
It's not quite like "Friday Night Lights" — the TV drama that shines a spotlight on small-town football in Texas — but when these three New England transplants talk about their new roots, it comes close.
"If you give the kids a set play, they can run it really, really well and they’ll do it perfect every single time," said Chris Delfausse, a former Connecticut College player who’s now the head coach of Westlake (Texas) High School and the director of their youth program. "But if you put them out there in a set and ask them to create, then they struggle a little bit more. It’s trying to help them become smart lacrosse players and not just robots out there on the field."
That process is what Delfausse dubbed the "football-ization of lacrosse," and he’s part of a trio who’s helping the sport find its own identity down in the Austin, Texas, area.