Something Old Something New

by E.J. Freeman | MCLA.us

ATLANTA, Ga.- Change is never easy.   This will be the first season without Jac Coyne running the MCLA’s media and communications since 2016.   Jac did a great job representing the MCLA and brought a certain legitimacy to our Director of Media and Communications role.  I know because I probably read every column he wrote about the league over the last 16 years.  This will be a new era as I take over the role.  I am not Jac and do not intend to do my best Coyne impersonation, but I am confident that I can continue the spirit of Jac’s work with a new voice. 

As an introduction, I have been involved in the MCLA since the fall of 2009 and during that time I’ve gone from scratching and clawing in attempts to make the conference tournament to coaching in multiple MCLA Tournaments, so I have seen this league from different program level perspectives.  I’ve seen this league from several different angles and love it for what it is as well as its future potential. Over the years, I have served on All- Conference committees, run All- America committees, spent Summers chasing down Scholar-Athlete nominations, and been in charge of setting a national schedule. I believe in the mission of this league providing a legitimate college lacrosse experience for young men while being able to pursue their desired educational experience. I will be continuing in my role as a coach as well as tackling the Director of Media and Communications role going forward so I will be wearing a few different hats, but I will not let one influence the other. I think the future of the MCLA is bright as our sport continues to grow and passionate and talented young men continue to choose an MCLA path for their collegiate experience. 

I think it would be impossible for someone to attend the opening day of the MCLA National Tournament and not be taken aback as teams from every corner of our country take the field with four games happening at once and roars from eight different sidelines erupt in a seemingly endless barrage; it really is one of the cooler things to experience in lacrosse.  In addition to the spectacle of our national tournament, we have student lead teams traveling and playing games all over the country every weekend in the Spring. 

Going forward, things around here will look fairly similar, but there will be some twists.  I’m anxious to highlight some different programs and players in addition to the usual suspects.  There will also be some new content ideas going forward. There are so many great stories in our league and I’m very excited to tell them and help more people understand what the MCLA is.   I’ll be an old face in a new role as we move forward.

Keep watching this space as more pieces will be following shortly.  In the meantime feel free to reach out to me.