Fall Check-In: Washington Huskies

For our next Fall Check-In we head to Seattle to hear from Washington and new head coach James Welfare. 

To read the prior installments of our Fall Check-in Series click here: Virginia Tech (DI), Florida Atlantic, Chapman, Montana

Since you’re a new coach, can you tell us a little bit about your background?

James Welfare: I actually started coaching the same time I started playing lacrosse my senior year (2011) in HS. I started coaching MS and camps/clinics with our local legends in Vegas (Brandon Edgell and Nick Campo) who really took me under their wing and showed me how to build programs and communities. Those guys truly taught me the nuances of the game that are so invaluable to me getting this opportunity having a backseat to how they ran 3peat and Vegas Starz let alone and stores like Sling it in the Vegas area really fed the fire of passion that consumed me out of school. My HS team (Bulldogs) manager Don Krueger showed me what putting your heart into your program and players could do and the fact he is one of the nicest men I've come across in my life. I am grateful to him for breaking down any barriers I had entering the game. When I joined the US Navy a year later I realized the Creators game was embedded in me, as I never put the stick down. I was seen everywhere with a stick in my hands, on the mess decks stringing sticks, playing wall ball off the ships bulkheads while out on the South China Sea, and roaming the streets of Japan dodging light poles and people while giving impromptu clinics to younger kids i run into with lacrosse sticks while headed to LaxKong in Shibuya. When I got out of the service I went back home and coached Vegas Starz and played for UNLV until I was given an opportunity to grow the game in my hometown of North Las Vegas getting more minority kids involved with the sport before eventually founding North Pride LC with my close friend Bud Reshke in 2018. I'm very proud to say we fielded the most diverse teams in both the boys and girls game and am grateful for all the players, parents, and staff that worked their butts off to make it happen. When COVID came it took me to Bonney Lake, WA where I met Brandon Haywood and was appointed HC of Washington United for a short year but to be part of a program that preached the same values I had with North Pride LC was nice coming off the pandemic. After that I took a 2 year break from coaching where I just studied the game and pursued becoming an educator and found myself in the position now to take everything I learned and do something special here at the University of Washington.

Prior to your hiring, how familiar were you with the Washington program and the MCLA as a whole?  What drew you to both the program and the league in general?

JW: I was familiar from afar with the Washington program but have been very familiar with the MCLA. When you play lacrosse in Vegas all your friends play in the MCLA at UNLV, UNR, ASU, GCU, and CHAPMAN so I was knee deep in knowing what the MCLA had to offer. When I was in the Navy on deployments I had a terabyte hard drive filled with old MCLA/LXMPRO games and the Colorado Buffs had me in a chokehold with their docuseries playing on repeat in my workstations uninterrupted!

You guys start Fall Ball next week, what will the Fall look like?

JW: Yes, we start Fall Training Camp soon and we are excited to start the grind. Fall will be busy, detail oriented,  and intentional. We plan to get our guys back to the fundamentals and set the foundation to mastering our Cascade Flow Motion offense, set our culture through accountability, get our guys out in the community through our mentorship program and give back to the youth, and really ensure we embrace a hard hat mentality when it comes to getting after the work on and off the field.

What is your vision for the program?  Seattle has produced some really talented players over the years, but the Huskies have not been able to capitalize on that in the way one might expect.  How do you hope to change that?

JW: My vision for the program is to get us competing at a high level to earn a opportunity for the PNCLL and Nationals tournaments, be active in our community through service and mentorship, and to have the young men that come in to our program setup to be successful and great sons, husbands, fathers, and men. I understand that Seattle has definitely produced and continues to produce great talent. How we capitalize on that is by providing the opportunity for young men that want to join the Huskies on our journey now and commit to them by developing their skills and building the culture we envision while controlling what we can control. We will stack brick by brick as we build this the right way with intention and success will follow.

What are the schedule highlights?  Any big trips or visitors coming to Seattle?

JW: Schedule highlights for us are definitely our business trips to the Bruins Classic vs both UCLA and Stanford Then our Spring Break trip to Arizona to play GCU and UofA! Both trips will test our team and hold the mirror to who and what we are but we are up for the challenge and anticipate to compete our butts off to come out victorious! Can't downplay how important each and every PNCLL matchup home and away will be as that is the epitome of controlling our destiny for the season.

Thank you to Coach Welfare for taking the time to answer some questions.

Coaches, if you'd like your program to be featured in our Fall Check-In series, please email info@mcla.us to receive your questions.