OTS – Starting From Scratch – How Cleveland State Is Building Their Program
Author’s Note: I came across this article while perusing the LaxPower D1 Forum today and it is a GREAT read. Beth Maiman, a sports journalist who writes for a number of outlets, has put together a really interesting piece about how Cleveland State has built its’ program from scratch and has now completed its’ first year. We have a Florida link as freshman Brandon Ruditz of Boca Raton High played for the Vikings this year, and even started three games. I congratulate Beth on her terrific article!With lacrosse continuing to grow throughout the country, the sport has also found a new home in Northeast Ohio. There are now 71 NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse programs, with Cleveland State being the most recent. From funding to hiring coaches and staff, from building a new fan base to, most importantly, fielding a team, there are many factors to consider when starting a new collegiate athletic program.
Below we hear from coaches, student-athletes and administrators from Cleveland State about their journey toward playing in the university’s inaugural season. We hear from numerous voices about the trials, tribulations, successes and memorable moments from the first practice to the final game of the season, when the Vikings earned their first-ever win against another Division I program. With a roster chock-full of freshmen and a schedule featuring six top-20 teams — two of which are Foxborough-bound this weekend — this season marked the start of something fresh and what the future might hold.
We hear from these faces below, who share the story from their perspectives of the first season of Cleveland State men’s lacrosse: (Note, I am not putting the pictures up, you can see them at the NCAA web site. The people interviewed are:
Noah Gleeson (F, Midfield); Caleb Espinoza (F, GK); Isaac Atencio (F, Defense); Sherwin Gersten ( F, Midfield); John Parry (Athletic Director); Gary Cintron (Volunteer coach); Dylan Sheridan (Head Coach)
First Steps:
On March 30, 2015, Cleveland State announced the addition of a men’s lacrosse team that would compete in the 2016-17 season. But according to Parry, the talks began much earlier.
John Parry, AD: About four years ago the President was interested in investigating and adding a men’s lacrosse program. He was hearing from people in the community that it would be a good idea to think about starting it. He remembered back when I became the AD at CSU that he knew we had a program at Brown, and I started a program at Butler when I was there. I felt good about it because we were going to hire a full-time head coach and assistant coach 15 months before anyone stepped on campus, so we would have time to recruit and prepare for the first class.
Gary Cintron, volunteer coach: The lacrosse community was ecstatic. The school had a beautiful facility, and Cleveland and the school were ready to have a program that is trending in the upward direction.
On June 30, 2015 Dylan Sheridan was named head coach. Sheridan, a northeast Ohio native, served as an assistant coach at Princeton and Denver prior to accepting his new gig.
Coach Sheridan: It was kinda surreal to be a guy who picked up a lacrosse stick super late in high school. And then be the guy who gets to bring the game at the highest level to the community. So that was what really excited me. I still think that there is a ton of room for growth at CSU. So that was really exciting. So having knowledge of the area, I knew it had been stagnant for a while and what would be good for the area. It was all exciting — just the challenge of building a program from scratch, kind of putting my fingerprints was something I was looking forward to.
Listen below to hear more about Coach Sheridan’s thoughts when he took the job:
John Parry: Dylan was affiliated with two strong programs, Denver and Princeton. He knew what needed to be done to be competitive. He grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland, so he had a ties to Northeast Ohio. I knew he would grasp what Cleveland State was about fairly quickly.
Gary Cintron: When we heard it was going to be Coach Sheridan we were excited. I knew Coach Sheridan and Coach (Andy) German were the right people to make this happen. Coach Sheridan breathes Ohio and Cleveland. It means something to him. Everything he puts out there — whether it’s Twitter or just in his life — it’s about Cleveland.
Read the Rest HERE
