Professional sports players more often than not are looked at as idols for their respective sports. Cabrini’s athletic program has a coach that has been leading a double-life of assistant coach and professional player.
P.T. Ricci recently signed a contract extension to play for the Florida Launch over the next two years. Since then, he has jumped around between a few teams with two total MLL championships.
“I re-signed with the Launch because of the teammates,” said Ricci. “If we figure some things out we will be a championship contender.”
P.T Ricci is the defensive coordinator for Cabrini’s men’s lacrosse team since he joined the team in September of 2015. Ricci attended Loyola and received a bachelor of arts in communication where he was an All-American long-stick defender and ECAC Defensive Player of the Year in his senior season.
Immediately after graduation, Ricci was drafted 11th overall in the 2009 Major League Lacrosse (MLL) pick.
“There was a three-week gap which included the MLL combine and draft to my first professional game with the Chesapeake Bayhawks,” Ricci said. He began his professional career on the Bayhawks, where he helped the team to an MLL title.
For the sport of lacrosse, Ricci is in that pool of individuals that are looked up to with his great amount of success in his years. Ricci brings different experience, excitement and ideas from his multiple teams over the past.
“He is a huge asset for our team because with our young defense and guys trying out different positions it helps to have a coach with such experience,” said senior defender Colin McGavin.
Being a college coach is not an easy task because of the complexity of responsibilities that change from high school to college. In college, assistant coaches usually run either the offense or defense under the head coach’s supervision. On top of the difficult task of coaching, Ricci works at the Dixon Center and does a great deal of recruiting for future Cavaliers.
“Coaching is my full-time job and first priority,” said coach Ricci. “Luckily, the college and MLL season only overlap for a few weeks a year.”
The MLL season usually have games early in the season on Sundays, which would allow Ricci to travel after a Saturday game for Cabrini. This life is definitely no easy task and should be admired for the level of organization it takes. “Coach Colfer allows me to be flexible with playing and recruiting,” said Ricci.
The biggest issue would be focusing and balancing these two things because they take up a lot of time. Coaching is a full-time job, as Ricci explained and to be a professional athlete, you have to be in top shape and train hard in the off-season as well as in season.
“I know plenty of guys who had to quit playing in the MLL because their boss wouldn’t allow them, so I am very lucky in that sense,” Ricci said.
