FSU Lacrosse: A Day in the Life of Noel Felipe

There are various sports on campus that FSU students have the opportunity to participate in. While many join intramural teams, others become actively engaged in club sports.

Softball, volleyball, tennis and golf are some of the registered student organizations that promote such involvement. One in particular, FSU Men's Lacrosse, was the 2006 Southeastern Lacrosse Conference champions. Nationally, the team currently stands ranked at number nine.

Noel Felipe, a sophomore from Miami is a defensive midfielder. The 19 year old got excited about getting involved with the club sport after meeting the team's coach during his senior year of high school. When Fall semester rolled around, Felipe attended tryouts.

"Everyone who comes out is given chance to play and prove their skill, it's like an extended evaluation process," Felipe said. "Throughout the Fall the coaches observe who will make up the best team possible to put on the field come Spring."

While trying to make the team, and improve their game, members know it is important to do well in school.

"The most difficult part about being involved with FSU Lacrosse is balancing schoolwork and practice time," FSU sophomore Chris Sjogren said.

Upon making the team, in the Fall, members are required to participate in practices twice a week, from 6:45 p.m. until about 9:30 p.m. In the Spring, the guys train everyday of the week from 5:45 p.m. to 8 p.m.

"The most difficult part for most people is the physical aspects of the sport and especially practice," FSU sophomore Brandon Stoy said. "We work hard everyday and it can cause a lot of injuries. Staying healthy is key."

When practices are long and tiring and traveling to games is time consuming, schoolwork is still needs to be completed. There are still obstacles to overcome.

I think the most difficult part about being involved with FSU Lacrosse is funding ourselves. We get very, very little cash from the university so we have to fundraise for our travels, jerseys, equipment, etc.," FSU junior AJ Berzinis said. "I feel it almost makes you appreciate the team more when you have to work to support it yourself and you don't have the school dishing out loads of money to the team each year."

Even though injury can occur, and financial matters can be difficult, the positives outweigh the negatives.

"My favorite part about being part of FSU Lacrosse is the fact that I get to see my friends everyday and play some lacrosse," FSU junior Corey Noonan said. "It has formed into a kind of brotherhood."

This "brotherhood" consists of 38 members, all of which practice, play games, and travel near and far with one another.

"The most difficult part about being involved with FSU Lax is trying to keep sane during extremely long bus rides," FSU sophomore Jake Hornstein said. "Road trips are always a lot of fun but 12 hours to Nashville, Tennessee wasn't."

While the team is close knit, as for immediate family, Felipe says his fully encourages his commitment to Lacrosse.

"My family has been very supportive of my lacrosse career especially coming from Miami where the sport is still growing in popularity," Felipe said. "They are also very proud that I'm playing at the college level playing for Florida State."

During the summer, Felipe spends his time working as a coach at a lacrosse camp in Miami. Even when the season ends, the Phi Sigma Kappa brother and Multinational Business major, continues playing the sport he loves.

© Copyright 2008 FSView & Florida Flambeau

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