The last part of this equation is the growth of the sport, specifically in the West. What was your perception of lacrosse in the West? Can you elaborate on what your vision is?
University of Denver Men's Lacrosse Head Coach Bill Tierney
My perception came from different things. I look at what some of the guys have done out here, the Scott Hochstadts of the world that are taking these club programs in California and doing amazing things, to my experience recruiting a kid like Alex Capretta who came to Princeton last year, a California guy. I’ve had a ton of Colorado kids. My son has been here since 2001 telling me, “I’ll never come back.”
My vision of western lacrosse is it’s growing. Unfortunately right now we’re fighting something that’s bigger than me and anybody else, and that’s the issue of Title IX and finances of the growth of Division I men’s lacrosse. I’m hopeful to help this groundswell of youth lacrosse and high school lacrosse, and helping those parents and high school coaches continue to do what they do. If we can be of aid in that, we will be. We’re doing some stuff out here, expanding our programs out here, bringing some of those teams back east to show them that we can be good out here, recruiting eastern kids to come west, all that stuff.
It probably won’t happen in my lifetime, but my real goal is to get those teams and this thing to a big-time Division I level. What we’ve learned in our sport, unfortunately, is every time you take a step towards big time, it creates more problems. A long time ago, not that I’m a prophet or a soothsayer in any way, I started to sense this club thing and I said, you’ve got to be careful. Let’s not let this thing get out of hand with the club programs and people making mega bucks taking advantage of kids playing this wonderful sport. It’s happened. Some for the good, because a lot of these kids come up being better lacrosse players, but some for the bad.
I think some of what we show on TV for lacrosse right now is not good for the sport. Watching some of the guys that people look up to in lacrosse right now that are taking shortcuts, and their antics. The fighting in indoor lacrosse; the trick shot stuff; that kind of stuff, to me, isn’t helping.
But the growth out West started with kind of an X Games mentality. Isn’t this cool? I think we can mold those two things. We can keep it cool; we can keep it current; we can keep it young. I give a lot of credit to the manufacturers — the David Morrows of the world who have been at the forefront of this thing, who made it a cool thing and who bring the pro games to life. But with all that stuff, the oldtimers don’t like it. Well too bad, it’s moving forward.
Recruiting is a whole other issue of your magazine. It’s not nice. It’s gone from a gentleman’s game to a backstabbing, who-can-beat-whom-to-what-punch and not liking it if they do. We’re all friends. Even in light of losing a game to a coach, no one can look at that coach and say, “Oh, what a jerk.” You lose a recruit, you go, “Whoa, what did you do to me?”
So with the growth comes some problems. My dream out west here is for people to never have to write another article against saying the Person of the Year is the Person of the Year because he came out west.
What about this Person of the Year thing? I relate it to President Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize. What’s he done? I haven’t done anything. I just moved from one wonderful place to another wonderful place. I’m not a big politics guy, but it was interesting to see the Russian president saying to Obama, “OK, you got this award. Now it’s a call to you to make it true in the next few years.” And I feel that call. This thing you guys are doing is such an honor to me. I don’t feel it’s deserved; I’m uncomfortable with it. But it’s a call to me and other people. (New Colorado College coach and former Penn State assistant) Guy van Arsdale, what about him? He’s taking a much bigger sacrifice than I am. He’s coming from a big-time Division I program to a little Division III program.
I don’t put all the weight on my shoulders, but if this thing is going to raise an awareness, I’ll wake up every morning knowing that. My first job is my famil. My second job is my DU job. I’ve got to make this thing better. Then down the road, not much further, is, well, if you’re saying growing the sport in the West is a part of it, then you better get something done with it. And already we’re doing some free clinics for the youth coaches. We’re going to do one for the high school coaches. I’m speaking at the California convention.
Does lacrosse in the West start in Denver?
Western lacrosse starts in Pittsburgh. That’s where it starts. My daughter just became the head women’s lacrosse coach at Lebanon Valley. That’s still considered the East. But you go to Pittsburgh, you’re in the West.
Lacrosse people think you’re surfing in the Pacific when you’re in Denver. One of my best friends from Long Island is Buddy Krumenacker, the head football coach and assistant lacrosse coach at Farmingdale High School. His son John was great player at Hopkins who passed away seven years ago. He introduced me to one of his big football players who just signed with a college. “I got a scholarship to play Division I football,” he said. I said, “Where?” He said Iowa State. I said, “Awesome. Where else were you recruited?” Penn State, all the big schools at that time 20 years ago had recruited him. I said, “What made you choose Iowa State?” He said, “I always wanted to go to school on the West Coast.”
Buddy brings out a map and says, “John, this is where you’re going.” Funny, but I think of that anytime somebody says western lacrosse.
We joined the ECAC. The East Coast Athletic Conference. Talk about an oxymoron. But that’s going to mean two more of those eastern schools each year is going to come out to Denver. We’re going to play Loyola at Invesco Field.
Mac Freeman, Pat Bowlen’s right-hand man at Invesco, played at Hampden-Sydney for Ray Rostan. It all comes full circle.
http://www.laxmagazine.com/college_men/DI/2009-10/news/120709_tierney_part_five
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