Why I Do What I Do

I didn’t start playing lacrosse until March of my freshman year in high school. I remember the day like it was yesterday.

I was walking out of the gym, talking with a friend, when Coach Lou Marinelli — now the legendary New Canaan Varsity football coach, but back then the varsity football and freshman lacrosse coach at Yorktown — stopped me and asked “What are you playing this spring?” I said, ‘baseball,’” without really giving it much thought as I played it my whole life.

He shook his head and said “Play lacrosse.” When I told him I’d never played before, he shrugged and said: “Who cares? Play just for the running. ” — knowing full well I had dreams of playing college football.

This was 1981. Just two years earlier, in 1979, the program had suffered its first — and only — losing lacrosse season. But the very next year, in 1980, Yorktown bounced back and reached its first State Title appearance. So this wasn’t yet the Yorktown everyone knows today — but it was the beginning of it and I’m proud to have been there at the start.

Like every newcomer to the sport, I struggled at first. My stick skills were raw, and truth be told, I didn’t see much of the field that season. But what I did have — and what made all the difference — was the unwavering support of coaches and teammates who believed in me before I even believed in myself. That encouragement lit a fire inside me.

Between the end of my freshman year and the start of my sophomore season, I practically lived on the wall, doing wall ball day after day, until the sound of the ball hitting brick became my second favorite soundtrack — right behind The Grateful Dead.

By the time sophomore year rolled around, I’d earned a starting spot — and ended up starting two of my final three years, including my Senior year where I was a part of Yorktown’s first-ever state championship team. That journey eventually led me to play Division I lacrosse at Towson University.

I don’t share this story to impress you, but to impress upon you what’s truly possible when young athletes are given the right structure, support, and an unwavering sense of perseverance and belief. It’s a lesson that’s stayed with me ever since: if I could do it, so can you — and maybe even more. That conviction fuels everything I do to this day, inspiring me to coach, teach, and train the next generation to reach heights they might never have imagined. It’s what drives me and what truly makes my approach as a coach and mentor unique. Now let’s get started!