Podcast: Aaron Verardi on the JUCO route to college lacrosse

Harford Community College head coach Aaron Verardi joined the "Chasing The Goal" podcast this week to talk junior college lacrosse.

On this week’s episode of New England Lacrosse Journal’s “Chasing The Goal” podcast, hosts Kyle Devitte and Jack Piatelli talk with Harford Community College head coach Aaron Verardi.

This spring is coach Verardi’s 10th season in charge of the Harford Community College men’s lacrosse program, located in Bel Air, Md.

Verardi played his high school lacrosse at national powerhouse Boys’ Latin, under legendary coach Bob Shriver. He was a defensive standout at UMBC, serving as a three-year starter. In 2009, the Retrievers went to the NCAA tournament.

Last spring, Verardi led Harford to the program’s first NJCAA national championship, which it won in dominant fashion on its home field, 13-8 over Nassau Community College. The team also finished the season unblemished for the first time, ending with a 12-0 record.

The Fighting Owls appeared in their fourth straight final four while also earning the program’s fourth straight Region XX Championship. Verardi was recognized as the NJCAA Coaches Association Coach of the Year, the Regional Coach of the Year and the Scott Livie Junior College Coach of the Year.

Watch the full podcast below on YouTube. It’s also available on all major podcast platforms. If you enjoy it, please leave a rating and a review. Watch more episodes on the Chasing the Goal podcast channel.

Here are some excerpts from the pod.

Kyle Devitte: One of the things that our audience would like to know is what is a junior college, exactly? There aren’t a lot of those up here in New England or in a lot of the country, period.

Aaron Verardi: I do appreciate the opportunity here to talk about this. So, it is very regional. It’s definitely more down in the Mid-Atlantic area. You spoke about community college and that’s essentially what the league is — it’s made up of a (group) of two-year schools. There are some that are just your regular community college. There are some technical schools, ranging in all different areas. Essentially the plan is (for students) to get an associate’s degree here, which is about halfway through a Bachelor’s degree.

A big reason why people go this route is to save money. I kind of use this as a stepping stone, from a lacrosse standpoint, to be able to go on to a four-year college and play, and finish up your Bachelor’s there.

Jack Piatelli: Coach, I had the opportunity to spend four years at Dean College when it was a two-year school (known as Dean Junior College) and it was actually a great experience for me because I found that coaching the players … well, No. 1, the rosters were a little bit smaller. So you really got to know the players. And I just felt like I worked harder because I wanted the experience to be really beneficial for these players, because those two years were crucial in their future.

Aaron Verardi: Absolutely. It’s really, like you said, a crucial couple of years. I tell guys all the time, it’s amazing the growth and maturity that happens between 17- or 18-years-old to 20-years-old. There have been a lot of guys that have come this route that weren’t really sure of themselves, didn’t really know what they wanted to do, had to mature a little bit, and maybe weren’t getting a ton of looks in high school. And they’ve gotten a ton of opportunities after spending two years here.

Jack Piatelli: The other thing that a lot of players should really take a look at is you might be recruited (to play at a four-year college), but if you go to a JUCO school you’re gonna have an opportunity to play for a couple of years and really develop. So when you get to that next level — let’s say, Division 2, 3 or 1 — you’ve got playing experience. So instead of going to a school and sitting on the bench for two years … this gives you an opportunity on the field sooner and develop your skill-set, and then go on to maybe a place that you wanted to go to before you went to JUCO and you couldn’t get there.

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