From the podcast: John Klepacki on career longevity and success

Longtime Western New England coach John Klepacki is also an assistant with Cannons LC of the PLL. (Courtesy)

On this week’s episode of New England Lacrosse Journal’s “Chasing The Goal” podcast, hosts Kyle Devitte and Jack Piatelli were joined by longtime Western New England head coach John Klepacki.

Since 2002, Klepacki has coached the Golden Bears to 11 appearances in the NCAA Division 3 tournament. Since entering the Commonwealth Coast Conference in 2008, Western New England has won nine CCC titles, more than any other program.

With a 268-112 career and school record and a .705 winning percentage, Klepacki has a record of success that places him among the top 20 active men’s lacrosse coaches in Division 3.

He’s also been an assistant coach for the Cannons LC franchise in the Premier Lacrosse League since its inception into the league two seasons ago.

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Kyle Devitte: Coach, you’re one of the mainstays of western Massachusetts lacrosse. You are going into your 22nd season; how do you feel about the legacy you’ve already crafted and what are you looking forward to? 

John Klepacki: I think it’s a special time at Western New England because now the alumni connections stretch back so far. There have been guys that, when I first took over, like Peter Black and Joel Castleman, were very welcoming and wanted to help build upon their support of the school. I think now that it’s 20-plus years, it’s a situation where there are a lot of guys that played for me. And it’s a big family atmosphere; it’s a group that’s really united around the kids that are in the program, and want to have those guys be successful and want to strive more for themselves and try to do a little bit better every year.

Jack Piatelli: You’re in a unique situation where not only are you the head coach of the men’s program, but your wife, Amy, is the head coach of the women’s program. You don’t see that too often in the college ranks. How do you manage that?

JK: It’s great. My wife is awesome with how she is able to understand some of the things that we go through as coaches, obviously, because she’s doing it. Also, I don’t think there’s a lot of chalk talk going on in the Klepacki household, but I think we’re sounding boards with each other when there are things that we can help each other with.

I give her a tremendous amount of credit for how she keeps the household going and everything. She’s always making sure all the kids are in the right spots and everything’s going in the right area. She does such a great job of being able to make sure everybody’s getting a great experience. 

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