Mohegan - Training camp began Friday for the New England Black Wolves, the first phase featuring 30 or so free agents which coach Blane Harrison expected to be whittled down to 5-8 players who will join the regulars when they get started today.

Competing in the National Lacrosse League, the Black Wolves - formerly the Philadelphia Wings - are in their first season playing their home games at Mohegan Sun Arena. Games begin Friday, Jan. 2, at 7 p.m. at Mohegan Sun against the Buffalo Bandits.

Here's what makes the Black Wolves and other NLL teams different from other professional sports:

The games are conducted only on weekends to allow the players careers in other vocations.

The average NLL player, as of last year, was paid $19,135. The salary cap for each team is $400,000.

So, on weekends such as this one, the Black Wolves players will trudge to Connecticut from their homes in Toronto, New Jersey and Mississauga (Ontario). Their wives, girlfriends, bosses and co-workers know to steer clear on weekends from January to May.

Harrison, for instance, is a sales manager for a pharmaceutical company. He discusses with his wife, Dawn, every year whether she's OK with his weekends being hijacked, joking that it helps he gives her his paycheck as "hush money."

"I took the train in today," Harrison, 56, who lives in New Jersey, said Friday. "It was a pretty pleasurable ride. I could do some work. It was a three-hour train ride.

"… Long ago, I left the feeling, 'Gosh, I wish I could play again.' But I do enjoy the competitiveness. It's one of the things that keeps me young."

That means that practice time is minimal. If a game is played on Saturday, there might be time for a practice late Friday night or early Sunday.

Harrison said that with technology now, players are able to regularly get game film to study and that maybe the offensive and defensive coaches might schedule a midweek conference call with their position players.

"Guys've got to be self-motivated," said Mike Mawdsley, a transition player and a graduate of Sacred Heart in Fairfield who was drafted by the Wolves in this year's fourth round.

"It's all your mental state. You have to get off this couch right now. You get back what you put in. Guys do it for the love of the game."

Mawdsley is an estimator for a utility company, residing in Mississauga. Fellow rookie Quinn Powless, a right-handed forward from Ohsweken, Ontario, selected in the first round of the entry draft, is currently in school at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario.

Meanwhile, Kyle Buchanan, entering his third year in the NLL, is a program teacher in an after school program near his home in Burlington, Ontario. Buchanan has his undergraduate degree and has started his graduate work.

"It's a different schedule than most pro sports," Buchanan said.

The players have extensive background in lacrosse, too, though, which makes it worth the commute.

Buchanan, a right-handed forward, captained Team Scotland in the 2014 World Championships in Denver, leading the team to a sixth-place finish. He played 18 games for Philadelphia last year and finished with 23 goals and 18 assists.

Powless played a key role in helping the Six Nations Arrows capture this year's Minto Cup at the Langley Events Centre in British Columbia, something he lists as his greatest accomplishment to date in the sport.

This year's players are relatively inexperienced, primed to grow with the fledgling franchise.

Forward Ryan Ward announced his retirement earlier this month after 11 seasons, finishing 19th on the NLL's all-time scoring list with 678 points. The Black Wolves also traded veteran forward Jordan Hall to the Rochester Knighthawks for the 11th and 28th overall selections in this year's draft and a first-round pick in 2015.

The Wolves must have their roster down to 20, plus four practice squad players, by Dec. 18, Harrison said.

'It's intense," Harrison said of the atmosphere of play in the indoor league. "Whether you have other things on the side, it's all about winning. You don't have the luxury of having an 82-game schedule. Every game is a playoff game. You can't afford to lose. We lost five or six by one goal (last year) and you go back and think, 'wow, that one shift might have been the difference in us going to the playoffs.'"

v.fulkerson@theday.com

Twitter: @vickieattheday