Breaking Boundaries
The Lacrosse Coach Who Learned Along the Way
So, your kid came home and said they want to play lacrosse. Maybe they brought a flier home from school or the neighbor down the street plays or maybe they were recruited by another kid in their class who plays. Either way, they're ready to play and see what's it's all about.
I can hear your thoughts already, "What is lacrosse?? I don't know anything about it. I've never heard of it." Fear not. These are not unique nor the first time they have been echoed. You are not the first and likely will not be the last to have such thoughts.
In the world of lacrosse, where strategy, skill and teamwork intersect, the role of a coach is pivotal. A lacrosse coach is not merely a strategist but also a mentor, motivator, and lifelong learner. A coach, in any sport, must have a willingness to learn and adapt over the years. This is especially true for the new coach in lacrosse.
So, now you've completed the registration and before you know it, the club or league you're participating in reaches out to the parents and says they need a coach for the team or worse yet, if no one volunteers, your kid will not have a team to play on. No one is volunteering. No one is coming forward. You reluctantly volunteer, doubting your ability because as you told yourself earlier, you know nothing about this sport. It might as well be rocket science. But you have confidence in your abilities, because maybe you've coached a different sport before like football, basketball, soccer or baseball; maybe even hockey, rugby or tennis. You also played several sports growing up. Or maybe none of this is applicable and you just have a passion for your kid and you're relieved they want to get outside and be active rather than go another round on Fortnite or Call of Duty.
You’re as nervous as the kids at the first practice. The parents drop their kid off and introduce themselves to you, asking about your background. Now there’s nowhere to hide. You basically admit that you were a last resort and you’re going to fake it until you make it. Kids are showing up without gear, because like yours, they a new to the sport and no one really knows where to start or what they need or my favorite, they show up with the wrong stick, maybe a girls stick if your coaching boys or a boys stick if you’re coaching girls or worse yet, those tiny Fiddlesticks, because they were small enough and seemed proportional to the player in question’s size. You have no practice plan; all you’ve got is a bucket of balls and everything you have heard about this sport deals with groundballs so you have the kids work on that. By the end of practice, you’ve exhausted yourself mentally and mercifully it has ended. You’ve got that first practice under your belt, but you’re still feeling a little overwhelmed.
Maybe this scenario has played out for you at the beginning of your coaching journey or perhaps it is playing out as I write this. Either way, you are not alone. One of my favorite quotes of all time is, “The expert in anything, was once a beginner.” I’ve taken that quote to heart when it comes to lacrosse and I hear the detractors. I’ve even had to remind myself of that in my daily life. Regardless of experience or pedigree, if anyone tells you they have it all figured out, you have my permission to call bullshit. This sport is constantly evolving. I mean look at the evolution of the gear from the 70s and 80s to where we are now; not to mention the annual rule changes that come out – I’m looking at you Lacrosse Committee!! For a new coach, it can be a lot to digest, especially if, like me, you find yourself in a non-traditional area where lacrosse is offered.
I consider my lacrosse journey unique. I’ve developed a passion for the sport and the players under my care that some may label an obsession, which reminds me of another great quote – “Pick something and make it your magnificent obsession.” Without a doubt, lacrosse has been that for me, for the better part of 10 years. For a little background on how I got bitten by the lacrosse bug - in 2001, ESPN aired a college lacrosse game, maybe it was ESPN the Ocho, but nonetheless, ESPN had a game on their network. I had no idea what I was witnessing at the time, but I was enthralled. The precision, the movement, the physicality was truly a sight to behold. It was unlike anything I had watched or played before. I don’t recall who was playing, but if memory serves it was the quarterfinals matchup between Johns Hopkins and Notre Dame. I can’t name a single player on either of those teams now, but it didn’t matter, I was hooked. The conundrum I faced was that this obscure sport was not available where I lived, in a small rural town in Oklahoma. It wasn’t even a thing in Oklahoma, at least not within my sphere of knowledge.
It soon became a distant memory until one day in college, I skipped my European History Post WW2 class, (don’t judge) it sounds boring I know. So, I took a little drive. On my travels, I noticed some people in a field with sticks tossing a ball around. I stopped and watched, mesmerized by their agility and coordination and couldn’t help but wonder what was going on. What I assume was the coach walked over and asked me how it was going and what I was doing. As it turns out, these were high school kids in a field playing this game and here I am, a random stranger watching it all transpire from a distance. Unbeknownst to me they were playing the indigenous version of lacrosse and all these players were themselves Native American. I’m sure you can imagine their suspicions when a college-aged white man was watching them. I doubt it was anything like the early Europeans witnessing this spectacle and likely raised more concern than anything.
Nonetheless, my curiosity was piqued and I began to ask questions of the gentleman who engaged me – “What’s going on here?” “What are they playing?” He went one to explain that the boys were playing was it referred to as lacrosse – a laymen term by the way it was presented. I told him I had watched a game before but had no idea was I was watching. He chuckled and said this was a form of the original version and gave me a brief history of the sport. I guess he could tell I was intrigued and asked if I wanted to join in. I looked at him with doubt, but he insisted he was serious. Never one to backdown from a challenge, I accepted and I was given a crude wooden stick and a basic rundown of the rules. Now I would love to say I went and dominated, but truth be told, I got my ass kicked. Whether it was because I was new or because I was an outsider is left up to your interpretation, but in the end, I had the most fun playing a sport I had ever had. It was unstructured and structured at the same time. It was the purest form of sport I had ever witnessed. I left that field beaten and bruised, but also with a sense of awe and envy.
It wasn’t until I had moved to the Tulsa area that I was finally able to get deeper into the sport. What started as a casual interest soon blossomed into a deep-seated passion. Like you, I signed my kids up, but not because they had heard about it, but because I had. Nonetheless, after the first practice I was asked to coach and before I knew it, I was all in. I began consuming lacrosse in any way possible and in those days, YouTube was my best friend.
Over the years, my coaching philosophy has evolved, shaped by my own personal experiences and others and the ever-changing landscape of lacrosse. I’ve embraced innovation and experimentation, incorporating new strategies and techniques into my coaching repertoire while staying true to the fundamentals that formed the backbone of my coaching style. I discovered more resources from US Lacrosse (now USA Lacrosse), peers who were older, watching collegiate games or even incorporating basketball and soccer drills and strategies. Ultimately, the most value I found was reaching out and bringing in people and entities and learning from them. People such as Kieran McCardle, Joel White, Paul Rabil, Kyle Hartzell, Scotty Rodgers, Jerry Ragonese, Ryan Brown, Matt Landis, Dylan Maltz, Sergio Salcido, Jules Heningburg and TD Ierlan as well as Ryan Small with DEFY Lacrosse and other local players who had returned to the area. Selfishly, this was as much for me as it was the kids, as I was able to learn new drills and terminology that I was able to incorporate into my practice plans and game strategies. Whether it was attending coaching clinics, studying game footage or seeking advice from seasoned mentors, I embraced every opportunity to expand my knowledge and refine my coaching approach. My advice is to steal everything you can from people who have taken this journey before you – be they player or coach.
Coaching is a continuous journey of growth, one that demands humility and an open mind. I even got involved in the local men’s league and found out that all that yelling I was doing at players for doing things wrong like scooping groundballs in pressure, passing and catching in traffic and running up and down the field over and over wasn’t as easy as I thought it was and gave me a new respect for what we, as coaches, ask and demand of our players. I even took it a step further and became an official so I could learn the nuances of the sport. Being an official allowed me to scout other teams, watch what the better teams were doing well and gave me a different viewpoint of how the game is played. I highly encourage all coaches to become officials and officiate a game or three, as it will give you a different and healthy perspective you otherwise may not have.
All that being said, I’m here to tell you that I’ve learned so much along the way and I didn’t know anything about the sport. Sure, I had coached and played sports before, but never lacrosse. I believe that even as adults, we should never stop learning and anyone who told me I didn’t know what I was doing because I had never played or coached lacrosse before, just put a chip on my shoulder to go out and prove them wrong. It certainly hasn’t been easy, but anything rewarding rarely is. Coaching is not just about teaching lacrosse skills; it is about instilling values such as discipline, resilience and teamwork into your players. If you can do that, the teaching of the skills will follow suit, because you will have an overwhelming desire to offer such to your players in any way possible. I even tore my ACL in 2021 during a lacrosse practice with the team because I wanted to show them I could do what I was asking of them. I ended up putting off surgery for three months so I could coach and officiate the spring season just so I wouldn’t have to miss any games or not be with my players.
Hopefully the insight provided here serves as an inspiration to aspiring coaches everywhere, reminding them that success is not just measured in wins and losses but in the lives touched and the lessons learned along the way. With each new season, I approach the field with renewed enthusiasm and a hunger for knowledge, knowing that the journey of a lacrosse coach is one that never truly ends.
If you find yourself in a position this season where you are coaching for the first time or coaching the sport for the first time, do not let it overwhelm you. You CAN learn the sport and you CAN have shared success with your players as you both learn to play the game and have fun doing so in the process.
MICHAEL STROUP
Hailing from Tulsa, OK, Michael has a passion for growing the game at the youth and HS levels and provides great insights into our sports growth in non-hotbed areas.