Sports

   Boys’ varsity lacrosse has had four different coaches over the past seven years, and the team will begin the upcoming season with yet another new coach. An interview panel that included Athletic Director Jim Meehan and Principal Bill Gregory has chosen Chip Steel as the new lacrosse coach.

   "He did an outstanding job in the interview. He has playing experience in high school and college; he has extensive coaching experience," says Meehan who noted that Steel, a local dentist, is an established member of the community.

   Chris Saputo, the previous varsity coach, resigned partially due to health complications in January, leaving Meehan only a short length of time to hire a new coach. The first step in the process was to advertise the open position around the school building; when no one applied, Meehan advertised the position at the Countywide Athletic Directors Meeting and finally on the Maryland Public Secondary Athletics Association Website.

   "We [were] looking for somebody that’s played lacrosse both in high school and college, maybe even at a club level, that has experience coaching teams or working with kids of this age group, who can get along with not only kids but adults and parents and who is committed to following MCPS rules and regulations," says Meehan.

   Steel first began coaching in the mid 1990s as a goalie coach at Sandy Spring Friends School. In 2005 he became involved at Sherwood helping coach the goalies. "I was the Sherwood Varsity Defensive Coordinator in 2007-2008. During that time we had a number of All-Division and All-County defensive players at Sherwood. I had been involved with the Good Counsel varsity lacrosse program since this past fall. When I found out that Sherwood had a coaching vacancy recently, I applied for the position with the support of Good Counsel’s head coach, Matt Durkin, and was pleased to be selected," says Steel.

   Each of the team’s previous coaches has been experienced, but the team starts from scratch with every new coach. This has made it difficult for the team to build a solid foundation. "A lot of other teams have an advantage on us because they have fundamental building blocks that they build on every year, whereas we have to start fresh," says senior defender Josh Hertz.

   "Consistency is important for any team at any level," Steel acknowledges. "Learning new offensive and defensive systems year after year is difficult. Stability includes building a great long-term coaching staff of assistants, creating good relationships with the community and youth leagues, encouraging alumni and student involvement and having an organization that attracts good athletes. My sons both played at Sherwood and I have had a business in Sandy Spring for nearly 25 years. I expect to be around for a while."