Centenary College Men’s Lacrosse
June 8th, 2010 - by
Matt Klank enters his sixth season as head coach of the Centenary men’s lacrosse program. The 2009 campaign was one of Klank’s best coaching jobs, as he guided an injury-plagued team, with only 16 student-athletes on the roster, to a 6-9 record, including a 4-2 mark in the Colonial States Athletic Conference (formerly the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference).
1. How would you describe yourself as a coach?
I feel that I am a player’s coach. I want my players to feel as if they can tell me anything. I understand what it is like to be in their shoes. The lines of communication are always open between myself and my team. I do expect nothing less than 100% on and off the field. I want them never to look back and have regrets. Giving 100% on and off the field allows you to never have those regrets. We try to teach them how to be better people through lacrosse.
2. What’s unique about the experience at your school?
The closeness of the school at Centenary is unique compared to some of my experiences at other schools. Everyone knows who you are at the school and that closeness develops a bond between faculty, staff, and the students.
3. What do recruits need to know about you?
One of the main qualities that I pride myself in is my honesty with my players. Sometimes that is a good and bad thing. They know when they are doing a good job and they also know when they need to pick it up. Being brutally honest with my players is something they deserve and something that they like when communicated in the proper way.
4. What do you look for in recruits?
The main quality I look for in recruits is having a passion for the game. Having a passion for something is not an old persons word. I want all my players to match my passion. When you have a passion for something in life, good things tend to result.
5. What is the one thing every recruit needs to do with the recruiting process?
The two things I would recommend to all recruits is that they be proactive in their college search and they be honest with themselves on what level they can play college lacrosse. Don’t wait for a coach to contact you, you contact him. This is the most important decision of your life up to this point and you need to be proactive in that search. Having the ability to be honest with yourself on what level you can play college lacrosse is huge. Not everyone is a Division 1 lacrosse player. I played and coached at both levels. There is some great lacrosse being played at the D3 level and is no slight against you as a player if that is the route you decide.
6. What sort of questions do you really like to hear from recruits?
I love every question that I hear from a recruit. I don’t think there is a bad question when it comes to finding out information on a school and program. Like I said earlier, this is the most important decision you may ever make in your life, therefore there are no bad questions. The best way you can decide on whether you are making the right decision is having all the information on each school. Then you take emotion out of cards and you are then making a wise sound choice.
7. What turns you off when you?re recruiting a student athlete?
By far the biggest turnoff when it comes to recruiting is when recruits are not honest. I expect my recruits to be honest because that is what I am going to give them. You can’t build a relationship with dishonest people. I know sometimes recruits are afraid of the reaction they might get from a coach. I can only speak for myself, but I have lost many recruits through my years. I can deal with it. I have a tough time dealing with recruits when they tell me one thing and another thing happens. As long as your honest with me and even if you don’t attend Centenary, I will be happy for you because you feel you found the right school.
8. What do you think your program is the most successful at?
I think we are most successful at Centenary with preparing our student athletes for life. I feel we are improving each year with developing a better team and players, but preparing them for life is most important. Lacrosse is a big part of what we do obviously, but learning how to communicate, being disciplined, and being a team player are of utmost importance. Having our players go out and be successful with life is what we are about at Centenary.
9. Why should a recruit consider your program?
A recruit should consider Centenary because we do things the right way. You will have a chance to get a solid education, learn how to be a better person once you are ready to go out into the real world, and have a chance to be a part of a winning and successful lacrosse program while having a blast doing so.
10. If a recruit is interested in your program, how should they reach out to you?
The best way a recruit should reach out to our program is by going to our website, fill out our recruiting form, and then to follow it up with a phone call or email.
