Parsippany Regional boys lacrosse program molds high school rivals into one team

PARSIPPANY – Malik Alzubi says he's "a big red guy." He wears a lot of red. His car is red. Even his bed is red. That made sense for Alzubi, a junior attack on Parsippany High School's lacrosse team.

So it felt a little odd for him to pull on a blue jersey this spring.

But not playing lacrosse "wasn't really an option," so Alzubi and his Red Hawks teammates have had to adjust.

Parsippany and its sister high school, Parsippany Hills, have formed a co-op boys lacrosse team, which debuts on Thursday at Nutley. Dubbed Parsippany Regional, it brings many of the players back to their roots.

They grew up playing for the Parsippany Phoenix, a town-wide club which combines the High's red and the Hills' blue into purple.

Regional assistant coach Tom Walek co-founded the Phoenix after his own son had to travel to Boonton to play lacrosse. He, estimated that about half the 46 players on the combined roster came up through the youth program.

Many Parsippany and Parsippany Hills girls lacrosse players have also been part of the Phoenix.

"It's not really a fresh start. It's a reunion," said Alzubi, whose older brother, Mikhlid Alzubi, was one of the founding players on Parsippany High's lacrosse team in 2016.

"It's definitely weird being in blue, but it's all love," Malik continued. "We're all meshing well together. There's no conflicts. We're not really used to having that many people. Having more people, getting more reps, having more people around who are at the same skill level, it's better reps for everybody, better practices. Everyone's getting better individually and that's how we grow as a team."

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Bringing towns together

Co-op programs aren't particularly unusual, even in Parsippany. The High and Hills also come together for Parsippany Regional ice hockey – though those jerseys are red, white and blue, with each school's logo on one shoulder.

Elsewhere in Morris County, Whippany Park and Hanover Park team up in boys and girls lacrosse, ice hockey, swimming and golf.

The lacrosse co-op in Parsippany is meant to be temporary. It's been approved by the NJSIAA for two years with automatic renewal. Knowing about two-thirds of the team would be graduating, Alzubi spoke with Parsippany athletic director Mike DiBernard not long after the season ended, trying to ensure he'd have somewhere to play this spring. If it involves a new blue-trimmed stick head and bright blue socks that his mom picked out for Christmas, so be it. Parsippany Regional provides immediate opportunities to the Red Hawks players, whose numbers are down.

Parsippany Regional head coach Travis Blau estimated six of the 25 varsity players are from Parsippany High School. None are seniors, which is a positive sign for the Red Hawks' future development.

It is also the first time the Red Hawks have an opportunity to play a full junior varsity season, according to DiBernard.

If Parsippany Regional succeeds on the field, and there's no significant influx of new players at either school, the co-op could be extended. In that case, DiBernard and Parsippany Hills athletic director Todd Ricker agreed to discuss investing in jerseys and equipment that combine both schools' colors.

DiBernard suggested adding a Red Hawks' sticker to the players' blue-trimmed black helmets.

"I think some people have this perception there's this big rivalry between Par Hills and Par High, but it's not like that anymore," said Ricker, a Parsippany Hills alumnus.

"Whether it's ice hockey or lacrosse, our kids have been going to dinner [and doing] all the team-bonding things because they're already friends," he said. "From that standpoint, it's been awesome. Of course they want to beat each other when they play each other, but the kids in Parsippany do so many things together, there's some pride involved, but not the intense rivalry."

Parsippany Hills earned its first boys lacrosse victory against Parsippany High in 2016, the teams' debut season.

The original intention was to only have one high school boys lacrosse program in Parsippany, according to Walek.

However, Parsippany Hills was a Group 3 school at the time, and thus ineligible to co-op according to NJSIAA rules. With the two schools' combined enrollment just over 1,400 students, Parsippany Regional is classified as a Group 4 program. It will play in the North Jersey Interscholastic Lacrosse League's Klank Division alongside Boonton, Morris Hills and Morris Catholic, among others, as well in as the NJAC-Independence.

Most practices and games will be at Parsippany Hills, but some are already scheduled for Parsippany High School.

"We're all friends with each other, so it's kind of nice to seeing them actually in a [high school] sport," Parsippany Hills senior Austin Cerullo said. "It's been pretty smooth, minus the whole busing situation having to travel to one high school or the other. Other than that, it's just like last year again, just being one as a team. I feel like we have that camaraderie as one team, even though we're two different high schools."

Jane Havsy is a storyteller for the Daily Record and DailyRecord.com, part of the USA TODAY Network. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis, subscribe today.

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This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: NJ boys lacrosse: Parsippany Regional blends Hills, High players