“Will the boys Lacrosse team have a coach?” is a question that many people have been asking recently. Poland found great success last season with Coach Dennis Schweers, making it to the second round of the playoffs and beating many teams the Poland Lacrosse Team has never beaten in its eight years of existence.
Sadly, Coach Schweers has retired as the head coach of the Poland Lacrosse Team. There has been an ongoing search to find a new coach. Currently, the team is in a state of uncertainty on whether they will have a team this year.
“Well, hopefully, we don’t go down the route, but we’ve had it happen before,” said Poland Athletic Director, Brian Banfield.
As said by Mr. Banfield, it is possible that if no coach is found, then the team could be in jeopardy of having a season. However, on the bright side, the Poland Athletic Board has been relentlessly searching for a new coach.
As said by Mr. Banfield, “We posted it again in August to the staff and the area; it is in the surrounding schools, and it’s in the paper, so that’s the next step to dig deeper to see if we can find anyone in the surrounding area, as in the Mahoning Valley.”
The athletic board has been searching for people who have a background in lacrosse to be the coach.
In an interview with Senior George Maillis, a lot was said about the current coaching situation.
“It’s a little unnerving right now. It gets you a little nervous as the days and months pass wondering if we are even going to have a season? Is this team even going to exist? But I have faith that we will find a coach and we will have a team,” said Maillis.
And in an interview with Sophomore Connor Mould, he had some concerns about the season also.
Mould said, “This is tough because the seniors already missed a year due to Covid. We hope they don’t miss another year, and it’s just tough not knowing what coach you’ll have next year.”
It’s not just these two players that are concerned about the season; it’s the whole team. Like Mould said, the new seniors already missed a season due to Covid, and it would be very sad to miss another season. Lacrosse means a lot to the players on the team, and so did Coach Schweers.
“It’s tough. He was a guy that trusted in me and trusted in the whole team. He always brought a good attitude to practice. It’s going to be tough playing with the guy for two years and him retiring. It’s going to be tough, but things are meant to change,” said Maillis.
It will be very tough for the team to recoup after losing their head coach of eight years. He has been with the Poland Lacrosse Program since its start in 2015. This sprouts questions that if the team does get a coach, whether they will reach the glory that they received the past season. “Will the team be thrown off?” This was the question asked. “ I think at first, yeah, playing under someone for two years and having a certain mentality. After a coach retires, you gotta learn to adapt.,” said Mould.
With all of these questions: “Will there be a team?” “Will the team adapt with a new coach?” and “Will the seniors have a final season?” The only thing we can say to these questions is hopefully.
