Marlboro High School lacrosse players were especially attentive when coach John Payne was giving the directions. That’s because the Mustangs’ head coach was on the field with them.
Payne, a former college lacrosse player who has remained active in the sport, had several of his Marlboro players join him this summer on his lacrosse team in the Jersey Shore Summer Lacrosse League Adult League (JSSLLAL), which played its games Sunday mornings at the National Guard Training Center in Sea Girt.
“I think it was something of a shock to them,” said Payne. “I coached them in a way that wasn’t typical, calling for them to be in the right position.”
Ryan Hilla, a defender, said, ‘It was fun” playing with his high school coach. As a defender, he would often be making a pass in transition to his coach, who is a midfielder.
“It was a good experience,” said Hilla, who will continue his lacrosse career in college at Kean University in the fall. “It didn’t take a long time to develop chemistry and he became a teammate.”
Hilla and his teammates were impressed by Payne’s play.
“He’s pretty good,” Hilla pointed out.
Jesse Masterson had the same impression of his coach.
“It’s great to have a coach who can play,” said the goalie. “He can stick with anyone else on the field.
“He’s always been as great speaker to us, motivating us,” he added. “Seeing him play just gives us more confidence.”
Both players said it benefited them playing against older, more experienced players.
“It was a great experience playing with older guys,” said Masterson. “It gave us confidence.”
Which was Payne’s goal. In trying to build a solid, winning program at a school where the sport is only three years old, Payne knows there is no substitute for playing. He had his team playing in three leagues this summer, the JSSLL, GoodSports and the Men’s JSLL.
“It [summer leagues] affords them a greater opportunity to play,” he said. “We’re limited in our game experience. The goal is to get them more playing time.
“Kids need to learn to get out and play,” he added. “The summer is great for that.”
What he saw from Masterson, who will again be the Mustangs starting goalie next spring, was just the kind of development Payne wanted to see from his high school players.
“He [Masterson] did a tremendous job playing against postcollegiate players who are at the highest level,” he said. “It was amazing to see how well he played.”
For his part, Payne wasn’t looking to show-off to his players. He’s still playing for the simple reason, “I really love the game.”
Payne’s passion for the sport has rubbed off on his players. Marlboro is a team on the move. The Mustangs started 1-8 this spring in Payne’s first year, but went 7-3 in their final 10 games.
“It [1-8 start] was a growing period,” Payne pointed out. “They turned things around. We had two monumental wins at the end of the season. We beat two teams [Southern Regional and Old Bridge] who had no expectations of losing to us.”
Payne’s coaching approach is not to tear his players or team down.
“I’m a very positive coach,” he explained. “I like to be positive. At the end of the day I’m teaching kids to play the game.”
His greatest satisfaction is when, as he puts it, players “get it.” That’s the teacher in Payne. He said he likes to identify an area that a player has to work on and finds pure joy when they’ve mastered it. That moment, he said, comes when he sees them adapting something he taught them to their game as if it were their own.
Payne was very pleased with his first year at Marlboro and the way the team battled back.
“I think it was something of a shock having me as a coach,” he noted. “I’m a very strict disciplinarian and it gave the kids a shock to their system, but they responded to it.”
He sees a very bright future for the sport in the community.
“Marlboro is a great place to grow the game,” he said. “Lacrosse is a perfect sport for Marlboro. It has a good mix of athletes of different sizes. You don’t have to be a certain size to play lacrosse.”
Payne’s mantra is “smart beats strong,” which is why size isn’t as important.
Villa, who was with the Marlboro program from the start, has witnessed the progress and only sees it getting bigger.
“The program has taken off,” he said. “We have youth programs in town. There is a lot of interest.”
It would seem that in Payne, the program has the right coach at the right time.