New year brings new sport and energy to school

Athletic Director Michael Spinner is more than eager to add lacrosse as a new varsity sport at Albertus Magnus College in 2013. Spinner, a lacrosse player and former coach himself, had a direct passion to initiate the new sport to the school. A turf field renovation during the summer of 2011 will allow Albertus Magnus to add its 13^th and 14^th (men and women) varsity sports programs to the athletic department.

“I cannot begin to explain how excited I am to bring men's and women's lacrosse to Albertus Magnus College, not only because I have played and coached lacrosse for most of my life, but because I truly think this is the perfect college to add lacrosse,” said Spinner.

Spinner recognized the need for the addition of the turf surface from the moment he stepped on campus this fall as Athletic Director. On the first day in his job, he attended a soccer game on campus and took note of the erosion on the grass field. He knew immediately something had to change.

“In the middle of September, I began having conversations with my Vice President, Maureen Morrison, regarding the immediate need to address our field condition situation. The conversations worked their way up to our President, Dr. Julia McNamara, and the discussions evolved from the need for turf from the perspective of maintenance and safety, to the growth potential possible from adding turf, and the fact that almost every college in Connecticut and most High Schools had taken this step. Ultimately, I was invited to present a proposal for a turf field at the November Board of Trustees meeting, and we received approval in December,” said Spinner.

Spinner believes Albertus Magnus is just right geographically for potential lacrosse players to take interest in the campus.

“Our location is ideal to recruit student-athletes from our own backyard, which just so happens to be a lacrosse hot-bed, and expand into lower New England, and New York as well, ” said Spinner. “Lacrosse is statistically the fastest growing sport in the country, and is just huge in the northeast, so I think there will be significant interest from prospective student-athletes. We'll be recruiting scholar-athletes who are great role models and leaders to our campus, who just so happen to be lacrosse players. This dynamic will add to our mandate to push academic success alongside athletic victory.”

The renovation to the outdoor field will include a sound system, new scoreboard, seating, and updated track in addition to the turf-playing surface. The new lacrosse varsity teams will compete in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference after competing as club teams during the 2011-2012 year. Spinner sees recruitment of new lacrosse players as a positive for the school altogether.

“Our campus and academics sell themselves, so I do not believe that recruiting terrific lacrosse players will be difficult. What we really needed was the right facility in order to add lacrosse, and now we are going to have it,” said Spinner. “And, of course, when it comes to enrollment at small colleges, the impact of having an additional 45-75 students on campus via recruiting for men's and women's lacrosse, is only a positive for Albertus Magnus College. In other words, when you look at the enhanced campus culture towards athletics, the possibility of achieving success in both sports, and the impact on the business end of the college, adding lacrosse is a win-win-win!”

Spinner sees this renovation project as one step closer to his goals for the athletic department as a whole. While the new turf field has already created a buzz around the school, Spinner has a lot more on his to-do-list including a future renovation to the gym and softball field.

“In the back of my mind, if we can do this the right way - continue to build top-notch soccer programs, build outstanding lacrosse programs, and doing so with the academic, social, and developmental mission of Albertus Magnus College as the guiding principles behind these programs - it is my hope that we will look at the other physical areas of our athletic program, and enhance them as well,” said Spinner.

Albertus Magus College looks to continue its tradition in academics and athletics one step at a time. Spinner knows improvements and success takes time, and he says his commitment to the school’s community is his first priority.

Said Spinner: “This is because my goal as Athletic Director is to not lead our programs to championship trophies, but instead to focus on doing things the right way so championship trophies are a natural bi-product. This means the right facilities, the right support, the right mentorship, the right recruiting, and the right focus - academics first and athletics second. If we do all of this right, we are truly going to be a college that young athletes dream of attending. Adding turf and men's and women's lacrosse this coming summer is a major step in the right direction towards this end.”