What is Dodger Pride?: Dodger Pride is a competitive travel lacrosse team for boys grades 5-8 and High School. The team will complete in 3 local (no overnight stay required) tournaments this coming summer. The goal of the program is to keep future and current Madison HS players together playing as a cohesive unit in a more intense and competitive format.
Who should sign up?: Players who are dedicated lacrosse players seeking to play a higher level of competition. This team will be competing in tournament format events against all star teams from other towns and states. Those who intend or are considering playing at Madison HS should consider Dodger Pride
How is playing time determined?: The objective of the team will be to win games. Accordingly playing time will be based upon each players’ ability, performance and attitude. There is no guarantee of playing time for signing up, this is not Pay to Play.
What kind of commitment is required?: The team will practice 2 days per week and play tournaments on weekends. Additionally we expect 2-3 additional midweek games against other “Futures” association teams from nearby towns (Summit, Mt. Lakes, West Morris and Sparta). Practice is mandatory and it is expected that participants make a full commitment to the team.
Are there tryouts? At this time we are hoping to avoid having tryouts, however, keeping roster sizes to a manageable number is important.
*** For the current 7th grade team (2011-2012 school year), due to increased participation at this level, we will be holding an open tryout in November (Date TBD) in which we will be selecting the top 19 travel players and 4-5 practice squad members.***
Our hope is by including as many players as possible we can build a stronger HS program by raising the ability of all players, not just the more advanced ones. We may segregate players into different teams by ability if numbers permit. One of the goals of this program is to increase participation and competition the HS level. Players should keep in mind though that playing time in games is not guaranteed.
Who will coach the team? Mark Sweeney, Madison HS Head Coach, has assembled an outstanding staff for the upcoming season. In addition to himself (Coach will oversee all teams and be present at every tournament, game and practice) PJ Scarpello (Madison HS Assistant), Tim Langan (MHS 05, Villanova 09), Matt Langan (MHS 07, Loyola 11), Grant Foulsham (MHS 08, RPI 12), Sean Dowling, current MHS Athletic director and former head coach at Morristown Beard and Summit HS, Rob Novack (MHS ’07, FDU ’12). All have extensive experience coaching youth players and are current or former college players.
Why should we choose Dodger Pride over other programs?: Mark Sweeney formed this program as part of his continuing plan to build a long term successful lacrosse program in Madison. Most of the players on these teams will move on to play for him at MHS and he has a vested interest in their development as players and individuals. He has assembled a top notch staff and has access to first rate facilities, equal to any other travel team in NJ. In order for Madison HS to succeed it is imperative that we develop the skills of not only our top players but all our players. Staying together as a team and learning the same system is a proven system for success.
Dodger Pride also offers a top notch lacrosse experience at a fraction of the cost of other programs. Coach Sweeney decided from the outset that keeping costs manageable would be important. There are no overnight stays that require families to pay for hotels and the registration fee is half of some other programs. 2 of the 3 weekend tournaments are 1 day only so your family time doesn’t consist entirely of lacrosse, a bonus for those with more than one child!
Lastly, this format has been successful for many years at Mt. Lakes. In fact Mt. Lakes coach Tim Flynn, formed Lakers Future years ago as a part of his plan to build a successful program. Summit HS has also adopted this model and this year will have teams on every grade in their Future Hilltopper program. It is our strong belief that by keeping the kids together they will excel as a team and will enjoy great success and accolades as individuals as well.
