Local barber to coach U.S. women’s box lacrosse at worlds

Tompkins County residents might know Tony Sorci best as the owner of ALOE Barbershop, located in The Shops at Ithaca Mall. But when he’s not cutting hair or trimming beards, he’s pursuing another interest: coaching box lacrosse. Next month, Sorci will get to live out that passion on the big stage.

Sorci is an assistant coach for the U.S. women’s box lacrosse national team, and they will be competing in the 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships from September 20-29 in Utica. This year’s edition will be a historical one, as it’s the first time World Lacrosse is including women’s box lacrosse at worlds. Sorci knows how significant this inaugural tournament will be to help grow the sport across the country.

“It’s a great opportunity for everybody,” Sorci said. “To make box lacrosse accessible to players in the Lower 48 and then also to offer it to a whole demographic of people—young women specifically—is an honor. We got to make the most of this first go at it.”

Sorci is already witnessing women’s box lacrosse start to thrive in New York, specifically in Utica. Sorci is the head coach of the Utica Yeti, a semi-professional men’s box lacrosse team. But he has seen interest from younger women in the area and has helped start clinics. He hopes that the sport will catch on in Ithaca, a city known for its strong lacrosse community.

“One of the things I always hear from women’s lacrosse, they wish it was more physical,” Sorci said. “With this, you get that instantaneously, so I think there’ll be a big draw to it over time… I think within the next year—especially if we win—there’s an opportunity to grow box lacrosse here in Ithaca with some clinics and stuff. My goal is to make it bigger and to facilitate some of the youth here.”

Sorci has an extensive background in both playing and coaching box lacrosse. For the former, he played as a defender at the professional level for the National Lacrosse League’s Buffalo Bandits for two seasons before suiting up for the USA developmental team. It was there where he played alongside Ginny Capicchioni, who was the first woman to play in the NLL. She was hired as the women’s national team head coach last January, and she knew exactly who to call to run her defense.

“She valued the way I played the game, and I played pretty hard, pretty intense,” Sorci said. “I always say it was like Ray Lewis playing lacrosse: kind of violent. She always remembered that. I had no idea she felt that way. She gave me a call and instantly she’s like, ‘It’s a volunteer thing. You’re not really gonna get paid.’ I was like, ‘It doesn’t matter. It’s an honor to coach Team USA in any way.’ So I was all on board instantaneously. She said, ‘You can run the defense,’ and I’ve been doing that since day one. [I’m] really looking forward to what we can do.”

The biggest obstacle for Sorci and Team USA is that no one on the team has any prior experience playing box lacrosse. The roster is made up entirely of those who currently play or have played in college, which is the standard field lacrosse. The rules are a bit different between the two styles, and the team is hard at work trying to adapt to those changes.

“[In field lacrosse], you can’t impede their progress when they’re shooting, and that’s something we’ve been trying to get them to change as far as defensively to block their shot and to get in the way and make it a problem,” Sorci said. “Getting them to be more physical is a big challenge. Some of them have embraced it a lot. All in all, box lacrosse is one of the only sports where they allow you to cross check, so getting them to develop that as a good habit is tough.”

Team USA will be going up against some stiff competition, facing multiple teams who grew up playing box lacrosse. The big favorites will be Canada since it’s their national summer sport. There’s also the Haudenosaunee, a confederation of Indigenous Americans who invented lacrosse. If the U.S. wants to pull off something truly special, Sorci knows the foundation for their success will be based on their synergy.

“To develop that chemistry that all winning teams must have, that’s the biggest thing,” Sorci said. “The more we’ve spent time together on or off the floor, even if it’s just in the locker room, I think that’s a huge advantage for us to win, because having so much time apart when you’re not practicing every day together, we have to build trust somehow. If we’re together going out to eat or doing some event all together, that’s going to help our team the most.”

Team USA begins play on September 20 against the Netherlands.