There are many varying aspects that are working to prepare the men’s lacrosse team for the 2015 season. All teams need players and a head coach however the assistant coach is a critical part to a team’s success.
Currently, the men’s Head Coach Steve Colfer has four assistance coaches and a strength and conditioning coach to journey through this season with the men’s team.
One of the assistant coaches, Dana Wilber, is entering into the beginning of career with the Cavs.
Wilber has an impressive history with the game of lacrosse. According to Cabrini athletics, Wilber was named All-American and was a two-time medalist from the Empire State Games during his high school career.
After high school Wilber transitioned into collegiate world of division I lacrosse at Drexel University. While playing for Drexel, Wilber racked up a very impressive list of achievements. As a captain for his team, Wilber developed his understanding of the different aspects of the game. He also developed a very close connection to the coaching staff while playing at Drexel. This is when he first saw a potential career for himself.
“I realized I wanted to be a coach sometime around my junior year at Drexel, Wilber said. “I was considering my options for the future and lacrosse had always been something I understood and could articulate for others so I decided to give it a try.”
Then Wilber’s passion and skills took him to the professional level after graduation. Major Legaue Lacrosse was an opportunity that he used to develop not only his lacrosse skills but he considers it to have been a great professional and social experience.
Wilber gives a lot of credit to his Drexel coaching staff for giving him advice on playing Major League Lacrosse since they shared this experience. During his time here, Wilber played with the Hamilton Nationals and the Ohio Machine. Since this League only has eight teams, there is a great deal of competition to land a spot.
“If you don’t perform someone else is behind you waiting for their opportunity, ” Wilber said.
After his time in the world of Major League Lacrosse, where he was named the Ohio Machine’s 2014 Defensive Player of the Year, Wilber continued to evolve.
Various coaching gigs finally landed him on Cabrini’s campus. As an assistant coach there are many different roles for Wilber to fulfill.
Welber helps Coach Colfer with practices and the over all development of the players. But aside from these tasks, Wilber plays a critical role in the recruiting process. Focusing on the overall plan and the strategical aspect of the process is key to Wilber to making sure that it runs effectively.
“Recruiting is the life blood of any program and the landscape has changed, at least for lacrosse, in the past few years,” Wilber said.
Wilber stresses the importance of communication and planning when being a part of a team and the responsibility of being an assistance coach. Planning for practices, talking to recruits, current players and dealing with alumni relations are a few aspects of the job that he faces daily.
His main focus for the Cavs during this 2015 season is development. He mentioned how critically important it is for the guys to develop their skills throughout the season.
“If our team is at its best today we will be in for a long year,” Wilber said. “If our team is best in May then we have developed our guys and winning games is the only alternative,.”
Wilber has many other passions, from exploring the city of Philadelphia to reading. When he gets the opportunity Wilber travels back to his hometown in New York to spend time with his family at the lake where he grew up.
But lacrosse is a main passion for Wilber and as an assistant coach here at Cabrini he will work on the development of the Cavs.
“The best part of team sports is bringing individuals together and creating some sort of synergy,” Wilber said.
