New coach excited by challenge
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Rich D’Andrea was looking to get into scholastic coaching when he found out about the boys lacrosse coach opening at West Windsor-Plainsboro North.
”I asked around about it,” D’Andrea said. “I wanted to do some research. It seemed like a good fit. It’s close for me, and dealing with the players and parents, obviously everyone cares about the program. It’s been a great two weeks so far.”
D’Andrea is happy with what he has seen in his introduction as Knight boys lacrosse coach. It’s an introduction to a program that was in its infancy when he was playing at The Peddie School.
”We did not play West Windsor North,” D’Andrea said. “It is a newer program. That said, they’ve had a lot of success in the last decade already which is great. It’s good seeing the sport grow so quickly.”
D’Andrea wanted to be a part of that growth. He is used to a high level of success. He was a two-time All-America goalie and won a Prep A state championship while at Peddie. Then a Montgomery resident, he went on to start three years at Georgetown University, which reached the NCAA tournament in all four of his years playing after a redshirt freshman year.
”It was good,” D’Andrea said. “My career at Georgetown went well. It was a great experience for me. We made it to quarterfinals four years in a row, which was pretty frustrating not being able to break through. But it was a great group of guys that I’m still friends with. On the whole, it was a positive experience and I was lucky to do it.”
Following graduation from Georgetown, D’Andrea stayed close to the game before working in commercial real estate in New York. D’Andrea gained valuable coaching experience with a mentor.
”I coached in Tri-State Lacrosse,” he said. “Bob Turco, my coach at Peddie, he’s been running that company for the last 20 years. I coach primarily youth in camps and clinics, and I also coach all-star teams for seven or eight years and then I stopped for a couple years. I’ll be doing that again this summer.
”I really like coaching at any age, to be honest with you. The leagues, we have kids that start as early as 8 or 9 years old. There are different things you can touch on with each age group. There are things great about each age group, with player development and where they are in their lives.”
When D’Andrea got married last year and moved back to the area to settle in Princeton, he started looking for a chance to coach in high school.
”I’m looking to get into teaching now,” D’Andrea said. “That’s something I’d like to do, is be able to teach and coach. Right now, I’m at West Windsor North. They’re great kids over there. It’s been a really great experience over there so far.”
He feels lucky too to have found a young, enthusiastic program so close to his Princeton home. D’Andrea is the third head coach in three years for WW-P North, which went 20-5, won the Mercer County Tournament for the second straight season and reached the Group III state championship under David Serughetti last year.D’Andrea won’t have nearly as much experience to work with this season, but the Knights have established high standards.
”Every team I’ve been a part of has been a little different,” D’Andrea said. “They graduated 21 guys last year. The message to these guys early on is every team takes on a different identity. Every guy has new roles. This year, we only have six seniors, and then 10 juniors. So we have 16 upperclassmen. It’ll be a great opportunity for these guys to step up and grow as people and grow as players.
”Already, you’re seeing a lot of who the leaders are going to be on the team.”
The Knights will have to grow up as many of them will be in increased roles this season. They will face a schedule that has a new twist this season in the Colonial Valley Conference. It is split into two divisions with WW-P North in with the most established of the programs, programs like WW-P South and Princeton High. The CVC division teams will play each other twice in a home-and-home series. D’Andrea is looking to put his touch on the group that he inherited, bringing his years of experience as a player and coach to the Knights.
”They’re a hard-working group of kids,” D’Andrea said of his team. “Everyone is buying into the system really well. The leaders are starting to step up.
”Being that I was a goalie, I’ve been picking the brains of a lot of the offensive coaches I know. It’s been good. I’ve learned a lot and I hope to continue learning.”