A tenacious veteran lacrosse player will now try to bring those attributes behind the bench.
The Nanaimo DBL Timbermen announced Monday that Mike Maughan is the new coach of the team.
Maughan takes over from Roger Dubyna, who stepped down after last season.
General manager Shawn Swanson said the club is “super excited” to have Maughan as coach.
“One of the biggest names in town for lacrosse is Maughan, so it’s nice to have him on board,” said Swanson
Maughan had been training this winter to try to play another season, but his body said no.
“I realized that my knee wasn’t really where I’d like it to be, so I got a hold of Shawn and told him I’d be available for whatever he needed,” said Maughan.
The Timbermen veteran played 12 seasons in Nanaimo, scoring 281 points over 169 regular-season games. In recent years he’s been a player-coach and said he’s ready for his new role.
“I’ve always played the game a certain way and been a real competitor,” he said. “And having had a real good relationship with all my coaches, especially Roger over the last few years, now that I’ve gotten older I see the other side of it.”
He hopes the T-men will keep up the strong defence and team-first style that Dubyna coached, but Maughan also plans to open up the offence and “up the entertainment factor.”
He said there’s a good veteran core of players he knows well, and said he sees some young players trying out who are willing to be aggressive and go to the net.
“With the influx of these young kids coming in, and with what I know I’m getting out of the veteran players, I think it will be a really good mix and make for an entertaining style,” he said.
Swanson said there are about 15 returnees, plus a handful of newcomers he called “quality A-ball players” who will be identified in the coming weeks.
“At this point in the season we’re as strong as we were at the end of last season, so that’s huge,” said the GM.
GAME ON … The DBL Timbermen will officially open training camp April 16 at the Nanaimo Ice Centre. The West Coast Senior Lacrosse Association season starts May 3 … The team is looking for an athletic trainer to be on the bench this coming season; please e-mail shawn.swanson@shaw.ca.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com
