It was the California Redwoods’ first crack at showcasing the team on Saturday Night Lacrosse, and the game couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start. The Carolina Chaos had three goals – one a two-pointer – on their first four shots in the game and were out to an early 4-0 lead.
Over the years, Redwoods defender Chris Fake had seen defenses be on the wrong side of scoring runs and respond by yelling at each other and pointing fingers. He didn’t like that negative energy, and he made it a goal this year to help pick up players after the team let up a goal.
Or two.
Or four.
“We’re going to face some tough times, and we may get three dropped on us in a row,” Fake said, “but stay calm and stay positive and not freak out after that happens.”
That attitude was helpful in the game against Carolina. After Cross Ferrara scored at the 7:21 mark of the second quarter, the Redwoods held the Chaos scoreless for the next 18 minutes and three seconds until Adam Charalambides scored with 1:18 remaining in the third quarter. By that point, California held a commanding 14-6 lead.
Having a positive mindset in the midst of adversity was a goal of Fake’s, but it was also embedded into the team thanks to their book study during training camp, where they read and discussed Jon Gordon’s “The Energy Bus” together.
“Energy is going to drive us,” California head coach Anthony Kelly said. “That positive energy, and that positive mindset, immediately shifts. It’s way easier to buy into that. Guys want to follow positive energy. It creates a better atmosphere. It creates a better team. Ultimately, we’re going to have a lot more fun, and when you’re having fun, and you’re around your friends, and you guys are looking at things and you’re attacking it the right way, you’re going to win games.”
When Kelly was hired as the new head coach of the Redwoods, he recognized how disjointed the locker room was. In an effort to improve upon the three-win season prior, a large roster overhaul occurred during the offseason, including the coaching staff. In addition to Kelly, Chris Bocklet became the team’s new offensive coordinator, and 15 players who were on the team’s roster in camp were not on the roster in 2024.
Kelly wanted to do something that would bring a group of strangers together, something that would serve as a starting point to get everyone on the same page and focused on who they wanted to be as a team. He also wanted to do something different that would set the Redwoods apart from the other teams in the Premier Lacrosse League.
The 13-year professional lacrosse player is an avid reader off the field; it’s something he believes betters him as a businessman and a coach. He thought a book study, something the team could read together, would be beneficial. Kelly brought up the idea to Bocklet, and in a stroke of good luck, Bocklet told Kelly he was pickleball partners with Gordon, who played lacrosse at Cornell and is the author of 30 books, including 17 bestsellers.
Bocklet asked Gordon which of his books would be best to read with a team, and Gordon suggested “The Energy Bus.”
“The message of the book was really fitting,” Bocklet said. “Everyone is the driver of their own bus, and your life is powered by the energy you choose to bring and success comes from positivity, vision, purpose and teamwork.”
While the coaching staff was excited by the idea, they also had to get the players on board with an unorthodox team bonding experience. About two weeks before training camp, Kelly addressed the players and told them of the book study. He told them he knew it would be a big ask of them to read the book on their own, but that it wasn’t going to be too strenuous a read and he believed the benefits would outweigh any amount of time they would spend reading it.
The coaches were pleasantly surprised by the buy-in from the players.
“I was reading it on the airplane. I’ve read this book, to be honest, 10 times,” Bocklet said. “Andrew McAdorey was sitting next to me. He just finished his season like a week before. … I figured if anyone didn’t read it, this definitely was a guy that did not. So, I was like, ‘Hey, I’m finished with this. You can take this,’ and he goes, ‘Oh, no, Coach. I already listened to the whole thing.’ It was cool to hear that.”
Kelly said even when California added players two days before training camp, such as Josh Balcarcel, the team sent the new guys messages telling them they needed to read the book.
Balcarcel didn’t need much convincing.
“They’ve coached at a high level, they’ve played at a high level,” the undrafted rookie said. “Anything they provide to the team, like the book, ‘The Energy Bus,’ when they give it to us, when they assign it to us, we know there’s meaning behind it.”
After reading the book before camp and referencing it throughout the week at practice sessions, the team had a Zoom with Gordon the day before the season opener. Gordon talked about handling losses and negative thoughts as well as what it takes to come together as a team; he encouraged the players to reach out to three teammates a day just to ask how they were doing in order to get to know each other.
The team took a lot of what Gordon said and what he wrote to heart. Fake wanted to have the tightest locker room in the league and be there for his teammates when things weren’t going well. Balcarcel identified with the idea of applying positive energy to every situation and surrounding yourself with the right people in order to achieve a goal. Chris Kavanagh said he appreciated the message of staying positive and on the same path together and accepting people with different mindsets.
Bocklet’s biggest takeaway was to be grateful for what he has and bring out the joy in the experience.
“I feel like when people are nervous and stressed, they don’t actually play their best,” he said. “When a team is playing free and getting into their flow state, that doesn’t happen unless you’re having fun and enjoying it. It’s just a game that these guys have loved their entire life, and now, they’re connected with a bunch of guys.”
“Enjoying the process and being with each other and loving the game was the biggest thing,” he added. “We wanted everyone on the bus to be able to share their passion and love for the game.”
The night after the Zoom with Gordon, California opened its season against the Denver Outlaws. From the moment Fake led the team and ran onto the field with an American flag – an idea started by Brendan Nichtern and a responsibility given to him by captains Brian Tevlin and Chris Merle – to the team’s final goal of the game, scored by Balcarcel, it was clear that the Redwoods were enjoying every moment of the experience.
While there were a lot of aspects that went into winning that game – such as Chayse Ierlan’s 50% save percentage in his first start, a winning performance at the faceoff position by TD Ierlan, and the team dominating the game in ground balls, touches, passes and time of possession – Fake and Balcarcel couldn’t help but think reading “The Energy Bus” also played a role.
“That victory,” Fake said, “was a product of how close we became that week.”
“I think the book really helped the group get to that one heartbeat and that same page,” Balcarcel added, “where we want to have this genuine love for each other and strive to work hard for the guys to the left and right.”
Against the Chaos, TD Ierlan’s goal in the second quarter, off an assist from long-stick midfielder Jared Conners, tied the game at five. After the game, Kelly said it was never a risk to allow those guys to get involved in the offense because he trusts them.
Building trust has been a focus of his since taking over the job as head coach. By implementing “The Energy Bus” throughout training camp, Kelly said the players could trust that he was going to follow through with things. Similarly, by buying into the process, reading the book and coming prepared with good questions for the Zoom with Gordon, the players earned Kelly’s trust.
It’s something he hopes sets the team apart on and off the field moving forward.
“Every team at this level is great, and there’s great players and great teams, but there truly are very few great locker rooms,” he said. “Our focus as a staff from day one is to build our locker room first and build our culture. … I think it’s been working so far. It’s been fun to see that plan come together, and it’s fun to see how excited the guys are to be around each other and continue to grow as a group.”
