Due to the popularity of the Big Bang Theory TV show, America’s perception of a physicist is either a tall, nerdy, social misfit like Sheldon Cooper, or a short, near-sighted lactose intolerant geek like Leonard Hofstadter.
Here to break that mold is Will Bidle, a two-sport athlete who, in mid-May, led the Lawrence High lacrosse team in goals, assists and points. Despite his athletic prowess, his teammates don’t mind busting on him about the fact will major in physics in Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences program next year.
“They always make fun of me on the lacrosse field,” Bidle said with a laugh. “Any time there’s any sort of number thing they have to think of, they’re like ‘Come on math major, you’re the math guy.’”
Probably the most impressive numbers have been produced by Bidle’s play. In the Cardinals 7-7 start, his 29 goals were four more than the combined total he scored his first three seasons. His 27 assists were six more than the previous three years and his 56 points were nine more.
Bidle was moved from an offensive-midfield position to attack when last year’s leading scorer, Mark Turkowski, suffered a season-ending injury during preseason. He was also voted a team captain and has taken his leadership role seriously, according to coach Dan Brennan.
“Will has worked extremely hard this season,” Brennan said. “He has been the quarterback of the offense. He initiates most of our plays and knows how to move the ball once he draws a double. I have high hopes for all my players but he has really exceeded them. We needed someone to help carry the team when we lost Mark and Will has gone above and beyond that.”
Prior to the season, each player was required to write down their goals. Thinking he would still be a midfielder at the time, Bidle scrawled out that he wanted to get 30 assists.
“I’ve always prided myself on assists,” he said. “When coach asked us to write our goals, I didn’t even think about scoring goals. I’ve really kind of been assists driven more than goal scoring driven.”
Which is a surprising change from most players, who love the glory of the goal. But Bidle enjoys sharing the fame.
“I think it’s just how you kind of connect with your teammates and knowing who your teammates are,” he said. “Once you see you have a bunch of guys that can really score goals you want to set them up. Scoring goals is one of the best things because you realize you have the potential to score and to help your team out; but assists for me kind of feel the same way, if not more so. You’re giving other guys that opportunity. Not only are you part of scoring that goal, they’re part of it as well.”
The major plus is that Bidle has been on the scoring end just as much, as he made a successful adjustment to attack. Brennan made the move because “Will has good speed, great endurance and good stick skills.”
Unfortunately, Bidle did not have a lot of time to adapt to his new role—Turkowski went down just prior to the regular season starting. With two freshmen starting on attack, Brennan wanted to get some senior experience up front.
“I never really played that position,” Bidle said. “I thought it would be a lot more demanding of me for attacking. I had to run a lot as a middie. I thought I would have to play a bigger role for our offense. I was a little hesitant at first, but the transition was fairly smooth once I got used to it after a game or two.
“On attack now, it isn’t as much running but I’m kind of centered around most of the plays so I have to do a lot of the work with setting all the plays up. I actually like it a lot. It’s been one of the highlights of my entire lacrosse period for high school. I’ve enjoyed having to dodge, and I do like to score goals and get assists. As an attack I feel like I’m just in a more natural spot. It’s just a lot better.”
Bidle was initially a reluctant lacrosse player—and so was his father.
Growing up in Maryland, Kay Bidle was uncertain he wanted to play lacrosse in a state where it’s very popular. He finally gave it a shot and became good enough to play for the University of Maryland.
When Bidle was young, Kay attempted to get him to try lacrosse and the son resisted. But by the time he was old enough to play in the Lawrence recreation program, Bidle signed up in fourth grade.
“It was kind of a quick switch,” he said. “I really fell in love with it. I started to play with my friends and kind of kept going.”
When he reached high school, however, Bidle doubted he was good enough. Again, under the urging of his dad, he decided to try out and made the varsity thanks to a combination of his talent and Kay’s tutelage.
“My dad not only got me into the sport, he always wanted me to be one of the better guys on the field,” Bidle said. “He always wanted me to work on things he thought I needed to work on. He was my coach up until my freshman year in high school when I stopped playing for the Lawrence club. And he coached me in soccer, too.”
Bidle also played varsity soccer for Lawrence, and for the first time played under different coaches in ninth grade.
“I was kind of used to him coaching me all the time,” Bidle said. “Then it stopped, it was weird for him and for me. Instead of him being my coach, he was now watching from the sidelines. Still, I took a lot of what he taught me and kind of transitioned that into high school.”
Bidle’s first year was a learning experience as he had three goals and an assist, and he tallied nine and two as a sophomore. He leapt to 13 goals and 18 assists last year and has exploded this season. What has been most impressive is how his goal total has risen while he has maintained his ability to distribute.
“Will knows when to take a chance and attack the goal and when to fight through a double; or when the double comes to find the open man,” Brennan said. “Certain teams will look to lock Will off. He doesn’t mind at all. He knows this opens up space on the field and allows other guys to shine.”
That’s only half true. Bidle admits that sometimes it gets frustrating because he is told to just stay out of the play and let his teammates go at it with an advantage. His frustration comes from not being able to contribute, but he realizes that indirectly, he is contributing.
“I always hate going off to the side because I’m out there to play lacrosse, but it happens,” he said. “But they’ll learn, because our team will end up scoring two or three goals and they’ll stop doing it.”
Bidle’s increased goal scoring has come from hard work throughout the season as he has constantly tried to hone his shot and understand certain offensive situations. Brennan praised his lacrosse IQ, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise as Bidle’s grade point average is over 4.0 by virtue of getting all As and taking Advanced Placement courses.
He will focus on academics at Rutgers but is toying with playing club soccer and lacrosse to stay involved. But the Sheldon Cooper in him burns brightly.
“I’ve really fallen in love with physics and math in the past two years of high school,” he said. “I kind of knew I wanted to go into that since my sophomore year. I’ll do a bit of schooling and see where that ends up. I might go into research or teaching, I’m not sure yet.”
But for the moment, he’s still got his plate full with solving math solutions for his Cardinal teammates.
Lawrence High School’s Will Bidle competes during a boys’ lacrosse game against Steinert High at Steinert in Hamilton on Thursday, May 11, 2017. Lawrence won, 10-8. (Photo by Martin Griff.),
