1. Persistency – Every year we were told we couldn’t do certain things (use certain fields, practice at certain times, have more than one squad, receive money from the school’s boosters, etc). Every year we came back and asked again. Eventually the school got the idea that we weren’t going away, and it might be easier to have a positive relationship with us.

2. Like Connor said, keeping your nose clean is a huge issue. When you’re the new kid on the block, every bad thing you do gets magnified. It’s important for the coach to make sure that his players are representing the lacrosse program with class while they are at school.

3. Recruitment – Our school has just 640 students. In some years we’ve had as many as 60 boys and 60 girls involved in the lacrosse program. When 20% of your student body participates in something, you can’t ignore it anymore.

4. Get Involved – Many of our kids are in student government, many others volunteer to help with school fundraisers, participate in other clubs, etc. When your guys become noticeable participants in campus life, it lends credibility to everything that they do, including lacrosse.

In 1999 we weren’t allowed to practice at our school. Now we have three fields to work with, access to the scoreboard, access to the PA system, access to the weight room all year long, and access to the school gym during the winter. We can even pull our kids out of school for a day to go recruit junior high players, or leave early for a travel tournament. It’s a long road, but if you follow Dr. Lou’s mantra of “Do what’s right and do your best”, you'll get there.