Head Coach Dave Neff
Dave Neff heads up a new St Charles coaching staff for the 2005 season.

Coach Neff comes to St Charles from Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, Ill., where he led the Wildcats to playoff appearances and 15-plus wins in two of the last three seasons. There, he was also named Illinois High School Coach of the Year in 2002.

"He's like the Bill Bellichek of lacrosse," says Matt Ward, Club Vice President for Coaching. "One of the most organized coaches I've ever met. Methodical and a real student of the game... always reading about lacrosse, viewing films and asking questions of other top coaches. He invests a huge amount of time in any team he coaches. He's a big promoter of lacrosse in Illinois, and I'm sure he'll be named Illinois Coach of the Year again soon."

As a collegiate lacrosse player, Coach Neff starred on a University of Illinois team that won more than three-quarters of its games from 1995 through 1998. He scored over 200 points (goals and assists) in his career as part of a squad that finished third in the Big Ten in 1994/95 and second in 1995/96, and was named the number-one CCLA (Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association) team in 1996/97 and 1997/98. In both these last two years, Neff's club was ranked sixth in the USLIA 's national rankings, falling in the tournament both years to eventual runners-up. (USLIA is the United States Lacrosse Intercollegiate Association.)

Neff was Illinois team captain twice, in 1995 and 1996; was named an USLIA Collegiate All-Star in 1997, and was honored with the University of Illinois Lacrosse Coach's Player Award in 1998.

Dave lives in Naperville, Ill. He and his fiancee, Erin, plan to marry in August 2005.

 

Assistant Varsity Coach Andy Thompson
Coach Thompson is in his second year with St Charles as a coach, but his first on the varsity staff.

In 2004, in his first year as a lacrosse coach, Coach Thompson led the St Charles junior varisty to an unblemished 10-0 conference championship season, and an overall record of 16-5. The squad also capturd the inaugural Rocks on the Fox tournament with a thrilling 5-4 overtime win in the final.

"The team really responded to him," one parent recalls. "He has energy and enthusiasm, and is a solid, nurturing coach."

Thompson's work on the sidelines is something of a "coming home" for him. As a student-athlete for St Charles high school teams in the 1990s, Thompson earned team and state honors in both football and lacrosse. A three-year varsity starter (1997-99), he led the team in scoring each season and was twice the offensive player of the year (1998-99). Andy was named all-conference in 1998, and earned state all-star honors in 1997, '98 and '99. The team made it to the state playoffs in both 1998 and 1999, losing in the first round both years.

At Elmhurst College, Thompson continued to play both sports, and led the football team in receiving in 2001.

Andy lives in St Charles. He and his fiancee, Mindy, plan to wed soon.


Junior Varsity Head Coach John Copeland
Coach John Copeland is in his first year with St Charles, having most recently coached at the Sidwell Friends School in Maryland.

Some would call the Baltimore area the cradle of lacrosse, and for Coach Copeland it was the latest step in a journey that began at the College of Wooster, Ohio, where he earned a varsity letter all four years and was named All-Midwest Goalie his senior year.

After graduation, he played club lacrosse throughout the Midwest and South, gaining All-Midwest Club all-star honors in 1979 and Southwest Team all-star honors at Vail Tourney in 1982.

He began coaching a club team in Florida in 1989, and then in 1993 and 1994 became part of the Sidwell Friends staff.

"Even at his ripe old age, he still has it," says Matt Ward, Club Vice President for Coaching. "He often steps in goal at practice and saves some solid shots. His players don't often see a goalie move that quickly! He has a real passion for the game and a level of intensity that will be good for the players to see. And, like any good goalie, he's got a little edge to him. Sometimes, you're not quite sure what to expect from him. He relates real well to the boys, and has earned the nickname 'Man Child II.'"


Assistant Coach Tony Genovese
Coach Tony Genovese is in his first year with St Charles, rejoining his former coach and coaching colleague Dave Neff on the sidelines.  Genovese was a key contributor to Neuqua Valley's teams in 2001 and 2002, and as team captain in 2002 was named second-team all-conference defense.  After graduation, he joined Coach Neff's staff as Varsity Assistant Coach, leaving there to attend Western Ilinois University in the fall of 2003, where he quickly secured a starting defender position.

In October of that year, he was called to active duty and sent to Iraq, where he was based in the mainly Kurdish region of Kir Kush, northeast of Baghdad.  He served with the 1st ID, primarily conducting convoy escorts, as well as combat patrols and fixed site security in hostile areas.  Tony returned to the US in mid-January with an honorable discharge, reverting to part-time national guard status.

Coach Genovese has already made his mark on the team through his conditioning drills, and the St Charles community welcomes him home, and to the team.

 

Matt Ward, Director of Coaching
Matt played Midfield for Lincoln-Sudbury High School in Massachusetts, one of the top lacrosse programs in New England, winning the State Championship his Senior year. He then played 4 years at Denison University, a top NCAA DIII program, making it to the NCAA quarter-finals his Senior year and finishing the season ranked #5 in the country.

After college, Matt played seven years for Piedmont Lacrosse Club in North Carolina.

In St. Charles, Matt helped develop the youth program through Lacrosse America. Many of the players on this year's club benefited from Matt's coaching at the youth level. He joined our board in 2004 and has been instrumental in developing a coordinated offseason program.


 





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Coaching Staff

Coaching Changes

To the StC Lax graduating class of 2005, we must now add the name of Junior Varsity Coach John Copeland. Coach Copeland will not be returning as JV Head Coach in 2006.

We thank him for his contributions to our program,
which included not only his stewardship of the jv and freshman teams last season, but also his offseason work with our athletes before he was named JV Coach.

And let's not forget, either, that he's a pretty memorable guy with a microphone in his hand, as all who attended the year-end banquet would attest. Thanks, John.