September 29, 2000 - After a five week review of coaching applicants, Sonoma State University's Lacrosse team has announced the appointment of Doug Carl as Head Coach effective October 1, 2000. Coach Carl brings a wealth of coaching experience both from the collegiate and high school levels and is expected to continue the SSU Lacrosse program's success.
Former Head Coach John Hughes was involved in the selection process and enthusiastically endorses Doug Carl for both his knowledge and experience. "I have know Doug for the past four years and we have very similar coaching styles," notes Hughes, "I'm confident that the program will continue to be nationally ranked under Doug's leadership."
Mike Annala, Academic Advisor of the team and chair of the search committee was equally supportive of the selection. Annala stated, "Doug is a dedicated educator both on and off the field and will contribute significantly to the academic aspects of the team."
Doug Carl is a well-known and respected individual in lacrosse circles. He is 35 years old, played varsity lacrosse and football at a small D III college in Pennsylvania (Ursinus) and will be relocating to California the first week in October. He coached at the high school level for several years at Cumberland Valley High School where his teams won two Pennsylvania state titles. He coached the South Carolina club team while completing one of his three Masters degrees (Political Science, Statistics and Communications). He has also been a head coach for the varsity D III men's team at Marietta, Ohio as well as a fixture at summer camps all over the country.
Coach Carl has worked the Great Western Lacrosse Camp in San Diego for the past three summers and is familiar with several of SSU's current freshmen. He is also a terrific recruiter with contacts nationwide and has assembled a complete database of 800 high school coaches.
He competes as a defenseman on the Elite level of men's club lacrosse (Vail, Lake Placid, Chicago, Las Vegas) and is looking forward to trying out for the National Team in the Masters division.
As part of the interview process, Coach Carl came to Sonoma for a visit two weeks ago, was able to see three practices and met with members of the coaching staff, alumni and the search committee. He made contacts on campus and at the local junior college with hopes of lecturing and will likely do some substitute teaching while his credential paperwork is processed.
In addition to teaching and coaching, Doug Carl will be finishing his doctorate degree in International Relations, something he says he has put off for entirely too long. I am sure you will have the opportunity to meet Coach Carl in the future and the search committee is confident that you will agree with its assessment.
During this transition period, Alan Balser, Dallas Hartley and Pat Ferguson have been running practice. They approached the opportunity with enthusiasm and sincerity. The players have been working hard and are developing rapidly into a formidable team. Veteran players have stepped it up and practices have been extremely spirited. The team is large and deep at every position. We have entered two teams in the Chico tournament and have attempted to evenly divide the groups so that everyone will get plenty of playing time.
Fund raising for our trip to Michigan is progressing at a regular pace with almost every player showing up as assigned to act as security at local NFL games. (Players have described working as Event Staff on the field level of Raider and 49er games as dull.... until the Raiderettes show up on their side of the stadium).
John Hughes is still working at Sonoma State and he has been extremely helpful in recruiting and selecting the new coach. John has known Doug for four years and enthusiastically endorses his selection. John will also meet with Doug and review what the team has learned over the past few years and provide insights about our opponents for the 2001 season.
As always, the SSU Lacrosse Team looks forward to seeing you at the games.