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Ridgefield’s first game in its quest for a third straight appearance in the Connecticut Class L title game won’t be for six weeks, when the Tigers host Greenwich on April 3.

But they have been doing plenty of work in preparation for that season-opener, and the official start of practice.

We continue our preseason look at RHS by getting the thoughts of Will Bonaparte.

A versatile two-way midfielder with good athleticism and speed, the junior has committed to the University of Maryland.

For now, he’s focused on the first of his two remaining varsity springs.

Now, here are Will’s perspectives on the upcoming season.11-300x150

What have you been doing to get ready for the season?
Ridgefield sports as a whole has a very effective offseason training program. We are lucky enough to have very dedicated strength-and-conditioning coaches that are willing to open the gym for us almost every day and help us train.

We will also begin running as a team a little bit closer to the season in order to get in shape for tryouts.

In addition to lifting and conditioning, many of us go shooting together at least twice a week when there isn’t snow on the field.

How does your schedule look, what games are you looking forward to most, and who are some of your scrimmages against?
Every year our schedule is strong, and this year is no exception.

I look forward most to the games we have against our longtime FCIAC rivals such as Darien, New Canaan, and Wilton.

We also play a couple of strong teams from New York like Yorktown, John Jay and Somers.

The Summit (N.J.) game is always of particular interest to me considering their constant upper-tier national ranking, as is the Manhasset scrimmage that we usually begin the season with.

What player or players on your team do you think will surprise some people this season?
As a team, our defense is always solid and our midfield has never been stronger. I think our attack has the greatest opportunity to surprise some people this season. With the graduation of our entire starting unit from last year, there is a lot of room for people to step up.

Returning we have Brett Baker, Simon Mathias and Ryan Dunn. They have the potential to do great things this year.

What do you think the strength of your team will be this year?
In my opinion, this will be the strongest team at Ridgefield I have ever been a part of. Not only do we have great talent with a number of Division I commits, but the way that we work together gives us our greatest advantage. Many of us played on a state championship team two years ago and we understand what it takes to win.

How do you view the race in your league and who do you think some of the contending teams will be?
The FCIAC is always an interesting league to watch despite the fact that the same couple of teams win it every year.

I expect to see a challenge from the usual contenders, but I know without a doubt that our team will have no trouble facing them as long as we enter the season with the same enthusiasm that we have now.

* LaxLessons.com story on Will’s commitment to Maryland

* For more info on Will, check out his player profile by clicking here

If you’re a player from the NY/NJ/CT tristate region and would like to share your perspectives on the 2012 season, send an email to info@laxlessons.com.

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Posted In: fciac, Player's perspective

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3 Responses to “Player’s perspective: Will Bonaparte, Ridgefield (CT) midfielder”

  1. 84 Lax says:

    Ridgefield seems like it doesn’t skip a beat with another group group this year.

  2. Copps Hill says:

    Best wishes for a great season for you and the team, Will.

  3. Stripes says:

    Will – let’s do this… FCIAC, State titles!!

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