With the new school year comes a brand new addition to the University of Tampa’s Division-II athletics department. Coach Rory Whipple makes UT his fifth head coaching job and his third school to start a lacrosse program from scratch.
Whipple was a lacrosse player himself, a face-off man, and brings years of experience to UT’s team.
In the state of Florida alone there are 160 high schools with lacrosse teams, five division II colleges and one Division I college.
“I don’t see this as a first year program,” Whipple said, emphasizing that the team is not just made up of freshman, and actually has upperclassmen, transfer students and players from all over the country on it. He is so confident in the talent of his new team that he believes they will be contenders for the conference championship.
Greg Khanzadian, a graduate student who transferred to UT from Syracuse, N.Y., to spend his last year of eligibility playing for UT said he is, “looking forward to winning, making waves and hopefully winning the conference.”
Khanzadian is a midfielder and a face-off specialist for the team and sees his role as more of a leadership position.
“If I can help give some guidance to these younger guys through my experience, and score a few goals at the same time I think it will be a good season,” Khanzadian said.
The new team seems to be defense-oriented according to their coach; he sees that as a strength of the team and a place for them to build from.
Trevor Calleja, a freshman, came to UT specifically for lacrosse after being recruited by Coach Whipple. Calleja is a face-off man from Long Island, N.Y., a state Coach Whipple said he recruited from quite a bit.
“Getting cut up is the hardest part of my position,” Calleja said, and judging by his cut up knees he pointed to, it’s not exaggeration.
Jasper Gantick, a transfer from Rochester, New York said his love for the game is a pretty simple.
“I like playing lacrosse because it is basically football with a weapon,” Gantick said. “It’s a physical game but there is also an aspect of finesse that goes along with the physicality.”
Gantick is a long stick midfielder, and when asked what he thought about going to school in Florida, he said the sunshine is a great place to be.
Adam Dickson, a transfer from Ontario, Canada also said he enjoys playing lacrosse because, “it’s a fast paced, physical game.” Dickson also is loving the sunshine and said he spends a lot of his free time at the local beaches.
Dickson plays defense and agrees that the team should be very competitive this season, crediting that to the talented coaching staff they have working with them.
The team gets its first chance to show off its talent this weekend, Saturday, October 15 at 1 p.m. in Pepin Stadium during parent’s weekend.
They will be scrimmaging Florida State University and will have a few more scrimmages this fall before their season officially starts with their kick-off game February 10 at 7 p.m. at home against Florida Southern College.
FSC is Coach Whipple’s former team, so that should add to the excitement and an intriguing storyline to the game.
Whipple added that UT is the best school he has coached so far and can really feel the excitement on campus.
To get ready for their season in the spring, the team is practicing three to four days a week and doing strength training three days a week. They are shaping up to be an exciting group of players with a lot of talent and potential.
Rebecca Casey can be reached at rcasey@spartans.ut.edu
Excellent article…. “she”would be sooo pleased!
You know who would be proud……