Czelusniak makes return to coaching

Former Hun coach now at North

By: Justin Feil
   What may have seemed like a little bump in the road smoothed out quickly for Steve Czelusniak.
   After nine years as the Hun School’s boys’ lacrosse coach, Czelusniak chose to step down to concentrate on raising his two daughters. That was four years ago.
   "The last four years I was a stay-at-home dad," said Czelusniak, who coached at Princeton Day School prior to his stint at Hun. "Then my position at Ice Land was eliminated. The master plan was to do that for five years and then go back and look for a teaching and coaching position. This kind of pushed it up by a year."
   Czelusniak has returned to the area, and returned to the Bianchi Division as head coach of the West Windsor-Plainsboro North boys’ lacrosse team. He takes over for Neil Brown, the only coach the Knights had in the first four years of the program’s existence.
   "I was fortunate to have the opportunity to find a teaching and coaching job in great school district," said Czelusniak, who teaches middle school health and high school physical education. "It really worked out. I don’t know if things were meant to be."
   Czelusniak’s Knights are scheduled to kick off the season today at home against Westfield. It will be a return to the lacrosse field, though Czelusniak never really got far from it. He was an official in his four years away from coaching.
   "Spending four years as an official gave me a different perspective on the game," Czelusniak said. "Hopefully it will help me be a better coach. We had a scrimmage the other day and it helped me learn how to work with the officials rather than just yelling for yelling’s sake."
   As an official, Czelusniak had the opportunity to see the Knights from a different perspective in a game last year.
   "I refereed their game against Hopewell and watched a game against Princeton when I was there to do another game," Czelusniak said. "Reffing their game against Hopewell, they had some talent and had some swagger to them. They’re a very strong program. We’ll have to work hard to keep that tradition going."
   Czelusniak is working hard to get to know the strengths and weaknesses of his new group. In the program’s fifth year, there was plenty of interest in the team, which made some of his first decisions difficult.
   "I met the captains, Matt Daniell and Doug Nosko, early on," Czelusniak said. "We had a meeting to let kids know who I was. So I knew a fraction of the kids. We’ve been quickly learning the kids. We had some cuts to make at all three levels. We had enough kids out that we had to make cuts. We looked at everybody and made some difficult cuts. It’s always toughest job a coach has. The varsity looks like it’ll be competitive. JV and freshman look like they have some potential."
   The JV will be led by coach Bill Martin, while B.J. Mealy will coach the freshman. Both will be varsity assistants to Czelusniak.
   "I have two excellent assistants," Czelusniak said. "Not only are they good lacrosse guys, they’re good people. It helps."
   Keeping the program at a high level, one that’s made it a Bianchi contender for the past three seasons, is quite a challenge in his first year. The Knights lost some of their top players due to graduation.
   "Everything has a different challenge whether a program is starting out or it’s a big program," Czelusniak said. "Even an established program, there has to be an emphasis on fundamentals. At heart, I’m a teacher. Whether you’re teaching a young program or a more established program, maybe you can advance a little quicker (in an established program), but it all comes down to being able to throw and catch. If you can’t do that, it’s going to be tough."
   Beyond the fundamentals that Czelusniak has had WW-PN working on from the start, he’s relying on inputting a proven style that worked while he was at Hun.
   "First and foremost, we have to emphasize defense," Czelusniak said. "I’ve been able to watch Princeton a lot. I talk to Coach (Bill) Tierney. He’s been generous with his time. He talks about keeping your focus on having a strong defense and the principles of having a good defense. On offense, we want to move the ball around and try to get everyone involved a bit. You don’t want to rely on one guy. There are times you’re going to go to your better players when you need something. You have to play fundamental offense and fundamental defense and be able to move off the ball.
   "And sometimes you have to deal with adversity," he added. "How well you do that means a lot. You are going to have good days and bad days. On those (bad) days, you have to have everyone step up and pull somebody through. Maybe one or two guys aren’t having a good day. Someone else has to step up and be the big player that day."
   Czelusniak is anxious to get back on the field as a coach. He’ll have his first chance against Westfield, and it’s a chance he’s relishing.
   "When I left a few years ago, I didn’t know if I’d have an opportunity to get back in coaching again," Czelusniak said. "Whoever is on the field, I feel fortunate to have another opportunity to work with young athletes again. I tell them it’s great fun. Despite all hard work you do, you have to have fun. It’s not worth it if you can’t have some fun too."
   Being back on the sidelines after a four-year hiatus is fun enough for Steve Czelusniak. He thought it might take another year before he returned, but circumstances moved it up one season. He has the chance to remain in the area at another good program.
   It’s like it was meant to be.