Chris Sherman Marches Down South With "St. Andrews Six"
LAURINBURG, NC- At the end of last summer, Chris Sherman, a Walax.com contributor, local coach and community enthusiast moved back to his alma mater in North Carolina. Sherman is a goalie by trade and now an assistant coach and recruiting officer of the St. Andrews Presbyterian College Division II Men’s Lacrosse team. A Maryland native, he graduated St. Andrews in 2005 and like many east coast players he went west. He first appeared in Washington in the fall of 2008 and his first experience with northwest lacrosse began with Space Needle Shootout that same year.
“After watching the first game of Seattle Starz Green, I got on the phone with coaches and other back east to try and recruit these kids. At first I got resistance from them. But, then finally Mike Lawson (St. Andrews head coach) got film on them. He told me to open the flood gates to recruit these kids. There are highly capable athletes out there (Washington) who can play the game,” said Sherman.
The connections he made with players, parents and coaches are a boon to his new position as recruiter. Being a collegiate assistant coach and recruiting officer is not a normal nine-to-five job. It requires dawn breaking start times and caffeine-fueled late nights. Usually Sherman hits the office at 7 am, where he sets logistical operations, makes game and practice plans and hammers out emails. Later in the morning, it’s time for player focus, such as checking up on their grades, their health and whatever needs to be done. Practice follows in the afternoon and coaches meetings in the early evening. As dusk and night follow, Sherman begins recruiting. The early evening is the best time for making recruiting calls on the east coast and he calls out west. Each day can be grueling, as collegiate recruiting is a competitive process. Recently, Sherman made his Washington connections count, adding six local Washington boys to the roster for this spring.
“These guys made an immediate impact. Pretty much five of the six are starting or competing for starting positions. (Alex) Tindall and (Sean) Shewey will definitely be starters. They have their own Washington brotherhood, but overall the team unity is our strength and I’m envious of how tight this group of guys is. What they have in unity is what I wanted when I played. They beat the crap out of each other during practice and then hang up their gloves and go back to being best friends. I think we have the only roster in NCAA that has six players from Washington,” said Sherman.
The St. Andrews Knights have 23-man roster consisting of players from 13 states and one province of Canada. Players come from traditional hotbeds from New York and Virginia, as well as southern states like Florida and Georgia, locals from North Carolina and out west from Texas and Minnesota. “St. Andrews leads the way in recruiting out west, in Division II at least. Our goal is to put together a team that will go back to the Final Four. Our last appearance was in 2002 and we were nationally ranked in 2007. By 2013 we want to be competing for a national title. Our conference rival is Limestone, although we have big games against St. Leo’s in Florida, Queens up in New York. Mars Hill is also getting competitive,” concluded Sherman.
For any players looking to begin their recruiting process, Chris Sherman is open to all those interested. With the ease of digital media, the best thing to do is put highlight videos on YouTube or a recruiting website. Chris Sherman can be reached at [email protected] for any recruiting questions. The season of the St. Andrews Six will be featured with check-ins this season on Walax.
