[NORWOOD LAX]

When I accepted the job of Lacrosse Coach at Norwood High School six years ago I never imagined it would be such an amazing and life changing experience for our family. At the time we lived in Walpole and had four kids who had no idea what lacrosse was….that obviously quickly changed and these years have been so rewarding to me, but more importantly my family. The opportunity to lead such a great group of kids is certainly a once in a life time chance – and I can say with confidence we all made the most of it.  

In the first couple seasons it was interesting to interact with parents who were graduating their final son or daughter from the High School –The emotions of having a son or daughter graduate that phase of their life was so powerful…so powerful I think it led us to the decision to have 2 more beautiful children…We have God and this experience to thank for leading us to that decision.

All of the praise and thank you’s I have received recently and over the years have been humbling. The reality is that I have the people of Norwood to THANK for believing in me and more importantly our awesome program. Over the years I saw all these other programs some more skilled, more experienced, bigger, stronger, whatever- but I cannot count the amount of times I would thank God for allowing me to get on “Our Bus”- I am elated to have been a part of this and our programs respect for the game has been paramount to the growth of the sport in Norwood. The memories I have of all these experiences will be with me for the rest of my life.   

I could list 100’s of people who contributed to our program’s success in such a short time, but I would be remise if I did not single out Coach Kevin Maclean and Dan Carroll as the primary motivation to me and our success. Many people think I “started” the lacrosse program here in Norwood – that is false – this started when Dan and Kevin had an idea of starting a lacrosse club back in 2001…their U13 team once lost to KP 30-2…!! That same group went on to make the tournament at NHS – and winning 47 games in the last three years...the rest is history…Words can’t even describe how privileged I have been to have Kevin and Dan with me in this journey, and my family is forever grateful for everything they have sacrificed so we could be a great program. Friends for life…      

There is still much to do….The future of Norwood Lacrosse is very good…We have developed all sorts of young talent and I am confident we will continue to have good coaching throughout all levels of the program. I assure you our vision of Norwood Lacrosse being the best program in the State will continue. I am unsure who will take over at the high school level, but promise to stay involved in that hiring process and continue to assist our players in the collegiate recruitment process and consult in our off season programs.

Ok…so what’s next for the DeMaio Family ? 

The conclusion to move to Southern California was something we considered long before I started to coach at NHS. People close to us know we often vacation in San Diego, and Nicole and the kids have spent a few summers there as well with friends and family. In fact Anthony learned to walk there…! Recently I was offered the opportunity to move out there with my current company, and decided to fulfill a dream we have had for a long time. The work and living aspect of the opportunity was one of the easiest decisions in our life – it just felt right….The obvious tough part was the reality I would not be leading this program on the field next spring...this certainly made the decision very emotional and difficult, many tears were shed…Life has no certainties but in the end I am proud and inspired by my family for being capable of making such a courageous choice.

The silver lining in our move is that we found a Town that has a highly ranked school system and a nationally ranked high school lacrosse team as well…. As of right now, I have no plans to formally coach any level, but my guess is you will find me somewhere on weekend’s on a field or beach teaching the game to a group of willing kids…it is just who I am.                    

I often remind graduating seniors of the following:  “You never stop being a Mustang Lacrosse player, your journey is just beginning…” those words are more lucid to me more than ever and it is again humbling. As hard as this is for me, I am excited about the journey that lies ahead not only for my family, but for the Norwood Lacrosse Family as well. 

“The tradition has begun”

 Coach