Making the jump to professional lacrosse is no walk in the park.
The NLL boasts the most athletic and talented players in the world, playing the fastest and most sophisticated version of the sport.
For NLL rookies, attending their first professional training camp is filled with excitement and anticipation. There’s always a learning curve, and Warriors’ first-rounders Johnathan Peshko (2024 fourth overall), Remo Schenato (2024 sixth overall), and Payton Cormier (2023 fourth overall) have all learned a lot in their first two weeks of camp.
The coaching staff must balance teaching the systems and not overloading the rookies with information, and Warriors’ Head Coach and General Manager Curt Malawsky starts with the basics to create the foundation and then adds layers to it.
“It’s our job as coaches to nurture them; Bobby [McMahon] has done a great job with the offensive guys and Rob Williams has done a great job with Schenato on the back end and teaching him along with our veteran guys,” Malawsky said.
The 15-year NLL coach has expectations for every player that comes to camp, expecting his rookies to come dialed in ready to focus, bring a coachable attitude, and learn from their mistakes.
Through the first couple of weeks at camp, the trio demonstrated their understanding of the team’s systems, translating that on the floor.
“All three of them are smart guys and they’ve picked up our systems so far very well, it’s just a matter of applying it in the exhibition game this weekend,” Malawsky said.
“A common theme with all three of them is their willingness and openness to learn and try to get better each week, that’s what we’ve liked so far.”
Lefty defenceman Remo Schenato has been playing in the Coquitlam Adanacs system for the past five years, capping off his Junior career winning the Minto Cup last summer. After the 21-year-old was drafted to the Warriors, he joined local teammates over the past couple of months which helped him feel comfortable diving head-first to training camp.
“I’m trying to just pick everything up, be a sponge, and learn everything as quickly as possible and efficiently as possible,” Schenato said.
Warriors’ veteran defenceman Jeff Cornwall has taken Schenato under his wing and helped him in training camp, but they go back way before training camp. Cornwall coached Schenato in the past so the rookie is comfortable asking questions and takes what the 11-year NLL veteran has to say to heart.
“I know his words are valuable and he’s a very experienced player,” Schenato said. “Anything that he can teach me, I’m trying to pick up and apply to my game as soon as possible.”
Schenato is working on improving his overall game, and is focusing on his foot speed, quickness, and being more patient at the next level.
“I noticed sometimes I’ll try and be too aggressive and it doesn’t always work to my benefit. So just [working on] being more patient and more cool, calm and collected,” he said.
Learning a new offence requires starting with the basics and building on it with lots of repetition. With the veteran forwards familiar with Malawsky’s system, they know the learning curve and help guide the rookies through camp.
“We make them [rookies] aware that it’s ok to make mistakes and we go at 60 percent instead of 100 percent, so we get them all dialed in. I assure them that by the start of the season it will all be second nature,” Malawsky said.
Warriors’ left-handed forward, Payton Cormier has felt supported by the forward group and the coaching staff over the last couple of weeks who have been reassuring.
“All the guys on the offence here are super nice and helpful, like Keegan Bal and [Adam] Charalambides, who’ve been here before and had successful seasons last season under these systems. They’ve gone out of their way to help me learn these new systems and be better prepared for next weekend,” Cormier said.
Playing in the NLL takes a different mindset than NCAA lacrosse and Cormier is having fun with it. He’s adjusting to the level of competition and sees how much the details play a big role in the NLL.
The 6-foot-2, 230-pound forward set the all-time NCAA Division I career goals record with 224 in his five-year career at the University of Virginia. He’s used to getting to the net with ease, and playing against the best in the world is a new challenge.
“I’ve always been a guy that can move some people around, but at the next level, these guys want to do the same thing to you,” Cormier said.
“I’m just listening to the coaching staff and putting my trust in them. For example, we worked on driving to the net, and they explained ‘Hey, if you go this way, you can turn your defender’s back a little bit more and that will give you a better opportunity to come up and get on the defender’s backs or set a seal.”
The Oakville, Ontario native has been enjoying the gems Vancouver has to offer since he arrived. He gets texts from his teammates who set up activities for the group so they can spend time together, and Cormier calls the team “a special group”.
“I think it’s awesome here, it’s a pretty cool place, I’ve been seeing so much of the city and there’s so much to explore too,” Cormier said.
Right-handed forward, Johnathan Peshko echoed Cormier’s sentiments that it’s a great group. He mentioned Bal texted him after the first week of training camp to go over a few things with him ahead of the second week.
Peshko found that helpful and it was one of the things that made him more comfortable in week two.
“It was a lot of fun playing with so many great players. It’s something you can never really experience at any other level, and it’s been a blast,” Peshko said.
At training camp, Peshko had to pull his first season of Junior A lacrosse from the old memory bank. He learned how to play without the ball, set picks and do what the team needed to create a successful offence.
“Training camp was a bit of an adjustment at first because the past couple summers I was carrying the ball a lot playing back in Ontario, (in Major Series Lacrosse). My early junior days I was forced to learn how to play without the ball because it was the only way I could make my first Junior A Mimico team,” Peshko said.
Peshko loves to learn about the game, and there were things he’s learned from the coaching staff that have opened his mind further to possibilities within the game. Like Schenato and Cormier, he’s working to have Warrior-approved habits ingrained in his play.
He sees there’s less time to make decisions on the floor as the pace of the game is cranked up a few notches, so he’s learning how to perform at his best while playing at a high speed.
“It’s really important to have an understanding of timing and when to pick and how to set yourself up for picks,” Peshko said. “That’s stuff that I came in and thought I had a pretty good understanding of, but even in the last two weeks I feel like I’ve learned so much about that part of the game from both coach, Baller, and [Kevin] Crowley and everyone there.”
Malawsky is adamant that good people make good teams, and veteran leadership is instrumental for rookies’ development and is important for team success.
“I think that’s the epitome of a team,” Malawsky said. “They’re teaching the guy next to them the right way and that just shows selflessness and that our veteran guys are all about the front of the sweater.”
As Cormier, Peshko and Schenato head into the exhibition games before the regular season, they’ve got the foundations of the Warriors system down.
They will continue to build their skills as the season approaches, learning as much as they can in their rookie campaigns.
