Lacrosse catches fire at Sacred Heart Prep Lacrosse catches fire at Sacred Heart Prep (May 04, 2005)

Three professional lacrosse players coach Sacred Heart teams.

By Kate Daly

Special to the Almanac

It may have taken a few years of lobbying by parents and students to convince Sacred Heart Preparatory in Atherton to offer lacrosse as a school sport, but now that three professional lacrosse players are coaching there, the sport is well launched.

Last year the school started a junior varsity boys team, and allowed a handful of girls to play, as well.

This year so many students showed interest in lacrosse, the school started two varsity teams -- for both girls and boys.

In fact, so many girls showed up at tryouts in February, cuts were made, a highly unusual move at Sacred Heart, says Athletic Director Anthony Thomas.

"Lacrosse is here to stay, and we'll continue to attract kids who want to play," he observes.
'The Axe'

Thomas sounds pleased with his new coaching staff, all three of whom come from the local professional indoor lacrosse team, the San Jose Stealth.

At the last minute this spring, Thomas hired Jim "The Axe" Moss, as he's known on the Stealth, to coach the girls: a total of 25 players -- freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors.

While this is the first time he's coached girls, he says the experience is "a treat, a pleasure."

"I always leave happier than when I came to practice," he says. Moss, who grew up outside of Toronto, played professional hockey for the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks and Huntington Blizzard, before switching to professional lacrosse to play for Albany Attack, and now the Stealth.

As co-captain of the Stealth and a National Lacrosse League all-star player, Moss has a reputation for rough play and fighting on the field, yet you'd never know it from his coaching style.

Sacred Heart freshman Ashley Urban has seen him in action at Stealth games, and admits: "He's vicious in his game. He's so aggressive. But when coaching us, he's very laid back. He's very patient and never raises his voice."

Moss explains the dichotomy: "I've got a game face, and 99 percent of the rest of the time, I'm a big softie. I'm a competitor when I need to be, but I'm about having fun in a safe environment when I'm not a competitor."
Surprising wins

The girls have won four games so far, a surprise to many people because so few of the girls are experienced.

Co-captain and junior Melissa Irvine has played for more than four years, and just tried out for the National high school team, but she's an anomaly.

"We weren't expecting as many wins, but we've deserved them all," she says.

At the start of the season, Coach Moss took some ribbing from fellow Stealth players for coaching girls. He even agreed to wear a kilt to practice if the girls won a game (the girls wear kilts at games).

He made good on his promise, and got the last laugh because the girls' record is better than the boys'.
Boys team

The Stealth's other co-captain Gary Rosyski and Stealth assistant coach Shaydon Santos coach the boys team.

They recently invited the Stealth head coach to come to Sacred Heart to give the boys a pep talk.

Although the boys haven't won yet, they are making a lot of progress, Rosyski says. Noting that only a few have played before, he says the scoring doesn't reflect how quickly they are learning.

Santos says he is heartened by the groundswell of prospective players. At a recent orientation for incoming freshmen, 17 boys signed up to play next year, and that may be enough to offer junior varsity lacrosse, too.
Kate Daly has two daughters on the Sacred Heart team.

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