Ox also holds a summer camp at Indian Springs Day Camp in Chester Springs for boys and girls.
Blue Ox also holds an Elite Defensive program; this year’s chief instructor was former Penn State All-American defenseman and current pro standout Chris Sabia (Haverford School graduate), along with fellow pro Will Haus (Palmyra HS, PA). For that program, players must apply and be accepted based on their past accomplishments.
Mackrides also runs the Blue Ox girls’ program. He has teamed with Big 4 HHH coach Colleen Magarity with Philly’s Phinest showcases and has incorporated teaching girls’ skills into his Blue Ox sessions.
“The girls’ game is evolving,” Mackrides said. “There are a lot of committed girls in the program. The ‘want’ to get better is hugely important.”
The weekly sessions allow for offense and defensive groups to work first by themselves and then come together to gain valuable experience.
“We get a lot of good reps,” said Paul Bruder, a sophomore defenseman from Episcopal Academy who started as a freshman. “And everyone goes 100 percent on each rep.
“We work on fundamentals such as staying composed and on communication. We work on goal line stuff behind the cage at X. We were just working on backpedaling and making contact and driving the guy out, making sure we don’t give up topside..
“It’s really helpful; we learn drills and then actually try them out and see if we can improve.”
Brian Box, a sophomore midfielder who helped Marple Newtown reach the PIAA finals last year, said the training gives him strong competition and reps and opportunities to work on key aspects of his game.
“We get to do a ton of shooting and dodging,” said Box, who was a Third-Team All-Phillylacrosse.com pick last year. “I’ve been coming here since I was young, my brother (Charlie, a 2022 grad now at Cornell) started coming to Blue Ox and it’s helped me to improve so much.
“The offense gets its work in and then goes live against the defense. We get all these reps and everyone goes 100 percent. We work on our footwork and getting separation and every aspect of dodging. For me, I’ve been working on my off-hand so I can make the defense cover one more thing. Going against the top guys just helps everyone get better.”
Blue Ox also offers small group and individual sessions.
“We also run a 3rd Party Platform that allows for our staff to coach your club team with an unbiased approach,” said Mackrides. “This has always been successful for the club team that has coaches who are newer to the sport.
