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From The Field to the Clipboard Episode #1 · From The Field To The Clipboard

0:00
Speaker 1: Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Howard Argo, and you are tuning
0:03
Speaker 1: into From the Field to the Clipboard, where we talk
0:06
Speaker 1: about the fastest sport on two feet, men's lacrosse. To
0:10
Speaker 1: give you guys a little introduction, I am a senior
0:12
Speaker 1: lacrosse player here at Dean College. And to be honest
0:15
Speaker 1: with you, I absolutely love the sport of lacrosse. As
0:19
Speaker 1: a player who wants to get into coaching after college,
0:21
Speaker 1: I have so many questions about what that career could
0:25
Speaker 1: look like and what it takes to succeed. What a
0:28
Speaker 1: better way to answer those questions than talking to people
0:31
Speaker 1: who are in the same shoes as me just a
0:33
Speaker 1: few years ago. Today I have a special guest with me,
0:36
Speaker 1: former defenseman, captain, and current lacrosse defensive coordinator for the
0:41
Speaker 1: Dean College Bulldogs, Chris Carbone, a former teammate of mine.
0:46
Speaker 1: Chris is a great fit for this interview, and I'm
0:48
Speaker 1: excited to learn more about him. I think it will
0:50
Speaker 1: be interesting to hear about his experience as a player
0:54
Speaker 1: and how that experience helped him become the coach he
0:57
Speaker 1: is today. Since I am also interested in getting into
1:00
Speaker 1: coaching after college, I want to hear about what he
1:02
Speaker 1: has learned along the way and some of the advice
1:06
Speaker 1: he would give to someone who wants to follow a
1:08
Speaker 1: similar path. I also want to talk about some of
1:10
Speaker 1: the challenges he faced as a college athlete, the people
1:14
Speaker 1: who helped him along the way, and some of the
1:16
Speaker 1: moments that really shaped him. I think hearing his story
1:19
Speaker 1: will give me a better idea of what I can
1:20
Speaker 1: expect after college and what I should focus on as
1:24
Speaker 1: I start my own coaching journey. I also hope you
1:27
Speaker 1: learn from this as well. If you are interested in
1:29
Speaker 1: lacrosse and possibly coaching, this podcast is for you. Today
1:46
Speaker 1: we're going to talk about Chris's experience as a college
1:49
Speaker 1: athlete here at Dean. The challenges of balancing academics, athletics,
1:55
Speaker 1: and life outside of lacrosse and the memories that made
1:59
Speaker 1: his college experience special. I also want to talk about
2:02
Speaker 1: some of the highs and lows he experienced as an
2:04
Speaker 1: athlete and how those moments helped shaped him in the
2:07
Speaker 1: person he is today. We'll talk about the people who
2:10
Speaker 1: helped him along the way and how his teammates and
2:13
Speaker 1: coaches impacted his college experience. From there, we'll get into
2:17
Speaker 1: what made him want to get into coaching and what
2:19
Speaker 1: it was like making that transition from being a player
2:21
Speaker 1: to becoming a coach. We'll talk about some of the
2:23
Speaker 1: challenges that come with it and what he has learned
2:26
Speaker 1: from his experience and how his time as a player
2:28
Speaker 1: has helped him coach his athletes today. Most importantly... I
2:32
Speaker 1: want to hear what advice he has for someone like
2:35
Speaker 1: me who wants to follow a similar path after college
2:38
Speaker 1: and stay involved in lacrosse. So with all that being said,
2:42
Speaker 1: I'm excited to hear Chris's story, learn from his experiences,
2:45
Speaker 1: and hopefully take some of his advice with me as
2:49
Speaker 1: I start thinking about my future. Let's get started. Before
2:53
Speaker 1: we get into our interview, I want to give you
2:55
Speaker 1: a rundown on me. I am a senior, and growing up,
2:59
Speaker 1: I loved sports. I played a bunch of sports growing up,
3:02
Speaker 1: like soccer, football, and wrestling, but I never really connected.
3:07
Speaker 1: I stopped soccer early, and don't get me wrong, I
3:09
Speaker 1: love watching football, but it just wasn't for me. Growing up,
3:14
Speaker 1: I was an active kid, but I got hurt a lot.
3:16
Speaker 1: When I was 12 years old at wrestling practice, I
3:18
Speaker 1: messed my knee up. And I thought my dad would
3:20
Speaker 1: cut me from sports since I always seemed to get hurt. Instead,
3:24
Speaker 1: my dad wanted me to try a sport that I
3:26
Speaker 1: have never heard of. That sport was lacrosse. My dad
3:30
Speaker 1: has always been huge in the Native American history and
3:32
Speaker 1: he was really interested in the creator's game. I was
3:35
Speaker 1: questionable at first, but soon the game grew on me.
3:38
Speaker 1: Luckily for me, I've always had a system of coaches
3:42
Speaker 1: and older players who helped me learn more about the
3:45
Speaker 1: game and grow a relationship with it. And for that,
3:48
Speaker 1: I am grateful. When I got to high school, I
3:51
Speaker 1: loved lacrosse, but I had no plans to play it
3:53
Speaker 1: in college. I enjoyed playing and being around the sport,
3:57
Speaker 1: but I never really thought it could become a bigger
3:59
Speaker 1: part of my life. Then Coach Matt Scheer from Dean
4:03
Speaker 1: College reached out to me and gave me a path
4:05
Speaker 1: where I could play in college and potentially coach in
4:08
Speaker 1: the future. That opportunity completely changed how I looked at lacrosse.
4:12
Speaker 1: Coming to Dean allowed me to continue playing the sport
4:15
Speaker 1: I loved while also meeting coaches and teammates who helped
4:18
Speaker 1: me grow as a person. Through my experiences at Dean,
4:21
Speaker 1: I have developed a stronger passion for the game and
4:24
Speaker 1: have started to see coaching as more of an option
4:26
Speaker 1: to pursue after college. Lacrosse has given me the opportunities
4:31
Speaker 1: I never expected, and I am grateful for where it
4:33
Speaker 1: has taken me. My overall experience playing lacrosse in college
4:37
Speaker 1: has shaped me and helped me grow. When I first
4:41
Speaker 1: came to Dean, I was focused mostly on playing the
4:43
Speaker 1: sport I loved and making the most of the opportunity
4:46
Speaker 1: it came to me. As I continued through college, I
4:48
Speaker 1: realized that being a college athlete is much more than
4:51
Speaker 1: just playing the games. I had to learn how to
4:53
Speaker 1: manage my time between practice, games, classes, and my personal life.
4:59
Speaker 1: There were challenges along the way, but those experiences helped
5:02
Speaker 1: me become more responsible and independent. My teammates and coaches
5:06
Speaker 1: also played a big role in helping me grow and
5:08
Speaker 1: become more confident. I was given a chance that I
5:12
Speaker 1: never thought I would get. And that's why I wanted
5:14
Speaker 1: to make this podcast so that some young athletes out
5:16
Speaker 1: there could listen to this and learn that sometimes all
5:20
Speaker 1: it takes is you believing in yourself to create the
5:22
Speaker 1: difference that is needed to succeed. After college, one of
5:26
Speaker 1: my biggest goals is to get into coaching and eventually
5:29
Speaker 1: become a high school lacrosse coach. My experience playing at
5:32
Speaker 1: Dean has made me realize how much I enjoy not
5:35
Speaker 1: only playing the game, but also helping others learn and improve.
5:39
Speaker 1: I want to take everything I've learned from my coaches
5:42
Speaker 1: and teammates and use those experiences to help the next
5:45
Speaker 1: generation of players. I would especially like to coach at
5:48
Speaker 1: the high school level because I remember how important my
5:51
Speaker 1: high school coaches were to my development as both a
5:54
Speaker 1: player and a person. Even though I was playing just
5:57
Speaker 1: for fun at the time, my teammates became good friends
6:00
Speaker 1: of mine and I'm still in contact with some of
6:02
Speaker 1: them even today, even though I graduated in 2023. I
6:07
Speaker 1: want to be someone who can make that same kind
6:09
Speaker 1: of impact on young athletes. Show them that when they
6:12
Speaker 1: step on the field, it's a temple where they don't
6:15
Speaker 1: have to worry about anything other than lacrosse. After graduation,
6:19
Speaker 1: I plan to look for coaching opportunities, gain experiences, and continue.
6:23
Speaker 2: Learning about the game.
6:24
Speaker 1: I have a little bit of experience from coaching summer
6:26
Speaker 1: leagues and coaching high school players, but that's all. Eventually,
6:30
Speaker 1: I hope to lead my own program and help players
6:33
Speaker 1: grow on and off the field. The reason for this
6:36
Speaker 1: is that I love watching players succeed in their own way.
6:39
Speaker 1: For me, there is no better feeling than when a
6:42
Speaker 1: player adapts to something they're struggling with and works at
6:46
Speaker 1: their craft, and it shows on the field. For me,
6:49
Speaker 1: it's like a parent watching their kid grow into something special.
6:54
Speaker 1: A kid that I helped coach over the summer became
6:56
Speaker 1: an all-conference player as a junior, and that made me
6:59
Speaker 1: so proud since I saw the work that he put
7:02
Speaker 1: in on and off the field to get there. My
7:07
Speaker 1: long-term goal is I would like to continue growing as
7:10
Speaker 1: a coach and see how far I can take it.
7:12
Speaker 1: It's not my number one goal since I want to
7:14
Speaker 1: get into the workforce, but I also want to have
7:16
Speaker 1: time to coach. I would like to coach at the
7:18
Speaker 1: college level after I get some experience under my belt. Eventually,
7:23
Speaker 1: if I have the opportunity, I would even like to
7:25
Speaker 1: see what coaching at the professional level would be like.
7:29
Speaker 1: Coaching some of the best athletes in the world sounds
7:31
Speaker 1: interesting to me and challenging. I understand that reaching that
7:35
Speaker 1: level would be extremely competitive, but having that as a
7:38
Speaker 1: long-term goal motivates me to keep improving and focusing on
7:42
Speaker 1: myself each day, which can help me reach this goal.
7:46
Speaker 1: Whether I end up coaching high school, college, or professionally,
7:50
Speaker 1: I want to build a career where I can stay
7:52
Speaker 1: involved in lacrosse, develop players, and give back to the
7:57
Speaker 1: sport that has given so much to me, because to me,
8:00
Speaker 1: that is what it's all about. Now that you guys
8:03
Speaker 1: know a little bit more about me and what this
8:04
Speaker 1: podcast is all about, I think that's enough about me.
8:08
Speaker 1: Let's get into the interview. As I said earlier, I'm
8:10
Speaker 1: joined today with Chris, defensive coordinator for the Dean College Bulldogs.
8:14
Speaker 1: Chris has been through a lot of the same experiences
8:17
Speaker 1: that many college athletes go through, from balancing school and
8:20
Speaker 1: lacrosse to dealing with the challenges that come with being
8:23
Speaker 1: a student athlete. Since Chris was also a former teammate
8:26
Speaker 1: of mine, I have been able to see some experience firsthand.
8:29
Speaker 1: which makes this conversation even more interesting for me. I
8:33
Speaker 1: have seen him as a teammate, but now I get
8:35
Speaker 1: the chance to learn more about his journey and how
8:38
Speaker 1: he went from being a player to becoming a coach.
8:41
Speaker 1: Now that he's on the coaching side, he has a
8:44
Speaker 1: completely different perspective on the game and what it takes
8:47
Speaker 1: to help players succeed. I'm interested to hear how his
8:50
Speaker 1: experiences as a player have influenced the way he coaches
8:53
Speaker 1: today and what lessons from his playing career he still
8:57
Speaker 1: uses with his athletes.
9:00
Speaker 2: I'm also excited to hear about his journey, what he
9:02
Speaker 2: has learned along the way, and what advice he has
9:05
Speaker 2: for athletes who might want to get into coaching in
9:07
Speaker 2: the future. Since coaching is something I want to pursue
9:10
Speaker 2: after college, I think there is a lot I can
9:12
Speaker 2: learn from Chris and hopefully take some of his advice
9:14
Speaker 2: with me as I start my own coaching career. So, Chris,
9:18
Speaker 2: thanks for being here today, and thank you for taking
9:20
Speaker 2: your time out of your busy schedule to talk with me. Now,
9:22
Speaker 2: without further ado, let's get into it. Sound good with you, Chris?
9:26
Speaker 3: Sounds good, Howie. Let's go.
9:27
Speaker 2: All righty. Topic one, I want to start by talking
9:31
Speaker 2: about some of the best moments you've had as a
9:32
Speaker 2: college athlete. When you look back at your playing career,
9:36
Speaker 2: there are probably certain games, accomplishments, and memories that really
9:38
Speaker 2: stand out. What were some of the biggest highs you
9:41
Speaker 2: experienced as a college athlete, and how did those moments
9:43
Speaker 2: shape you as a person and as an athlete?
9:46
Speaker 3: First off, I want to say thank you, Howie, for
9:49
Speaker 3: bringing me out. But definitely really fun four years playing
9:53
Speaker 3: here at Dean. A lot of really strong connections I've made.
9:56
Speaker 3: with the seniors over the years, meeting a lot of
9:58
Speaker 3: really cool captains. and relationships that I still carry on
10:02
Speaker 3: to this day. But when it comes down to games,
10:05
Speaker 3: I would say going back to that 2023-24 season, this
10:08
Speaker 3: was my junior year, going up to Riviere in the
10:10
Speaker 3: semifinals of the GNAC. Knocking them out was awesome. Hearing
10:15
Speaker 3: their crowd, they're a real loud crowd. They talk a lot.
10:19
Speaker 3: So Being able to beat them was awesome, especially up
10:23
Speaker 3: in Nashua for that long bus ride home was really fun.
10:27
Speaker 3: And having an opportunity to represent Dean in the GNAC
10:30
Speaker 3: championship game was also really fun as a junior year.
10:33
Speaker 2: I completely understand that. For me, I would have to
10:35
Speaker 2: say that it was my freshman year when we beat Riviere.
10:38
Speaker 2: I mean, the experience of running all to the field
10:40
Speaker 2: and celebrating with you and the guys was unbelievable. And
10:43
Speaker 2: going into the locker room afterward and just going crazy
10:45
Speaker 2: was a memory that I will never forget. Moments like
10:48
Speaker 2: that are what make all the hard work, practices, and
10:50
Speaker 2: time and commitment worth it. Being able to share that
10:53
Speaker 2: experience with my teammates made it even more special. That
10:56
Speaker 2: game was a big reason why I fell in love
10:58
Speaker 2: with lacrosse even more, and it shows that it's more
11:01
Speaker 2: about just winning games. It's also about the memories and
11:03
Speaker 2: relationships you build along the way. As lacrosse coach and
11:07
Speaker 2: former player Dejon Scurry stated, I love the people lacrosse
11:10
Speaker 2: has connected me to, my best friends, fellow coaches, current
11:14
Speaker 2: and past players. This quote connects with my experience because
11:17
Speaker 2: the relationships I have built through lacrosse are just as
11:20
Speaker 2: meaningful as the games themselves. How do you feel about that?
11:24
Speaker 3: I agree. Connections go a long way. I definitely take
11:27
Speaker 3: that into my coaching aspects now that I am coaching
11:31
Speaker 3: outside of playing now. As a coach, you really got
11:34
Speaker 3: to make lasting relationships because it's outside of the field
11:38
Speaker 3: that really matters. And you can get a lot more
11:41
Speaker 3: out of a player by getting to know them, just
11:43
Speaker 3: asking simple questions, how their day is going, and making
11:47
Speaker 3: those long-lasting connections and relationships can go a long way.
11:50
Speaker 3: And that's what I started doing these past couple of
11:53
Speaker 3: seasons here at the squad, helping out with Dean. I've
11:56
Speaker 3: really connected with a lot of the defensemen on a
11:58
Speaker 3: more personal level now that I was a coach. And
12:01
Speaker 3: taking that over to King Phillip, I've learned a lot
12:04
Speaker 3: being able to coach the women's side as well, which
12:07
Speaker 3: is something different and a lot harder of a task
12:09
Speaker 3: that I took on. A lot more connections that you
12:12
Speaker 3: have to make And I was able to create that,
12:14
Speaker 3: be a lot more of a passive coach. And I
12:16
Speaker 3: feel like that has helped me a lot over the years.
12:19
Speaker 2: Now for the lows, what are some moments that really
12:22
Speaker 2: stung you when you were a college athlete and how
12:24
Speaker 2: did they shape who you are today? I think the
12:26
Speaker 2: difficult moments can sometimes teach us more than the wins
12:29
Speaker 2: because they force us to look at ourselves and figure
12:32
Speaker 2: out how to respond. Whether it was a tough loss,
12:35
Speaker 2: not getting the playing time you wanted, an injury, or
12:37
Speaker 2: dealing with something outside of lacrosse. Those experiences can really
12:41
Speaker 2: test you as an athlete and as a person. Ryan McClay,
12:44
Speaker 2: a former Cornell and U.S. lacrosse player, once said, What
12:47
Speaker 2: are you going to do when you face adversity? You're
12:49
Speaker 2: either going to stop and crumble or use it as motivation.
12:53
Speaker 2: How did you handle those difficult moments and did they
12:55
Speaker 2: change the way you approach lacrosse, coaching, or life today?
12:59
Speaker 3: Definitely, Howie. So there were a few losses over the
13:02
Speaker 3: years that definitely stung. Definitely some later losses in May,
13:05
Speaker 3: especially into the playoffs that hurt a little more than some.
13:09
Speaker 3: But I would say something that really I carried over
13:11
Speaker 3: into my coaching career was the final loss that we
13:14
Speaker 3: had against Emmanuel my senior year in the first round
13:16
Speaker 3: of playoffs. Seeing a lot of the backlash that I've
13:19
Speaker 3: seen from some of the players about some of the
13:22
Speaker 3: calls that were made in that game towards the referee
13:25
Speaker 3: after the game was over. At that point, there's nothing
13:27
Speaker 3: you can do. So the only thing that you can
13:29
Speaker 3: do is move on and go on with the next thing.
13:33
Speaker 3: Saying something after the whistle, yelling, heinous things at a ref.
13:37
Speaker 3: It's pointless. It's not going to do anything. So the
13:40
Speaker 3: best thing that you can do is own up to it,
13:42
Speaker 3: move on to the next year and remember that feeling
13:45
Speaker 3: come next year and take that pride and win with pride,
13:47
Speaker 3: but also lose with pride.
13:50
Speaker 2: I completely agree with it. Agree with that. For my
13:53
Speaker 2: next segment, I want to bring up the earliest challenge
13:55
Speaker 2: facing student athletes, and that is the struggle of balancing
13:59
Speaker 2: sports and academics. So Chris, as a former athlete, How
14:03
Speaker 2: did you do this? And then as a coach, how
14:05
Speaker 2: do you address this with your players?
14:08
Speaker 3: So definitely when it comes to being a student athlete,
14:11
Speaker 3: it's really tough to manage showing up to every class,
14:15
Speaker 3: showing up to all your lifts, practices, everything, hanging out
14:18
Speaker 3: with your friends. Obviously, you want to have that social
14:20
Speaker 3: life as well. The number one advice that I would
14:23
Speaker 3: always say is show up to every class and don't
14:26
Speaker 3: fall behind is because as soon as you miss that
14:29
Speaker 3: one class, you'll create that routine and be like, oh, okay,
14:33
Speaker 3: I can miss one class in all my classes. And
14:36
Speaker 3: then that comes to two classes. And then next thing
14:38
Speaker 3: you know, you're falling behind. When in college, you realize
14:42
Speaker 3: attendance is one of the major things. If you show
14:44
Speaker 3: up to every class, you're already going to be getting
14:47
Speaker 3: a great grade as it is. So just showing up
14:49
Speaker 3: every day, even for those tough 8 a.m. classes, number
14:53
Speaker 3: one thing that I would really look on. And then
14:55
Speaker 3: when it comes to the coaching side, I really emphasize,
14:59
Speaker 3: especially to the high school girls that I coach, to
15:02
Speaker 3: really show up to everything, especially outside of school. Make
15:05
Speaker 3: any type of connection you can, especially with the younger
15:07
Speaker 3: class and the freshmen. In college, it's a lot easier
15:11
Speaker 3: because everyone lives together and everyone is always around each
15:14
Speaker 3: other all the time. In high school, it's tough. There's
15:16
Speaker 3: a lot more cliques that you deal with. So trying
15:18
Speaker 3: to create that strong team bond is what I did
15:21
Speaker 3: as soon as I stepped on campus as coach.
15:25
Speaker 2: I completely understand that. So I got a counter question
15:28
Speaker 2: for you on that though. Alexis Savage, a William and
15:31
Speaker 2: Mary women's lacrosse player states, I'm taking the discipline that
15:35
Speaker 2: I learned from lacrosse and I'm implementing that into my
15:38
Speaker 2: academics and classes every single day. As a coach, do
15:41
Speaker 2: you think this is the point of view of most
15:43
Speaker 2: of your players?
15:46
Speaker 3: I'll be honest. In my school, I have a lot
15:49
Speaker 3: of very high academic girls on my team. So I
15:53
Speaker 3: think that they take their academics quite more highly than
15:57
Speaker 3: their sports. However, everyone is different. I personally push, you
16:03
Speaker 3: got to push your academics higher than anything because a
16:06
Speaker 3: lot of schools, they may want you for your athletics,
16:09
Speaker 3: but if you don't have a certain GPA requirement or
16:12
Speaker 3: you're not doing anything outside of your schools, you're not
16:16
Speaker 3: doing any type of clubs or any extra curriculums, They're
16:20
Speaker 3: going to look past you. They're going to look at
16:22
Speaker 3: someone else because someone else might have something better to
16:24
Speaker 3: offer them. So really getting out there and doing the
16:28
Speaker 3: most that you can outside of school is something that
16:31
Speaker 3: I always push and try to teach my girls to thrive,
16:34
Speaker 3: to be better each day and just go in with
16:37
Speaker 3: a smile each day and out.
16:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, college can be difficult, especially when you're trying to
16:42
Speaker 2: balance across school and your personal life. Were there any teammates, coaches, friends,
16:47
Speaker 2: or other people who really helped you get through the
16:49
Speaker 2: difficult parts of college? Was there someone you could always
16:52
Speaker 2: go to when you were struggling or needed advice? And
16:55
Speaker 2: how did those people help shape your college experience?
16:59
Speaker 3: Definitely would be Coach Matthew Scherer. He helped me a
17:03
Speaker 3: lot throughout the years. Definitely some tough times throughout the school.
17:06
Speaker 3: He's really taught me to just calm down and take
17:10
Speaker 3: deep breaths and find the positives in the tough times
17:14
Speaker 3: because you can really point the finger in any situation,
17:18
Speaker 3: but it really takes someone strong to find the positive
17:22
Speaker 3: in the tough situations. So going to him for a
17:24
Speaker 3: lot of advice when it's not only comes to academics,
17:27
Speaker 3: but also on a social aspect was huge. And then
17:31
Speaker 3: any of the captains before me, were awesome leaders and
17:35
Speaker 3: helped me my senior year when I became a captain,
17:38
Speaker 3: really helped me a lot when it came to the
17:40
Speaker 3: off the field aspect and really trying to control a 45,
17:46
Speaker 3: 50 man roster. It's a lot. And my two captains
17:49
Speaker 3: that I was able to work with, Ryan Clooney and
17:52
Speaker 3: Aiden McCarthy really helped a lot. We each were different
17:55
Speaker 3: in our own ways, but we all meshed very well
17:58
Speaker 3: together and we all had our own roles. And I
18:01
Speaker 3: feel like we executed those roles, but Really seeing all
18:04
Speaker 3: the seniors before me and the upperclassmen before me really
18:08
Speaker 3: helped me and pushed me into the person I am today.
18:10
Speaker 2: I completely understand that. Coming up to our last segment
18:13
Speaker 2: of the show, I will ask Chris questions on coaching
18:16
Speaker 2: so I can get more of an understanding of the
18:18
Speaker 2: topic and get some information from, like you said, the
18:22
Speaker 2: head coach of King Phillips Women's Lacrosse Team. How did
18:25
Speaker 2: that go last year, Chris, and do you plan on
18:27
Speaker 2: coaching them again? 100%.
18:28
Speaker 3: Yes, we are currently... in the amongst of working our
18:34
Speaker 3: fall scheduling now with fall lifts and the rest of
18:38
Speaker 3: our scheduling for what we're going to be looking at
18:40
Speaker 3: for our spring and mid to late March. But last
18:44
Speaker 3: season was awesome. I was not expecting to walk into
18:47
Speaker 3: a role like that. I am currently a teacher assistant
18:51
Speaker 3: at King Phillip High School and they had a coaching
18:54
Speaker 3: situation and they needed to fill it and I was
18:57
Speaker 3: lucky enough to walk into a very great Team with
19:02
Speaker 3: 46 amazing girls that really care and really listen a
19:07
Speaker 3: lot and really want to get better. And that's what
19:10
Speaker 3: I love to see. We were a 12-win regular season
19:14
Speaker 3: team in the Hockamock. We were in the championship game
19:18
Speaker 3: in our conference. We lost, however, to a very good
19:21
Speaker 3: Franklin squad. We're really looking to come back for a
19:26
Speaker 3: strong season. We lost in the Sweet 16 game. last
19:29
Speaker 3: season to Duxbury so we were a 13 win season
19:33
Speaker 3: really looking to bounce back we are facing a couple
19:37
Speaker 3: tough teams this early spring we are facing a couple
19:41
Speaker 3: prep schools as well to really better prepare us for
19:44
Speaker 3: later in the year but coaching at Kingfield was it
19:48
Speaker 3: still is amazing The team's really committed. The team culture
19:53
Speaker 3: is really bought in from freshman to senior. And that's
19:57
Speaker 3: something that is really keeping me into the program as well.
20:01
Speaker 3: If I wasn't coaching around, if I wasn't surrounded around
20:05
Speaker 3: good people and players that are bought in, it would
20:08
Speaker 3: be a lot more of a, different situation, but I
20:11
Speaker 3: love the situation I am teaching at the school and
20:13
Speaker 3: being around a great group of girls.
20:17
Speaker 2: That's good to hear. As I said earlier, as a
20:21
Speaker 2: young player who wants to get into coaching, what were
20:23
Speaker 2: some steps that you took after college that you would
20:26
Speaker 2: recommend to other players listening to this podcast and also
20:29
Speaker 2: to me, the host of this podcast, and what path
20:33
Speaker 2: can open up for them and me after school?
20:37
Speaker 3: Definitely get into the club scene. There's a lot of
20:40
Speaker 3: opportunities to meet a lot of coaches that have coached
20:43
Speaker 3: from various different backgrounds. I've been lucky enough to coach
20:47
Speaker 3: with 3D New England, a club program that I previously
20:51
Speaker 3: played for around New England. Very top program around here
20:54
Speaker 3: in the New England region, especially the Boston, Massachusetts area.
20:59
Speaker 3: I've met countless of very, very, very smart coaches that
21:04
Speaker 3: have all come from Very prestigious background. So being in
21:07
Speaker 3: that club field is definitely great to make a lot
21:10
Speaker 3: of early connections right out of college and get a
21:13
Speaker 3: really strong youth field, youth background as well. Getting into
21:18
Speaker 3: the high school is another really good, easy route. There
21:21
Speaker 3: are hundreds and thousands of high schools compared to the colleges.
21:25
Speaker 3: There is a lot of high schools in any region
21:27
Speaker 3: that are definitely looking to hire. Even if it's not
21:30
Speaker 3: the head coaching route, you can definitely be an assistant
21:33
Speaker 3: coach at any type of high school. Something that I
21:37
Speaker 3: really never thought I would see myself doing is coaching
21:40
Speaker 3: girls lacrosse. I love it personally. It's a great game
21:44
Speaker 3: of lacrosse. It's very fundamental. You really got to do
21:48
Speaker 3: your research. You really got a game plan. So it
21:52
Speaker 3: was fun. I love learning new things and taking on
21:55
Speaker 3: that task and that new challenge was really fun for me.
22:00
Speaker 2: What was one of the toughest parts to adjust to
22:03
Speaker 2: in coaching? I know creating plays for a team has
22:06
Speaker 2: to be tough and creating different schemes for a defense,
22:10
Speaker 2: but how do you know when the right time to
22:11
Speaker 2: use them? Or do you just rely on instinct? Because
22:13
Speaker 2: from my experience from coaching summer league, sometimes personally, I
22:17
Speaker 2: had trouble trying to set up some plays against certain
22:20
Speaker 2: offenses or in some cases, a certain player. How would
22:24
Speaker 2: you game plan to adjust to that?
22:27
Speaker 3: So I really rely a lot on my players. We
22:30
Speaker 3: do a lot of game prep, something that Coach Scherer
22:35
Speaker 3: really installed to me with my playing time here at
22:38
Speaker 3: Dean and coaching here at Dean. So I install that
22:41
Speaker 3: a lot at King Phillip. We spend a lot of
22:45
Speaker 3: time in the film room pre-practice, especially with my offense
22:49
Speaker 3: and my defense at the varsity level. We're scouting a lot,
22:53
Speaker 3: especially on other teams. So really trying to get that
22:56
Speaker 3: little bit of competitive advantage and see that little bit
23:00
Speaker 3: of edge and get any bit of advantage before we
23:04
Speaker 3: step on the field. We know what anyone else is doing.
23:07
Speaker 3: That's what we always look to really do. When it
23:10
Speaker 3: comes to calling plays, I am pretty laid back. I
23:13
Speaker 3: like to see my offense go to work. I have
23:15
Speaker 3: a very talented offense, multiple girls that are committed and
23:19
Speaker 3: going off to college next year and in previous years.
23:23
Speaker 3: So I'm really relying on my offense to really go
23:27
Speaker 3: to work. We pressure them hard. We give them a
23:29
Speaker 3: lot of plays right out of the gate. Going into
23:32
Speaker 3: week one of last year, we already had, I believe,
23:36
Speaker 3: five or six sets that we were actively running. Come
23:40
Speaker 3: the end of the year, we were up to already
23:41
Speaker 3: 14 sets. So really having a lot of different things
23:45
Speaker 3: to throw at teams because when a wrench gets thrown
23:47
Speaker 3: at you, you have to know what to do. You
23:49
Speaker 3: can't just crumble.
23:52
Speaker 2: Lastly, with you working as an assistant coach and a
23:55
Speaker 2: high school head coach, how tough is it for you
23:59
Speaker 2: to manage your job and two coaching positions? We talked
24:03
Speaker 2: earlier about the importance of managing your time as a
24:06
Speaker 2: college athlete. How do you handle that now that you
24:08
Speaker 2: have more responsibilities? How do you make sure you still
24:11
Speaker 2: have time for yourself? Do you have a specific schedule
24:14
Speaker 2: or routine that helps you stay organized and prevent yourself
24:17
Speaker 2: from becoming overwhelmed?
24:19
Speaker 3: I'll be honest, keeping me busy is the best thing
24:22
Speaker 3: for me. I love staying busy, and staying busy around
24:25
Speaker 3: the game of lacrosse is awesome for me. It really
24:28
Speaker 3: keeps me at peace, I would say. I'm surrounded around
24:32
Speaker 3: a great supporting cast around me. My family is very
24:35
Speaker 3: supportive of me. All of my friends are great. I
24:39
Speaker 3: still definitely make time for myself as well. Weekends, I
24:42
Speaker 3: try to stay away from as much of my phone
24:46
Speaker 3: or computer as I can because I Monday through Friday,
24:50
Speaker 3: I'm working 7-2 at the high school. I shoot right
24:53
Speaker 3: over to the campus here at Dean or I'm coaching
24:57
Speaker 3: at King Phillip. So definitely trying to find that little
25:00
Speaker 3: bit of balance is the best thing for me. And
25:02
Speaker 3: then coaching on Sundays is also a lot up in Boston.
25:06
Speaker 3: But I mean, staying busy is the best thing for me.
25:08
Speaker 3: And if I'm being around the lacrosse field as much
25:11
Speaker 3: as I can, that's definitely what I want to do.
25:14
Speaker 2: Well, that will be all. Chris, I appreciate. Thank you
25:17
Speaker 2: for coming to help with the podcast and just kind
25:20
Speaker 2: of giving everyone a little bit of what you do,
25:23
Speaker 2: how to get into coaching, and I really appreciate you
25:26
Speaker 2: being here today.
25:27
Speaker 3: Hey, thank you, Howie. I really appreciate it. Thank you
25:29
Speaker 3: for all your time, and I appreciate everything. Thank you again.
25:35
Speaker 2: Well, you heard it here first, folks. We covered a
25:38
Speaker 2: lot of important topics today, especially the importance of lacrosse
25:41
Speaker 2: and taking care of your mental health on and off
25:44
Speaker 2: the field. Chris gave us some solid answers and shared
25:47
Speaker 2: a lot of experiences that definitely helped me and I
25:50
Speaker 2: hope they helped you guys listening as well. From talking
25:53
Speaker 2: about the love and passion for lacrosse to discussing the
25:56
Speaker 2: importance of learning and staying focused in academics. These are
26:00
Speaker 2: all crucial parts of being a successful collegiate athlete. There
26:04
Speaker 2: is so much more to being an athlete than just
26:06
Speaker 2: what happens on the field. I hope you guys were
26:09
Speaker 2: able to learn something from this conversation just like I
26:12
Speaker 2: did and take some of these lessons with you moving forward. Well,
26:17
Speaker 2: that's going to do it for our first episode of
26:19
Speaker 2: From the Field to the Clipboard. I just want to
26:21
Speaker 2: take a moment to thank everyone who took their time
26:24
Speaker 2: to listen to this episode and hear what Chris and
26:26
Speaker 2: I had to talk about today. I really enjoyed having
26:30
Speaker 2: him on and getting to hear a different perspective on lacrosse, coaching,
26:34
Speaker 2: and what it's like being a college athlete and then
26:37
Speaker 2: making that transition into coaching. I think Chris gave us
26:40
Speaker 2: a lot of great insight into what coaching is really
26:43
Speaker 2: like and some of the challenges that come with it
26:47
Speaker 2: that people might not always see from the outside. One
26:51
Speaker 2: of the things I really wanted to do with this
26:54
Speaker 2: podcast was have conversations that go beyond just talking about
26:58
Speaker 2: what happens on the field. Lacrosse is obviously a huge
27:01
Speaker 2: part of our lives as athletes, but there's so much
27:04
Speaker 2: more that comes with playing and coaching. There are relationships
27:08
Speaker 2: you build, the lessons you learn, the struggles you go through,
27:11
Speaker 2: and the experiences that help shape you as a person.
27:15
Speaker 2: I think that was something that really came through during
27:17
Speaker 2: our conversation today. That's really what I want this podcast
27:22
Speaker 2: to be about. I want to talk to different coaches, players,
27:27
Speaker 2: and people involved in lacrosse and hear about their experiences.
27:31
Speaker 2: Everybody has a different story and everybody has gone through
27:33
Speaker 2: different highs and lows throughout their careers. I think there's
27:37
Speaker 2: always something we can learn from those experiences, whether you're
27:40
Speaker 2: a current athlete, a coach, or someone who just loves
27:43
Speaker 2: the game. I also hope that if you're listening as
27:47
Speaker 2: a college athlete, you can relate to some of the
27:49
Speaker 2: things we talked about today. Being a college athlete isn't
27:52
Speaker 2: always easy. There are practices, games, schoolwork, injuries, relationships, and
27:58
Speaker 2: much more. But at the same time, These years give
28:02
Speaker 2: us some experience and memories that we'll probably look back
28:06
Speaker 2: on for a long time. And if you're someone who
28:11
Speaker 2: wants to get into coaching someday, I hope you're able
28:14
Speaker 2: to take something away from Chris's experience as well. Coaching
28:18
Speaker 2: is about a lot more than just drawing up plays
28:20
Speaker 2: or running practices. It's about working with people, building relationships,
28:25
Speaker 2: helping athletes improve, and being someone they can look up to.
28:29
Speaker 2: That's something I'm really interested in learning more about as
28:32
Speaker 2: I continue my own journey. And for everyone listening, thank
28:35
Speaker 2: you for supporting this podcast and making it through the
28:38
Speaker 2: first episode. This is just the beginning, and I'm really
28:41
Speaker 2: excited to continue having these conversations and bringing different perspectives
28:45
Speaker 2: from the lacrosse world to you guys. For the next episode,
28:50
Speaker 2: I'll have another Dean College assistant coach joining me, so
28:52
Speaker 2: definitely stay tuned for that. We'll have another opportunity to
28:57
Speaker 2: talk about lacrosse, coaching, college athletics, and the experiences that
29:02
Speaker 2: come with being involved in this sport. Hopefully you guys
29:06
Speaker 2: enjoyed the first episode and hopefully you were able to
29:08
Speaker 2: take something away from our conversation. Whether it was something
29:12
Speaker 2: about playing lacrosse, coaching, dealing with challenges, or just hearing
29:17
Speaker 2: another person's experience. I really appreciate you taking the time
29:24
Speaker 2: to listen. And that's going to do it for me today.
29:27
Speaker 2: Thank you again for Chris for joining me and thank
29:30
Speaker 2: you to everyone else who listened to From the Field
29:34
Speaker 2: to the Clipboard. I really appreciate all the support and
29:37
Speaker 2: I'm looking forward to bringing you guys more episodes in
29:39
Speaker 2: the future. thanks again for listening have a great night
29:43
Speaker 2: and I'll catch you guys on the next episode of
29:46
Speaker 2: from the field to the clipboard take care everyone