November 5, 2008
By now, you know their names. You know how they played, how they coached and how they helped shape the game that we know today.
They've helped make lacrosse for us. But what made lacrosse for them?
In the November issue hitting mailboxes this week, Lacrosse Magazine presents our profiles of the National Hall of Fame's Class of 2008. The honorees will take their place alongside the game's greatest figures in the annual induction celebration, presented by Bollinger Insurance, on Nov. 8 in Hunt Valley, Md.
Join US Lacrosse today to start your monthly subscription to LM.
by Daniel Malloy, Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online
As she stood on the sidelines during the first game of the 1997 season, then-Georgetown coach Kim Simons knew, perhaps more than most coaches, what to expect as her team lined up to play Princeton and its legendary head coach, Chris Sailer.
Simons had graduated three years earlier from Princeton after leading the Tigers to their first-ever NCAA championship. At age 24, she was about to play, and beat, her tutor for the first time.
"I know a lot of people feel that if they beat their former mentor, it's a sign that you've arrived," said Simons, who now works at the Bryn Mawr (Md.) School. "For me, it was kind of mixed emotions. The whole basis and foundation of my coaching and, in many ways, my success was playing for Chris. I've always been very grateful for that."
Simons, who had an impressive nine-year run at Georgetown that included two trips to the NCAA finals and IWLCA Coach of the Year honors in 2001, is just one of the many former Princeton players -- a modest estimate has the number at 30 -- who remained in the game as coaches, whether it be a full-time college gig or as a part-time youth coach.
Perhaps more than the 22 years of coaching, the three national championships and the ownership of the second-most wins in Division I history, it's the furthering of the sport that makes Chris Sailer an easy selection for this year's class of the National Hall of Fame.
"I, like many of the athletes who came out of the program, thought I was going to do something else when I was done," said Simons. "In some ways, there is this unspoken, underlying thing at Princeton that you need to be using your education for something beyond athletics, but the fact is that my choice, and the many others who decided to go into coaching, is because we played for Chris. It's not that she talks about going out there and being a coach and continuing that legacy. It's just the everyday part of being on her team that makes you want it to be a part of your life."
"I'm trying to impart a real love of the game to our student-athletes; a real love of competition, camaraderie and teamwork," said Sailer. "In my mind, it's all about teaching them those life lessons and helping them learn those things through the sport."
Sailer managed to give Simons a tough life lesson in 2002, when the Tigers defeated Simons' Hoyas in the national championship game, but despite that awkward moment, the two remain fast friends. Simons will introduce Sailer at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, although Sailer now has some reservations about her pick.
"Every time I hear her, I think, `How am I going to top that?'" laughed Sailer.
"About three days after I picked her, I thought, `What did I just do?'"
Chris Sailer was actually doing what she has done for the past 22 years -- giving one of her players another unique experience.
National Lacrosse Hall of Fame Class of 2008: LM's Profiles
* Roberta Brennan: All Jokes 'Til Gametime
* Lyn Craunn: Craun-ing Achievement
* Pat Dillon: Clear Signals
* Tom Marechek: Hollywood Ending
* Chris Sailer: Playing for Chris
* Dom Starsia: The 'Frozen Rope'
* George Tracy: Street Sense
* Dick Watts: 'Pappy' Gets His Due
Nov. 5, 2008
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They've helped make lacrosse for us. But what made lacrosse for them?
In the November issue hitting mailboxes this week, Lacrosse Magazine presents our profiles of the National Hall of Fame's Class of 2008. The honorees will take their place alongside the game's greatest figures in the annual induction celebration, presented by Bollinger Insurance, on Nov. 8 in Hunt Valley, Md.
Join US Lacrosse today to start your monthly subscription to LM.
by Daniel Malloy, Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online
As she stood on the sidelines during the first game of the 1997 season, then-Georgetown coach Kim Simons knew, perhaps more than most coaches, what to expect as her team lined up to play Princeton and its legendary head coach, Chris Sailer.
Simons had graduated three years earlier from Princeton after leading the Tigers to their first-ever NCAA championship. At age 24, she was about to play, and beat, her tutor for the first time.
"I know a lot of people feel that if they beat their former mentor, it's a sign that you've arrived," said Simons, who now works at the Bryn Mawr (Md.) School. "For me, it was kind of mixed emotions. The whole basis and foundation of my coaching and, in many ways, my success was playing for Chris. I've always been very grateful for that."
Simons, who had an impressive nine-year run at Georgetown that included two trips to the NCAA finals and IWLCA Coach of the Year honors in 2001, is just one of the many former Princeton players -- a modest estimate has the number at 30 -- who remained in the game as coaches, whether it be a full-time college gig or as a part-time youth coach.
Perhaps more than the 22 years of coaching, the three national championships and the ownership of the second-most wins in Division I history, it's the furthering of the sport that makes Chris Sailer an easy selection for this year's class of the National Hall of Fame.
"I, like many of the athletes who came out of the program, thought I was going to do something else when I was done," said Simons. "In some ways, there is this unspoken, underlying thing at Princeton that you need to be using your education for something beyond athletics, but the fact is that my choice, and the many others who decided to go into coaching, is because we played for Chris. It's not that she talks about going out there and being a coach and continuing that legacy. It's just the everyday part of being on her team that makes you want it to be a part of your life."
"I'm trying to impart a real love of the game to our student-athletes; a real love of competition, camaraderie and teamwork," said Sailer. "In my mind, it's all about teaching them those life lessons and helping them learn those things through the sport."
Sailer managed to give Simons a tough life lesson in 2002, when the Tigers defeated Simons' Hoyas in the national championship game, but despite that awkward moment, the two remain fast friends. Simons will introduce Sailer at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, although Sailer now has some reservations about her pick.
"Every time I hear her, I think, `How am I going to top that?'" laughed Sailer.
"About three days after I picked her, I thought, `What did I just do?'"
Chris Sailer was actually doing what she has done for the past 22 years -- giving one of her players another unique experience.
National Lacrosse Hall of Fame Class of 2008: LM's Profiles
* Roberta Brennan: All Jokes 'Til Gametime
* Lyn Craunn: Craun-ing Achievement
* Pat Dillon: Clear Signals
* Tom Marechek: Hollywood Ending
* Chris Sailer: Playing for Chris
* Dom Starsia: The 'Frozen Rope'
* George Tracy: Street Sense
* Dick Watts: 'Pappy' Gets His Due
