On the road to excellence

Ryan Sforzo is leading a double life. 

For nearly a year, The Out-of-Door Academy student, who will be a seventh grader next semester, has been splitting his time between his Lakewood Ranch home and Baltimore. 

At least twice a month, the 12-year-old boards a plane for Baltimore to spend an extended weekend. For roughly four days, Sforzo travels across Maryland and the surrounding Northeastern states meeting new people, developing friendships with other boys his age and perfecting his lacrosse IQ as a member of the Annapolis Hawks.

The Hawks are an all-star travel lacrosse team based out of Baltimore. 

Sforzo, who is the only Floridian on the team, has been officially playing with the Hawks since making the team in August. He played a couple tournaments with the team last summer as a guest player and enjoyed the experience so much that he knew he wanted to try to earn a spot on the team. 

His mother, Terri Vitale, has yet to meet his new teammates. 

“I’ve never seen Ryan play for the Hawks,” Terri Vitale said. “We joke all the time that Ryan and his dad (Chris Sforzo) have this double life up in Baltimore.” 

The experience has allowed Sforzo to play with top-notch players while being coached with different perspectives and techniques than his Florida coaches.

Additionally, Sforzo has been able to challenge himself against other All-Star travel lacrosse teams from the Northeast, where lacrosse is more prominent. 

“It’s a great way to test his skills, as well as learn by playing against great teams,” said his father. 

A three-sport athlete, Sforzo splits his time between lacrosse, baseball and basketball. In addition to playing for the Hawks, Sforzo also plays travel lacrosse for the Monsters Lacrosse Academy’s U13 team, travel baseball for the Sarasota Sting 12U and middle school basketball for ODA. 

During a typical week, he attends four practices, two for lacrosse and two for baseball, and travels to a tournament for one of his sports. In addition, Sforzo also juggles the demands of school often doing school work on the way to tournaments or at night after practice sometimes staying up until midnight. 

“I wake up at 8:20 a.m. and school starts at 8:30 a.m.,” said Sforzo, who consistently maintains straight A’s. “I get pretty tired, but I think it’s all worth it. I think it’s better to play two sports than to focus on one sport. You get to mix it up every day.”

“We run a pretty tight ship,” Vitale said. “We try to keep an eye on it, and he knows that school comes first.” 

With spring and summer being the prime time for lacrosse, Sforzo currently is seeing the most action.

His whirlwind summer tour began three weeks ago during the Florida Travel Lacrosse League tournament, at the Premier Sports Campus. In the semifinals, Sforzo scored the game-winning goal to propel the Monsters into the championship game. 

Following the goal, Sforzo’s teammates piled onto him. 

“That’s why I like playing lacrosse,” Sforzo said. “That feeling after you complete a goal or accomplishment.” 

A week later, he flew to Baltimore for practice before taking a bus to Long Island for a tournament. The next week, on June 17, Sforzo and his Sarasota Sting 12U teammates flew to New York for a baseball tournament at Cooperstown Dreams Park. 

This weekend, Sforzo will once again suit up with his Monsters U13 teammates for the fourth annual Rippin’ at the Ranch tournament before heading to Boston for the National Lacrosse Federation Camp and Vermont for a camp to round out July. 

Sforzo started playing lacrosse and baseball about six years ago at the urging of his father, who played lacrosse at the University of Notre Dame. 

With his dad as his coach, it didn’t take the younger Sforzo long to set himself apart from the rest of the players his age. 

“My dad always tried to give me confidence,” Sforzo said. “He always tells me I’m the best and has given me the confidence to be able to do whatever I put my mind to. I’ve always thought I could do anything.” 

Sforzo, who plays attack and midfield, joined the Monsters Lacrosse Academy where he has consistently played up a division until this year when he decided to play for the Monsters U13 team for another season. 

At the same time, Sforzo also plays for the Sarasota Sting 12U where he pitches and plays third base and outfield. 

“I liked the culture of playing all of the sports, and I just kept it going,” Sforzo said. “I’ve always had great coaches and teammates who have helped me out a lot.” 

Sforzo may want to play lacrosse for Notre Dame, but that hasn’t stopped him from continuing to play baseball and basketball. He doesn't play tennis like his older sister, Sydney and cousins Ava, Jake and Connor Krug all play. 

“It’s a little weird,” Sforzo said. “Everyone is always at the tennis courts, and I’m never with them.” 

While he tends to be more skilled when it comes to lacrosse, Sforzo bounces back and forth between his love for lacrosse and baseball. 

“I want to be an elite player at both,” Sforzo said. “Baseball isn’t just for fun. It’s competitive. If you want to play for the Sting, you have to be all in. Eventually I want to play college lacrosse, but who knows, one day I might turn out to like baseball more.”