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From the Field to the Clipboard Episode #2 · From The Field To The Clipboard

0:17
Speaker 1: Hello everyone and welcome back to From the Field to
0:21
Speaker 1: the Clipboard. If you don't know who I am, I'm
0:24
Speaker 1: Howard Argo, a senior lacrosse player here at Dean College
0:27
Speaker 1: and I got a little breakdown for you on why
0:30
Speaker 1: we are here. So, if you don't know much about
0:33
Speaker 1: this podcast, or if you weren't able to listen to
0:35
Speaker 1: our first episode, I highly recommend. This podcast is about
0:39
Speaker 1: the fastest sport on two feet, men's lacrosse, and getting
0:43
Speaker 1: to know former collegiate athletes who transitioned into coaching. That
0:47
Speaker 1: is the purpose of this podcast, which is to talk
0:49
Speaker 1: about coaches and former college players about their experiences and
0:53
Speaker 1: learn more about lacrosse and help younger players who want
0:56
Speaker 1: to get into the game understand more about it. Or
1:01
Speaker 1: if someone is just listening to this podcast. Is just
1:03
Speaker 1: interested in lacrosse. Well I am the guy for you.
1:09
Speaker 1: It could be a parent. Trying to learn more about
1:11
Speaker 1: lacrosse for their kid. Or it could be someone who
1:13
Speaker 1: is just also. Just like me. Interested in the game
1:17
Speaker 1: of lacrosse. I think it is very important to. Break
1:21
Speaker 1: down this game as a whole. And just kind of
1:24
Speaker 1: give everyone. A little bit of. You know a breakdown. So.
1:29
Speaker 1: Like I, like I say, each episode will have guests
1:33
Speaker 1: and topics, but the main goal, like I said, is
1:36
Speaker 1: about coaching, learning about coaching and playing lacrosse. I have
1:40
Speaker 1: been playing for around 10 years. I have been playing
1:43
Speaker 1: since I was a little kid. Uh, in my last episode,
1:47
Speaker 1: I'll give you another little breakdown on me. In my
1:49
Speaker 1: last episode, I did state that my dad got me
1:52
Speaker 1: into lacrosse when I was young and he's huge in
1:56
Speaker 1: a native American history. And he, He just looked at
1:59
Speaker 1: me when I was younger and asked if I wanted
2:01
Speaker 1: to play lacrosse, and I have fell in love with
2:03
Speaker 1: the sport ever since. I was given the chance to
2:06
Speaker 1: play here at college, and I took it and ran.
2:11
Speaker 1: I absolutely love playing lacrosse. When people ask what my
2:15
Speaker 1: favorite thing to do is, it might sound touche, but lacrosse.
2:21
Speaker 1: I love going out and hitting the wall. I love
2:24
Speaker 1: back home. I like to just throw the ball around,
2:27
Speaker 1: whether it's with friends or family or, you know, I,
2:32
Speaker 1: my dog isn't really a fetch type of dog, but
2:35
Speaker 1: I would throw a lacrosse ball out and see if
2:37
Speaker 1: she would chase it. Usually she would run after, grab
2:39
Speaker 1: it and just kind of take off for me. So
2:41
Speaker 1: that's always fun. Um, but yeah, I'm a huge lacrosse guy.
2:46
Speaker 1: I absolutely love it. Um, and I want to kind
2:50
Speaker 1: of carry on the love of the game for whether
2:54
Speaker 1: it's someone who's been playing for a while and, um,
2:57
Speaker 1: kind of lost their love of the game or it's
3:00
Speaker 1: a kid who doesn't really understand if they want to
3:03
Speaker 1: continue doing this game because I have been there a
3:06
Speaker 1: thousand times when you're standing there and you're like I
3:10
Speaker 1: don't know if I want to do this anymore I
3:11
Speaker 1: don't know if I want to play lacrosse anymore trust
3:14
Speaker 1: me I've been there and it's for any sport I
3:18
Speaker 1: was there for football I was there for a whole
3:20
Speaker 1: bunch of sports and lacrosse was the one that I
3:22
Speaker 1: was actually able to stick around and continue and I'm
3:26
Speaker 1: glad that I did I was given opportunities that I
3:30
Speaker 1: can't even talk. They're just amazing opportunities. I'm beyond grateful
3:37
Speaker 1: for everything that this game has brought me. I think
3:41
Speaker 1: that's enough of me. I'm going to give you a
3:42
Speaker 1: little breakdown of everything else that's going on in this episode.
3:49
Speaker 1: If you are a young lacrosse player looking for an
3:52
Speaker 1: opportunity or a parent trying to learn more about the sport,
3:56
Speaker 1: For your kid. I think this is the podcast for you.
4:00
Speaker 1: Because trust me. I was there. I was there at
4:03
Speaker 1: a point. Not really knowing much about lacrosse. I didn't
4:06
Speaker 1: know how to shrink my own stick. I just played.
4:09
Speaker 1: I just played a sport that I liked. And now
4:12
Speaker 1: I am absolutely addicted to it. So. Each episode will
4:16
Speaker 1: have different guests. And topics. But the main goal was
4:19
Speaker 1: to learn about playing. Coaching. And just overall life in lacrosse.
4:24
Speaker 1: Cap on episode 1. I interviewed Chris Carbone, a former
4:28
Speaker 1: Dean college lacrosse player and captain who now serves as
4:31
Speaker 1: the Bulldogs defensive coordinator. I asked him a few questions
4:34
Speaker 1: about how he was able to deal with academics in
4:37
Speaker 1: his time as an athlete and how he's able to
4:39
Speaker 1: balance lacrosse and his personal life. We discussed a little
4:43
Speaker 1: bit of how college lacrosse teaches athletes important lessons, including discipline, teamwork,
4:48
Speaker 1: and handling adversity. Like I said earlier, if you were
4:51
Speaker 1: not able to tune in podcast, I highly recommend tuning
4:53
Speaker 1: into that episode for this episode. I will be interviewing
4:57
Speaker 1: Aiden McCarthy, the Dean College Men's Lacrosse Offensive Coordinator. I
5:01
Speaker 1: wanted to bring Aiden onto the show because he has
5:04
Speaker 1: a different coaching role from Chris. Chris works as the
5:08
Speaker 1: defensive coach and also coaches in high school, while Aiden
5:13
Speaker 1: is the offensive coordinator and spends most of his time
5:15
Speaker 1: coaching the Dean College Men's Lacrosse team. I think hearing
5:19
Speaker 1: from both coaches can help me understand how different parts
5:21
Speaker 1: of the game work together and how the coaches develop
5:25
Speaker 1: their players. Not every coach has the same coaching style
5:29
Speaker 1: with how they deal with different players, so I really
5:32
Speaker 1: think that's important. I want to see both aspects on
5:34
Speaker 1: how Chris's style varies from Aiden's style. Aiden graduated the
5:41
Speaker 1: same year as Chris. They both were on the same team,
5:44
Speaker 1: and they both were captains the same year. Aiden was
5:49
Speaker 1: a unanimous captain. Just got to give a little nod
5:51
Speaker 1: on to Aiden McCarthy. So I think personally it will
5:57
Speaker 1: be interesting to hear both perspectives and compare their experiences
6:01
Speaker 1: with what Chris shared in his first episode and what
6:05
Speaker 1: Aiden will share in this upcoming episode. I also want
6:09
Speaker 1: to discuss how Aiden coaches his two younger brothers who
6:13
Speaker 1: play lacrosse here at Dean College. With Connor and Gavin
6:17
Speaker 1: both being junior coaches. lacrosse players here at Dean College,
6:22
Speaker 1: I think that is a very interesting topic that we
6:25
Speaker 1: can touch on because coaching family members can bring out
6:28
Speaker 1: different challenges and experiences than coaching other players. I want
6:32
Speaker 1: to see if that affects his coaching style, if he
6:36
Speaker 1: is stricter or more lenient with his brothers, or if
6:39
Speaker 1: he coaches them just as he would coach me or
6:42
Speaker 1: anyone else on the team. I personally find this important
6:46
Speaker 1: because when I was in high school, I played with
6:49
Speaker 1: a pair of brothers during lacrosse, and the thing I
6:53
Speaker 1: found very important from their relationship is they were very
6:56
Speaker 1: strict on each other. Their dad played as well when
7:00
Speaker 1: he was younger, and they were very strict when they
7:03
Speaker 1: were on the field. Every time, they were kind of
7:07
Speaker 1: chill to everyone else, and they would be nice to
7:09
Speaker 1: everyone else. But when it was between them and they
7:12
Speaker 1: made a mistake, they were very strict, and they got
7:15
Speaker 1: on each other a lot. but they were some of
7:18
Speaker 1: the best lacrosse players I got to play with in
7:20
Speaker 1: high school during my time as a younger athlete. During
7:25
Speaker 1: those times, like I said, I wasn't a great lacrosse player,
7:28
Speaker 1: but watching those two just fly around on the field
7:31
Speaker 1: with the IQ that they had and the relationship they had,
7:36
Speaker 1: it was something special. So I definitely got to see
7:42
Speaker 1: Aiden and his two brothers play, and I definitely think
7:45
Speaker 1: That that was an awesome time to. Probably for Aiden.
7:49
Speaker 1: That was a great time of his. I mean you
7:52
Speaker 1: get to play with your brothers. That sounds awesome. And
7:55
Speaker 1: so I want to get his point of view. And
7:57
Speaker 1: his perspective about it all. Now before we get started.
8:03
Speaker 1: I want to give a little breakdown on me. And
8:06
Speaker 1: what I have learned about myself. And my experience playing
8:09
Speaker 1: college lacrosse. Here at Dean College. So to start us off.
8:14
Speaker 1: I want to talk about what I have learned as
8:16
Speaker 1: a player. What are my differences from high school to now?
8:21
Speaker 1: In high school, I felt that I was more of
8:24
Speaker 1: just a me player. I felt like I just went
8:26
Speaker 1: out there and had fun, never really talked much to
8:29
Speaker 1: my teammates. I would try to lead when I could,
8:32
Speaker 1: but mostly I was just out there to have fun.
8:35
Speaker 1: But now I feel like I am more as a
8:36
Speaker 1: leader on this team. I feel like this is more
8:38
Speaker 1: of a brotherhood and more of a family. And that
8:41
Speaker 1: is why I have I am so touched with the
8:44
Speaker 1: opportunities that I was giving, not just from Coach Matt Scher,
8:47
Speaker 1: but everyone here opening up their arms since I was
8:50
Speaker 1: a freshman and just kind of letting me be a
8:52
Speaker 1: part of this program. It is something huge and something
8:55
Speaker 1: amazing that I can't really stress more. I definitely, for
9:00
Speaker 1: younger players coming out of high school who kind of
9:02
Speaker 1: had the same mentality as me and kind of think, oh,
9:05
Speaker 1: it's me, me, me, you know, I got to do
9:07
Speaker 1: this for me. I got to do this for, you know,
9:09
Speaker 1: not really thinking about anyone else. I really want to
9:13
Speaker 1: kind of push the topic of get out of your
9:16
Speaker 1: comfort zone. Go make friends in college and go join
9:20
Speaker 1: a team if you can. If you have that ability,
9:22
Speaker 1: if someone reaches out, have that chance, whether it's D1, D2, D3,
9:26
Speaker 1: or anything. I definitely highly recommend getting out of your
9:30
Speaker 1: comfort shell and making a family like I did. And
9:35
Speaker 1: something else I really want to talk about is what
9:38
Speaker 1: have I learned as a player? To kind of piggyback
9:42
Speaker 1: on what I did say back in high school, I
9:45
Speaker 1: felt like I was an okay player. Wasn't the most
9:48
Speaker 1: athletic lacrosse player you'll ever see. Wasn't the smartest you'll
9:51
Speaker 1: ever see. But I still went out there every day
9:55
Speaker 1: and worked as hard as I could. Now I feel
9:56
Speaker 1: like I'm a lot faster. I was given opportunities to
10:00
Speaker 1: lift with these guys and just kind of push yourself
10:04
Speaker 1: coach Matt always likes to say you're only as strong
10:06
Speaker 1: as the weakest link here on the team and I
10:09
Speaker 1: definitely pushed that out for other people you're only as
10:12
Speaker 1: strong as the weakest weakest link on the team so
10:16
Speaker 1: as far as your goal was to push them as
10:19
Speaker 1: hard as they work, that's only as bad or good
10:22
Speaker 1: as the team gets. So if someone's just kind of
10:24
Speaker 1: sitting there slacking off, that's the weak link. That's kind
10:27
Speaker 1: of the part that can make a team fall apart.
10:30
Speaker 1: So I've always thought, like, even if I'm not the
10:32
Speaker 1: best or not the worst, I always want to push
10:36
Speaker 1: my teammates and myself. I think it's most importantly to
10:39
Speaker 1: push myself, whether I'm on the field, whether I'm in
10:41
Speaker 1: the weight room. Even if I'm just in academics, I
10:45
Speaker 1: want to push myself to be that that top guy
10:48
Speaker 1: that people can look up to. And I feel like
10:50
Speaker 1: that as a college athlete, that's important. And I feel
10:54
Speaker 1: like in high school, I didn't really do that. I
10:56
Speaker 1: focused on my academics, but kind of when we lifted,
10:59
Speaker 1: you know, I didn't lift a lot. I mostly just
11:02
Speaker 1: went out there to play lacrosse. I'm not going to
11:05
Speaker 1: lie to you. I just went out there to play lacrosse.
11:07
Speaker 1: But now I feel like it's more of a work.
11:10
Speaker 1: It's business. It's something a lot more important to me now.
11:15
Speaker 1: And that challenged me to become a better person overall.
11:19
Speaker 1: Since I've gotten here, I have just, it changes you
11:23
Speaker 1: mentally and it makes you an overall better person from
11:27
Speaker 1: being with these great people. You're working out with them
11:30
Speaker 1: every day. You're spending time with them outside of lacrosse.
11:36
Speaker 1: Once you go to the dining hall to get food,
11:38
Speaker 1: you're spending time with these guys. There's a time in
11:40
Speaker 1: the spring where we're here for a week by ourselves
11:44
Speaker 1: and it's just the team. these are all you have,
11:47
Speaker 1: you know, for me being from Delaware, being from seven
11:51
Speaker 1: hours away, I can't really just go over home for
11:54
Speaker 1: the weekend and spend time with my family, so these
11:57
Speaker 1: guys really become a part of me, a family, these
12:01
Speaker 1: are the people I turn to when I'm struggling here,
12:04
Speaker 1: I mean, I can always call my parents and stuff
12:06
Speaker 1: like that, but when I, like, need someone to talk to,
12:11
Speaker 1: these guys are here, these guys listen to everything I
12:13
Speaker 1: have to say, and I'm, beyond grateful for it. So
12:16
Speaker 1: if someone listening to this right now and you decide
12:19
Speaker 1: that you want to go play college lacrosse, you want
12:23
Speaker 1: to get out of the state you're from, doing the
12:25
Speaker 1: same thing I kind of did, I recommend it. Go
12:29
Speaker 1: out there, meet new people. You're going to meet friends
12:32
Speaker 1: that you're going to instantly interact with and you're just
12:35
Speaker 1: going to create a bond with and I highly recommend it.
12:38
Speaker 1: I think it's something that isn't talked about much in
12:42
Speaker 1: college lacrosse or college sports in general. And I highly
12:46
Speaker 1: recommend it. And that's kind of what happened with me.
12:48
Speaker 1: I was given this opportunity. Given this chance. And now
12:53
Speaker 1: I am. I have brothers for life. And it's huge
12:57
Speaker 1: for me. It's absolutely important. And I recommend it to
13:00
Speaker 1: anyone who has a chance. And personal life. But I
13:04
Speaker 1: also think that there are a few topics. That I
13:06
Speaker 1: weren't able to talk about before. That are very important
13:09
Speaker 1: in this episode. Like challenges of being a team player.
13:13
Speaker 1: Being able to. Know that it's not just about you
13:17
Speaker 1: at points or times of a season. I know that
13:20
Speaker 1: can be tough. I know as every athlete, you want
13:23
Speaker 1: to get on the field. You want to be that guy.
13:24
Speaker 1: You want to, when his time is right, you want
13:27
Speaker 1: the ball in your stick. You want to be able
13:29
Speaker 1: to make a play. But it's about adversity and being
13:33
Speaker 1: able to know that, okay, this might not be about me.
13:36
Speaker 1: This might be about one of my teammates. This might
13:38
Speaker 1: be his time to shine. And when you do that,
13:41
Speaker 1: your time will come. But I think it is very
13:43
Speaker 1: important as a player to realize that sometimes it's not
13:46
Speaker 1: about you. It's about a team aspect. And it's about,
13:49
Speaker 1: you know, putting your team over yourself is very important
13:52
Speaker 1: in college. And I think even high school lacrosse. So
13:55
Speaker 1: once an athlete realizes that, that's when they fully touch
13:58
Speaker 1: on their full potential. I also think a huge challenge
14:02
Speaker 1: can be with coaches. Because don't get me wrong, I
14:04
Speaker 1: have coached. And I have also, also as a player,
14:07
Speaker 1: I know you're going to butt heads. I had a
14:09
Speaker 1: few players that I coached with over the summer just
14:11
Speaker 1: for a little bit. I would try to help them
14:14
Speaker 1: out and we butt heads sometimes. I butt heads with
14:17
Speaker 1: some of the coaches that I've had in high school
14:19
Speaker 1: and even now. And it's going to happen. You're going
14:21
Speaker 1: to butt head. You're going to think you're in the right.
14:24
Speaker 1: They're going to think they're in the right. It's going
14:26
Speaker 1: to happen. And I think it's a huge challenge. People
14:29
Speaker 1: need to kind of realize that as an athlete, you
14:32
Speaker 1: need to be able to adjust to criticism and to
14:35
Speaker 1: They're not trying to get you down as a coach.
14:38
Speaker 1: They're just trying to make you better. And sometimes they
14:40
Speaker 1: make me mad because they know that you can be
14:43
Speaker 1: better as a player. And right now you could just,
14:46
Speaker 1: in a certain situation, you could just be playing down
14:49
Speaker 1: to your potential. And they see that, but you don't
14:53
Speaker 1: at the moment. And it can definitely get to you.
14:55
Speaker 1: They kind of start yelling and getting in your head.
14:58
Speaker 1: And it doesn't make it better when you know you
15:01
Speaker 1: can play better and you're just kind of in your
15:03
Speaker 1: own zone. So as a player, I think that it's
15:06
Speaker 1: very important to be able to take criticism from a
15:10
Speaker 1: coach and not take it as he wants the worst
15:14
Speaker 1: from me. No, take it as he's trying to make
15:16
Speaker 1: me better. He wants to make the team better and
15:21
Speaker 1: just overall help you out. Now without further ado, my
15:27
Speaker 1: special guest here, Aiden McCarthy. Thank you for coming here today.
15:31
Speaker 2: Thank you, Howie. I really appreciate you having me here.
15:34
Speaker 1: All right, man, you ready to roll? Absolutely.
15:36
Speaker 2: Let's do it.
15:37
Speaker 1: All righty. So question for you. As a player, what
15:40
Speaker 1: was the hardest part about adjusting to college lacrosse compared
15:44
Speaker 1: to playing in high school?
15:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's a great question, Howie. I'd say coming in,
15:50
Speaker 2: I was a really confident high school lacrosse player, thinking
15:53
Speaker 2: I'd come in here, you know, start, kind of do
15:56
Speaker 2: all the good stuff, putting the ball in the back
15:58
Speaker 2: of the net for the team. Quickly, I was hit
16:01
Speaker 2: with reality. Recognizing I wasn't doing enough for my body,
16:06
Speaker 2: eating the right foods, going to the gym enough, hitting
16:09
Speaker 2: the wall.
16:14
Speaker 1: For me, the hardest part I would have to say
16:16
Speaker 1: was balancing everything as a college athlete in high school.
16:20
Speaker 1: I had people helping me stay on track in high school,
16:22
Speaker 1: but in college I had to become more independent and
16:25
Speaker 1: manage my own time. I had to learn how to
16:27
Speaker 1: balance schoolwork practices and games while holding myself accountable. The
16:33
Speaker 1: NCAA explains that college athletes must balance academics with their
16:39
Speaker 1: athletic responsibilities, which is crucial. That is one of the
16:43
Speaker 1: toughest parts, in my opinion. My second question for you,
16:46
Speaker 1: as a player, how did you learn to balance academics, lacrosse,
16:50
Speaker 1: and your personal life when you first got to college?
16:52
Speaker 2: Another really good question there. So coming in, I definitely struggled,
16:56
Speaker 2: I would say, the first couple weeks. But good thing
16:59
Speaker 2: we have a lot of academic support around here at Dean.
17:02
Speaker 2: We have a nice library that we can get to
17:04
Speaker 2: when you feel a little bit overwhelmed in your dorms.
17:07
Speaker 2: I would say I definitely relied on going to the library,
17:10
Speaker 2: getting my homework done. You can never forget to call
17:14
Speaker 2: your parents. Give your family a nice call every once
17:17
Speaker 2: in a while. Make sure they know that you're doing okay.
17:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, I definitely say the Barrison Center here is a
17:22
Speaker 1: big one that we have. For me, being seven hours away,
17:25
Speaker 1: I definitely have to call my parents a lot. Just
17:29
Speaker 1: make sure everything's all right because it can be tough.
17:32
Speaker 1: I know you are a little closer moving into here,
17:34
Speaker 1: but for me, it was really tough kind of getting
17:38
Speaker 1: into a whole new atmosphere with all that. As a player,
17:41
Speaker 1: what advice would you give to a high school lacrosse
17:44
Speaker 1: player who is preparing to play at the college level
17:46
Speaker 1: for the first time?
17:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I would tell them that you've got to
17:51
Speaker 2: prepare mentally. Obviously, most of all, you're going to be
17:55
Speaker 2: going to practice regularly. Right after you get all your
17:58
Speaker 2: schoolwork done, you go to classes. Sometimes you might wake
18:01
Speaker 2: up at 7 a.m., getting ready for an 8 a.m. class,
18:04
Speaker 2: all the way until 1 o'clock, and then you're going
18:06
Speaker 2: right to practice. You kind of don't really have a
18:09
Speaker 2: break to get ready for that. So I would say
18:11
Speaker 2: just kind of prepare mentally for that, and then get
18:14
Speaker 2: in the gym, work out, hit the wall, shoot as
18:18
Speaker 2: much as you possibly can, because at the end of
18:20
Speaker 2: the day, you're going up a step. You're not going sideways.
18:24
Speaker 2: You're really elevating your game once you come to the
18:26
Speaker 2: college level.
18:28
Speaker 1: Now for topic two, it's going to be more on
18:30
Speaker 1: coaching lacrosse. So for my first question, as a player,
18:33
Speaker 1: what did you learn from your college coaches that you
18:36
Speaker 1: now try to use in your own coaching style?
18:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I would say that you owe everything to
18:43
Speaker 2: your team. Not only just getting it done in the classroom,
18:48
Speaker 2: but committing yourself to getting the extra work in. whenever
18:51
Speaker 2: you have the free time. In the fall, we have
18:54
Speaker 2: just about three days of practice every week. But what
18:57
Speaker 2: you're doing in between then to get better, you owe
19:00
Speaker 2: it to your teammates.
19:02
Speaker 1: For me, I think one of the biggest things I
19:04
Speaker 1: have learned from my coaches is the importance of communication, accountability,
19:10
Speaker 1: and leading by example. A coach can know a lot
19:13
Speaker 1: about lacrosse, but they also need to understand how to
19:16
Speaker 1: communicate with different players and get the best out of them.
19:21
Speaker 1: National Federation of High School Associations stated that building relationships
19:27
Speaker 1: and understanding that every player learns differently are important parts
19:31
Speaker 1: of coaching. When I become a coach, I want to
19:34
Speaker 1: use what I have learned from my own coaches to
19:37
Speaker 1: help players improve their skills and become better teammates. Now
19:42
Speaker 1: for my next question, I got a really important one
19:44
Speaker 1: for you. What do you think is the biggest challenge
19:47
Speaker 1: when transitioning from being a college lacrosse player to becoming
19:50
Speaker 1: a coach?
19:51
Speaker 2: That's a good one. It's really tough. So I'd say
19:55
Speaker 2: it's different for a lot of people. Some people end
19:58
Speaker 2: up going to a different school from where they graduated from. Obviously,
20:02
Speaker 2: I came back to Dean after being a player here
20:04
Speaker 2: for four years. And a lot of the guys on
20:07
Speaker 2: the team that now I'm coaching, including you, I played
20:11
Speaker 2: lacrosse with. So I was a captain my senior year,
20:15
Speaker 2: so I think a lot of the respect translated. But
20:19
Speaker 2: recognizing that I don't have all the power in the
20:21
Speaker 2: world now that I have a whistle in my mouth,
20:24
Speaker 2: I still have to relate to you guys, understand that
20:27
Speaker 2: you guys still kind of look at me as a
20:28
Speaker 2: captain and somebody who played lacrosse with you guys.
20:32
Speaker 1: What advice would you give someone who wants to start
20:35
Speaker 1: coaching lacrosse after finishing their college playing career?
20:40
Speaker 2: I'd say that's a good way to lead into this
20:44
Speaker 2: question after the last one. Yeah, so I'd say it
20:48
Speaker 2: was a little bit of a challenge last year coming in,
20:50
Speaker 2: not really having any college coaching experience. But luckily enough,
20:55
Speaker 2: I was able to go back in between my years
20:58
Speaker 2: as a player and go help out my high school
21:01
Speaker 2: at Whitman Hanson So having those few years of actual
21:05
Speaker 2: coaching experience just a step below college really helped me out,
21:10
Speaker 2: especially this year, kind of having a little bit of
21:12
Speaker 2: a bigger role and a bigger voice on the team.
21:15
Speaker 1: For me, becoming a lacrosse coach after college is something
21:18
Speaker 1: I really want to pursue. So I would be really
21:21
Speaker 1: interested in hearing what advice that you gave to someone
21:25
Speaker 1: starting out. I think one of the most important things
21:27
Speaker 1: is being willing to learn and understanding that you are
21:30
Speaker 1: not going to know everything right away. Even if you
21:33
Speaker 1: have played college lacrosse, coaching is a different responsibility because
21:37
Speaker 1: you teach the game and help others develop. The National
21:42
Speaker 1: Federation of State High School Association emphasizes the importance of coaching, education,
21:48
Speaker 1: and developing skills to help athletes succeed. I would also
21:51
Speaker 1: like to learn how to communicate with players, organize practices,
21:55
Speaker 1: and handle the responsibilities that come with coaching a team.
21:58
Speaker 1: I have some experiences with the summer league, but I
22:01
Speaker 1: want to be able to get more into that in
22:02
Speaker 1: high school. Now the next topic for you, what are
22:08
Speaker 1: some ways someone who is still playing college lacrosse can
22:11
Speaker 1: start preparing for a future career in coaching before they graduate?
22:15
Speaker 2: I would say absorb everything that your college coaches are
22:18
Speaker 2: teaching you, and I think that's what kind of really
22:21
Speaker 2: helped me out going into this right after graduating is
22:24
Speaker 2: that I had a great assistant coach and I had
22:27
Speaker 2: a great head coach, Coach Marcus and Coach Matt, who
22:31
Speaker 2: I really learned a lot from. Coach Marcus was a
22:35
Speaker 2: little bit more of an intense kind of guy, and
22:37
Speaker 2: Matt was a little bit more of a laid-back kind
22:39
Speaker 2: of guy. So I kind of tried to find the
22:42
Speaker 2: balance in between those two while also giving back to
22:45
Speaker 2: the team.
22:47
Speaker 1: How important is it for a new coach to find
22:50
Speaker 1: a mentor, and what should someone look for when choosing
22:53
Speaker 1: a coach to learn from?
22:54
Speaker 2: I would say it's probably the most important thing. you know,
22:59
Speaker 2: having a mentor and kind of looking up to somebody.
23:02
Speaker 2: Like I said in that last question, Coach Matt and
23:05
Speaker 2: Coach Marcus were kind of, I would say, my best
23:08
Speaker 2: coaches in my entire college career that I really looked
23:11
Speaker 2: up to. And luckily enough, I have a lacrosse coach
23:17
Speaker 2: back at home. My dad did a lot of coaching
23:20
Speaker 2: for me in my youth level. So I was able
23:23
Speaker 2: to absorb a lot from him. And still even today,
23:25
Speaker 2: I find myself going back home and and kind of
23:29
Speaker 2: asking them questions about some challenges that I face throughout
23:33
Speaker 2: the day.
23:34
Speaker 1: Now, last question for you. What is something new coaches
23:37
Speaker 1: should understand about working with different personalities and helping players
23:41
Speaker 1: who learn the game in different ways?
23:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a really good question. So, you know, all
23:49
Speaker 2: players come in all different shapes and sizes, especially, you know,
23:54
Speaker 2: with their personality. Some people might chirp back at you
23:58
Speaker 2: or kind of, have some type of response if you're
24:01
Speaker 2: trying to criticize them. So recognizing which guys you can
24:05
Speaker 2: really criticize and get on and some guys that need
24:08
Speaker 2: to be pulled to the side and be talked to
24:11
Speaker 2: a little bit.
24:12
Speaker 1: For me, I think this is an important part of
24:14
Speaker 1: coaching because not every player responds to the same type
24:17
Speaker 1: of instruction. Some players might respond well to being challenged
24:21
Speaker 1: while others might need more encouragement or a different explanation
24:25
Speaker 1: to understand something. As a coach, I would want to
24:28
Speaker 1: learn how to recognize those differences and figure out the
24:31
Speaker 1: best way to help each player improve. I also think
24:36
Speaker 1: building trust with your players is important because they need
24:39
Speaker 1: to feel comfortable about asking questions and learning from their mistakes.
24:45
Speaker 1: I would like to hear how you learned to work
24:49
Speaker 1: with different personalities and what advice you would give a
24:52
Speaker 1: new coach who is trying to earn the respect of
24:54
Speaker 1: their team.
24:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I actually have a couple brothers, as you know, Howie,
25:00
Speaker 2: on the team. A few years younger than me, I
25:04
Speaker 2: was able to play one year of college lacrosse with them.
25:10
Speaker 2: So I'm a little bit harder on them than I
25:12
Speaker 2: am with the other guys on the team that I
25:14
Speaker 2: played with. Them being my little brothers, I tend to
25:18
Speaker 2: get on them a little bit. I expect more out
25:20
Speaker 2: of them, and I'm sure they expect more out of themselves.
25:23
Speaker 2: But they also respect me as a coach, and they
25:26
Speaker 2: respond very well. And the guys on the team that
25:30
Speaker 2: I've played with, it's easier to understand how they want
25:33
Speaker 2: to be coached the way I should coach them. But
25:38
Speaker 2: also this year, having a new freshman class come in,
25:43
Speaker 2: I didn't really understand how they needed to be coached.
25:48
Speaker 2: So this fall, I really had to kind of dive
25:51
Speaker 2: into that take a little bit more extra time with
25:53
Speaker 2: those newer guys and understand the way that I need
25:56
Speaker 2: to coach them.
25:58
Speaker 1: That will wrap it up for us. Thank you, Aiden,
26:01
Speaker 1: for coming again. I appreciate you giving me time out
26:03
Speaker 1: of your busy schedule for coming out here.
26:07
Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Howie.
26:10
Speaker 1: Advice that I can use overall, and I am thankful
26:13
Speaker 1: for that. I think one of the most important things
26:16
Speaker 1: I learned from this conversation is becoming a good coach
26:19
Speaker 1: takes time and experience. You have to be willing to
26:22
Speaker 1: learn from other coaches, make mistakes, and figure out how
26:26
Speaker 1: to communicate with different players. You also have to understand
26:30
Speaker 1: that coaching is more than winning games. Yeah, is winning awesome? Yeah,
26:35
Speaker 1: everyone wants to win. But it's also about helping athletes
26:39
Speaker 1: develop their skills, build confidence, and become better people both
26:44
Speaker 1: on and off the field. I think that's the big
26:47
Speaker 1: picture of being a coach, and I think that is
26:50
Speaker 1: why I want to get into coaching. I hope everyone
26:52
Speaker 1: listening was able to take something away from this episode,
26:55
Speaker 1: especially those of you who are currently playing lacrosse, whether
26:58
Speaker 1: it's high school or college, or are just thinking about
27:02
Speaker 1: getting into coaching. Even if you're not playing right now
27:05
Speaker 1: and want to become a coach for a different sport,
27:08
Speaker 1: I think there are valuable lessons you can learn from
27:11
Speaker 1: the experiences of other athletes and coaches. Everyone has a
27:16
Speaker 1: different path, and hearing those stories can help us understand
27:19
Speaker 1: the game from a different perspective. Now, before I wrap
27:22
Speaker 1: up this episode, I want to give you a little
27:24
Speaker 1: breakdown of the next episode. I will have one more
27:28
Speaker 1: episode for you guys where I will interview another coach
27:32
Speaker 1: about his coaching career, about why he got into coaching,
27:37
Speaker 1: and a whole bunch of similar questions, but I'll also
27:41
Speaker 1: add in a few new ones. Because, like I said,
27:44
Speaker 1: with wanting to be in getting into coaching, I think
27:47
Speaker 1: it is very important to ask people who are there.
27:51
Speaker 1: Ask people who I wouldn't really call professionals, but have
27:55
Speaker 1: been doing it for a while, who have the experience,
27:58
Speaker 1: who are willing to let you know how to do it.
28:02
Speaker 1: They can give you a little bit of a path
28:04
Speaker 1: that you can follow. And that is why I'm doing this.
28:08
Speaker 1: I want to be able to listen to these podcasts
28:11
Speaker 1: a little bit down the road. And just kind of
28:13
Speaker 1: remind myself why I'm doing this and why this podcast
28:19
Speaker 1: was created. And it's not just for me. It's for
28:23
Speaker 1: high schoolers listening or other college athletes. Anyone who wants
28:28
Speaker 1: to listen to my podcast. This is for just to
28:32
Speaker 1: kind of remind you guys why this is important. And
28:35
Speaker 1: I'm a huge fan. I've said it. I love lacrosse.
28:39
Speaker 1: That's why I'm doing this. I absolutely love lacrosse. And
28:42
Speaker 1: I want to be able to share that with people
28:45
Speaker 1: all over. And that is why I'm getting into this.
28:48
Speaker 1: That is why I'm coaching. And that's why I'm here
28:53
Speaker 1: with you guys today. So that's enough from me. And
28:58
Speaker 1: I want to thank you guys for tuning in to
29:00
Speaker 1: another episode of From the Field to the Clipboard. And
29:04
Speaker 1: once again, I want to give a big thank you
29:06
Speaker 1: to Aiden McCarthy for coming out and helping me out
29:10
Speaker 1: on this episode. And giving me some experiences and advice
29:15
Speaker 1: about their lacrosse playing time and coaching lacrosse. I hope
29:23
Speaker 1: you guys learned something from our conversation that you can
29:26
Speaker 1: use in your own athletic careers or future coaching journeys.
29:30
Speaker 1: I know I learned a lot that will help me
29:33
Speaker 1: as I work toward becoming coach after college. Thanks again
29:37
Speaker 1: for listening. Be sure to stay tuned for more. the
29:40
Speaker 1: next episode of From the Field to the Clipboard. Have
29:44
Speaker 1: a great day, and I will catch you guys next time.