By Paul Glenn; The Whetstone

Q: Where you born and raised?

A: I was born and raised in Kings Park, New York, on Long Island.

Q: Where did you go to school and what was your major?

A: I went to Kings Park high school, and was recruited to play lacrosse Florida Southern College.

Q: Why did you major in Business? Was it your first choice?

A: I majored in business administration because I was unsure of what route I wanted to take, and business seemed like the right direction for me. Florida Southern College is well known for its school of business, so that definitely had something to do with it.

Q: What made you want to become a Lacrosse coach?

A: I wanted to combine my love of teaching and lacrosse by taking up a coaching job.

Following graduation from Florida Southern in May of 2019, I had a real-life job. I went to in the city of Manhattan where I was working for a corporate supply company. I joined as a data analyst where I was crunching numbers, creating power points, balancing the sales team’s budgets, creating month to month business projections. After six months I was promoted to account executive of sales where I was in charge of multiple accounts, responsible for developing new leads and bringing in new business.

So, I was sitting behind a desk sometimes from seven in the morning until seven at night, taking the train back home. The money was right, but I couldn’t see myself doing that for longer than a year. I wanted to go back to school and figure out what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to do something in teaching.

Q: What made you choose Wesley?

A: I applied to a bunch of places, a couple of schools got back to me, and a couple didn’t. It came down to three schools that I would be coaching, and go full-boat on a Master’s degree in Education when I stumbled upon Wesley. It was a quick process, unlike the other schools, so I signed to stay for two years.

Q: What do you want to do outside of coaching?

A: I am excited to get into the coaching realm of things here, but I definitely want to become a teacher in the future at the high school level. I feel like I’ll have the most success at that level, as well as to grow skills in lacrosse for student athletes and help kids figure out what they’re doing in life.

When I graduate from here, I will be able to teach business. I have a Business Administration degree from Florida Southern, and I feel that things like balancing a checkbook, loans and premiums, and mortgages are things everyone should be learning.

Q: What made you start playing Lacrosse? Was it your first sport?

A: At first, I played throughout elementary school, and quit in the fifth grade. I came back because all my friends were pushing me to, and I began playing again and began to fall in love with it. I started taking it seriously, I wasn’t the tallest or the fastest kid, but you play to your strengths and you can be good at that sport. Lacrosse has so many aspects of other sports, like basketball or soccer.

Q: How have you seen yourself grow as a coach?

A: I have always been involved in coaching, which I’d say is similar if not the same as teaching. In high school, I had certain role models who were coaches and teachers who guided me in the right way. I’ve done some stupid stuff as all kids do, but I learned maturity and what has the biggest impact on me. My biggest role model is my father. He’s had many jobs of throughout his life and it took him until he was 40 to find a job that he really loves doing (physician’s assistant). One thing that I always remember him saying when I was “love what you do, so it doesn’t feel like work.”

Another person who had a huge impact on my life was my College lacrosse coach. I really learned what hard work was and what it’s like to be in the real world. He was definitely hard on us, which allowed me to grow thick skin and deal with pressure whether it’s on or off the field. He helped me mature and definitely grew my love of the game, which both contribute to what I want to do in the future, which is teach and coach.

When you’re gone, what are you remembered for? I want to be remembered as a genuine guy who cared for his players and help them grow and mature throughout college. I hope to prepare each one of my players for the real world, while making their college athletic experience as enjoyable as possible. That is something I think about.

Q: What do you want to see from your players?

A: First of all, mutual respect. I’ve seen teams crumble because there is no respect between the players and coaches. I’m not going to be “buddy-buddy” with you, but you will know that, hey, Coach is there for me. So, while I look to win and to bring a championship to Wesley, it is most important above all that my players have fun, and grow to make the best decisions. I harp on maturity and growth.