About Coach Bob

About Coach Bob

 

I grew up on Long Island, NY, which is an east coast hot bed for lacrosse and moved to the Chicago-land area in 1981 where lacrosse was in its infancy, as it was in most places around the country. Fast forward to 2004 when my daughter was attending Fenwick High School in Oak Park, IL and they were starting a girls lacrosse team. I watched the games during the first two years of the program and when they were in need of a new coach, I entered the game. 

In 2005, I began overseeing and coaching the Fenwick girls lacrosse team. Since lacrosse was so new, every girl entering the program had to develop stick skills and learn the game. Developing the skills necessary to catch and throw has been one of the recurring problems I have seen over the years. Breaking in a new stick took several weeks if not months until it was just right and felt really good. Until the break in point, passing and catching was an adventure in who was the best ground ball team in the league.

At Fenwick we were pretty good at ground balls, but on the ground is not where the game of lacrosse should be played. I started to make modifications to all the new sticks, loosening up both strings and leathers to give them that broken-in-feel and maximum legal depth. I could immediately see the results in passing and catching efficiency, and we were no longer the best ground ball team in the league. 

I then ventured into restringing the heads to maximize the best attributes of a broken-in-pocket, including maximum legal depth for easy catch and hold, great feel, and accuracy. The early designs, although legal, were a little rough on the eyes but my players provided valuable feedback that allowed me to improve on the early designs. 

In 2008, I moved over to coach Montini Catholic in Lombard, IL and restrung most of the Varsity and JV teams sticks. As word spread I began getting more interest from other players and teams and we continued to grow as a company.

After Montini, I became the Head Coach at Glenbard West in Glen Ellyn, IL for their first Varsity season and within two years we ended up 17-3 and #5 in the state. 

After leaving Glenbard West in 2015 I was planning on putting my focus on selling lacrosse sticks and gear, but at the start of the 2016 season I ended up at Lyons Township High School in Western Springs, IL as an Assistant Coach.

I left Lyons Township in 2021 to be an Assistant Coach at Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, IL. 

Throughout my many years of coaching I have been able to refine the CoolStick pocket with live, constructive feedback from my teams and players.

I’m still having fun!