“I gotta take it up a notch this year Dad…”

Last season Noah had been one of the last cut from one of the best youth teams in the state.

The truth was, he was a good lacrosse player – but his dad knew he wasn't ready to play elite lacrosse.

He had strong stick skills and a good vision for the game, but he was missing that strength and explosiveness that the dominant players his age all had.

But heading into this year's tryouts felt different. The last few month he had become obsessed with becoming a better lacrosse player. Daily wall ball, creating drills in the backyard to work on his dodges, ripping thousands of shots at a now tattered net, even going for runs and doing workouts at home

“Noah, you looked great out there buddy... Your game has come a long way, but we just don’t have a spot for you this year."

It was the conversation that all parents and athletes dread – he got cut. 

A couple days later, one of the assistant Coaches, who had played lacrosse with Noah's Dad, reached out...

"I hope Noah's not discouraged about getting cut. He's really improved his game this past year. He's obviously a hard worker and definitely has potential in lacrosse."

The Coach continued:

“...but we felt he was missing the speed to play at this level. Not only that, if he added some strength to his game, it would make him harder to play against and let him get gritty in those physical areas. He's got the skills and high potential to be an impact player, I think if he got into some quality strength & conditioning it would be like pouring rocket fuel on his development."

That's when he recommended checking out Coach Kyle & Relentless Lacrosse. We had worked with thousands of youth athletes at this point & earned a reputation for our work developing elite lacrosse players.

Noah's Dad knew the importance of strength & conditioning as players got into high school. But was hesitant working with a trainer, having seen Noah previously work with a local old school personal trainer who acted more like a Drill Sargent, putting kids through sloppy circuit training, than a Coach developing true athletic foundations.

Noah, like most motivated youth lacrosse players, didn’t need this.

He didn’t need a trainer to push him harder, he needed a game plan to make sure his work created results.

So that’s what we created for Noah – a 12-week game plan to develop the foundational strength and power he needed to thrive as an athlete, as well as the exact attributes that translate most to the field.

• We focused on movement quality and exercises that would help him increase movement fluency and become an elite mover. 
• We emphasized developing foundational strength that would let him play meaner, stronger, and get tough on the ball, while also building power for years to come.  
• We challenged speed & athleticism with speed drills to refine his movement mechanics and unlock faster feet, along with plyo exercises to help him generate more explosiveness in his dodges.
• We used functional mobility exercises that would help them to stay healthy, address the imbalances that lacrosse players have, and start to build a bulletproof body.
• We utilized conditioning that specifically challenged the energy systems that lacrosse players use on-field so that he could play at top speed even when other players were slowing down. 

With the right guidance, Noah's work started to pay off. 

He started to look more like an elite player – more explosive, agile, and dynamic. He was strong on the ball and outmuscled other kids for ground balls. He never seemed to run out of gas. He went from occasional goal scorer to being the goal scorer. 

It started with coaches and other parents joking with the classic “what are you feeding that kid!” 

But the jokes quickly became serious conversations about what he was doing, what camp had he been going to, what coach he worked with – where did he find the edge?

The truth is, there was no secret sauce. No coach that was going to turn him into an elite lacrosse player. No workout that magically got him stronger.

It was Noah’s hard work applied to the right game plan.

That next season, Noah not only made that elite club but was an impact player all season, finishing third on the team in points. He also started on his JV team in his freshman season and even played varsity games.

At the time, we had created digital programs that were being used by pros and college players, but seeing Noah's results made us realize that youth players needed a blueprint to give them the exact structure they needed to develop into elite hockey players.

They had the ambition; they just needed the game plan – and that's when the Relentless Youth Development Program was born.

Since then we’ve had thousands ambitious youth players translate their hard work and hustle into true athletic development that gives them not only the advantage over players now, but long term.

We've been fortunate to watch many of these players unlock their potential to go from youth to varsity, earn scholarships, and continue to thrive in the game.

If you have a youth lacrosse player at home that's serious about becoming the best player they can be, then now is the time to start getting relentless with their training!