ITHACA, NY (CortacaToday) — Tony Sorci, owner of Aloe Barbershop located in the Shops at Ithaca Mall, has been selected to be an assistant coach on the USA Women’s Box Lacrosse National Team.

Sorci started his coaching career at the age of sixteen in Maine, where he coached at summer camps and led clinics. From there, he coached at various places such as St. Andrews School in Delaware and the Vermont Academy. Currently, he is in his fourth year as head coach of the Utica Yeti Box Lacrosse Team.

Sorci was also a shutdown defender for the Buffalo Bandits for two seasons, earning some high praise and experience at the professional level. He played with them during the 2007 and 2008 seasons before ending his professional career due to a knee injury. He says that his time at the pro-level “created a good foundation to build from” and has translated well to being an effective coach.

Box lacrosse is a fairly new endeavor in women’s sports in the United States. Not only is it played indoors with six players from each team instead of ten, but it also entails more physicality than regular outdoor women’s lacrosse. This evolution is something Sorci is excited about, as he says, “it allows women to play at a different level and shows that they can play the way men do with no problem”.

Head coach of the USA Women’s Box Lacrosse National Team Ginny Capicchioni gave Sorci a call after not talking for over a decade to recruit him as part of her coaching staff. She said he was her first choice to run the defense, which he does not take lightly. “She’s the best goalie I’ve ever seen play, pound for pound. I didn’t know she was so impressed by my playing, so getting high praise from her was a real compliment to me”, he says of talking with Capicchioni.

The team is set to have their first practice this weekend after not meeting for six months, and will start preparing for the World Lacrosse Box Championships that will be held in Utica from September 20th to the 29th, 2024 at the Nexus Center. It will be a new experience for the team and the staff, as the team officially launched last year and this is the first time the U.S. will have a women’s box lacrosse team competing in the world championships.

“It’s going to be exciting, things are always exciting when they’re new. It gives us an opportunity to build the team from the ground up. We want to go for gold and be the best we can possibly be right from the start”, Sorci states.

As for the Aloe Barbershop, this August will mark two years of ownership for Sorci. With four master barbers and one apprentice, he always aims to have the barbershop be a relaxed and accommodating place for patrons to go. “Aloe is a healing plant, so the name reflects the atmosphere people can expect from the shop. We don’t force anything and always try and keep things calm and light”, he says. In order to give customers the best experience possible, they are a walk-in only shop so that there are no interruptions while the barbers are working. They cut hair for people of all ages, with kids’ cuts being $15.

Though it’s a tough balance to be a business owner and a coach, Sorci credits his colleagues both at the shop and in his coaching career with always offering a helping hand and being understanding of his responsibilities.

For more about the USA Women’s Box Lacrosse National Team staff, click here. Check out Aloe Barbershop’s Facebook page here.