Jupiter High School Boys Lacrosse
US Army Ranger Weekend
With the success of winning it’s first State Championship and the first time a public school has won, Jupiter High School boys lacrosse team knew the difficulty of being able to repeat in 2019. Working off the template that the 2018 team used as a pre-season conditioning and team building exercise, they hope to position themselves to challenge again for a State title.
This past weekend January 18ththrough the 21st, 2019 the team once again traveled for a 3-day weekend to Ft. Benning, GA, to attend a Team-building & Leadership training at the US Army’s Airborne Ranger Training Brigade. COL Douglas Vincent uncle to one of the Warrior players hosted the team once again for a combination of physical and mental challenges.
Day one consisted of the team having an in-brief at the 4thRanger BN’s Camp Rogers as to what it takes to become Ranger qualified and earn the coveted Ranger tab. The team was hustled out of the building by the RI’s (Ranger Instructors) to be quickly immersed with push-ups, flutter kicks and sprayed with a hose in 50-degree weather. Moved in to the Malvesti obstacle course, to physically challenge the players as two man teams and ultimately a team by the end of the challenge. Upon completion of the obstacle and finishing as a team, MAJ Bithorn & SGM Gomez presented the 2019 team with the coveted RLTW tomahawk.
After cleaning up the team had a classroom session while eating the lunch of MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat). The first lecture was with two times Olympic Gold Medalist in Rifle and US Army Expert Marksmen, SFC McPhail, who explained the dedication to practice and reward. SFC Rolfes winner of the Best ranger Competition in 2018 spent time with the team explaining the aspects of mental-toughness and physical training required to win. SFC Rolfes than took the team to Todd field to explain small unit tactics. They spent the afternoon working as small units playing paintball. Hot meal and a good nights rest was needed to prepare for day 2.
Day 2 started early with an upper body workout at the obstacle course at Peden field. A lot of individual demands through the first part of the course, followed by team obstacles to the end. The Warriors moved on to the 507thAirborne BN (US Army Airborne School) to tour the museum and the facilities. The 507thallowed the team to use it’s conference room for a brief talk for LT Joe Amato regarding his experience as a DI lacrosse player at VMI (Virginia Military Institute) and how it has helped him as a US Army officer. COL Vincent then had a discussion about being a part of a team and how to become a successful team. This was an open discussion with the team participating with Q&A. Quick lunch at the OCS mess hall and the players moved on to tour the National Infantry Museum for the remainder of the day. Hot meal and some good NFL football games ended Day 2.
Day 3 started real early with temperatures in the low 20’s. Pretty cold for these South Florida boys. COL Vincent met the boys for a Ranger trail run as a team through the wood s and over obstacles. The Warriors finished the run as a team and were greeted at the parking lot with their entrance song “Electric Pow Wow” from speakers. Once the out-briefing was complete COL Vincent signed the 2019 Ranger flag followed by all the team members as a contract & commitment to one another to work as hard as it takes, to get back to a State Title game. Packed up and bused home the boys arrived late Monday night with a great team experience to end Day 3.
Warriors Lead the Way 2019
Jupiter High School Warriors Boys Lacrosse 