Story by Kurt Miller, Assistant Sports Information Director
Building from the ground up was the task Vince Redko accepted when named the Kalamazoo College men's lacrosse coach in July 2014. And now, more than a year and a half later, the program will take the field for its first game as a varsity sport on Saturday, Feb. 27 at DePauw University.
"Overall it's been a lot of fun so far," Redko said. "It's very exciting to get this started."
Upon his arrival, Redko acknowledged building a program from scratch was going to be difficult and take plenty of hard work, but he also knew it wouldn't be possible to fully understand how much work it would actually take.
"A lot of things that you take for granted at an existing program—things like culture, how to be student-athletes, what the game experience is like, how to manage time—a lot of those things are easier to establish at other programs because you have upperclassmen to teach the incoming players," he said. "Here, we have to go over every little detail, which can be good and bad, but that's the fun of it."
The 2016 season will surely be a season of ups and downs for the Hornets, but Redko provided his group with four primary goals this season. First and foremost, Redko wants the group to build strong team chemistry with so many of the players coming from different areas and never playing with each other before.
The team also has goals to improve its play every game, build its reputation and level of respect throughout the K and greater Kalamazoo community and bring a positive mindset to all practices and games.
"We as a coaching staff really value positivity, but there are going to be times, especially in a first year, with lots of ups and downs," Redko said. "There will be some pretty tough times for the program, but dwelling on the negatives isn't going to get you anywhere.
"All of that is a combination of us focusing more on the culture this year than it is focusing on the wins and losses."
Redko's been pleased so far with the energy level his team's displayed throughout the preseason even with practice times fluctuating and venues flip flopping.
He's been even more impressive with the players' willingness and desire to learn.
"It's too hard to single out anyone in particular because we haven't seen anyone other than ourselves yet, but overall the team has done a good job of responding to coaching."
Kalamazoo will finally get to test its work against someone other than itself on Saturday with a 2 p.m. faceoff in Greencastle, Ind. The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association season begins with a home contest against Albion College on April 9.
"Our team is excited to show people in the Kalamazoo area a sport that's new to them," Redko said. "It's cool to have the opportunity to introduce a lot of people to a sport that many people for the first time they see it go 'man, that's a really cool sport to play and definitely watch.'"