From the podcast: Middlesex coach Brian Powers on ISL rivalries, sportsmanship

New Middlesex School coach Brian Powers is the guest on the "Chasing The Goal" podcast this week.

On this episode of New England Lacrosse Journal’s “Chasing The Goal” podcast, hosts Kyle Devitte and Owen Hart talk with new Middlesex School coach Brian Powers.

Powers grew up in Winchester, Mass., playing soccer, hockey and lacrosse. Eventually, he made his way to Middlesex, where he starred in all three sports before heading to Tufts for his college career. At Tufts, he won three NESCAC lacrosse championships before becoming a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater.

At Catholic Memorial (Mass.) for the last three years, Powers was a history teacher, advisor, and head coach of varsity soccer and varsity lacrosse.

He was named the Lacrosse Coach of the Year in the Catholic Conference in 2022, and he continues to coach with 3D New England.

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.

Owen Hart: When you were a player at Middlesex to now — there’s a big difference. Now you have playoffs, which I think is a huge plus. My question is, when you were playing at Middlesex, did you feel a sense of wanting more than just the season and that was it?

Brian Powers: Yeah, absolutely. I was pumped just to hear about it when they made the change. I remember texting some of my friends from Middlesex and just being like, “Hey, they did it.”

They finally did it because it was something that we always wanted when we were there. It is a little bit different with the scheduling now. You don’t play every team every year, which again, I don’t know the ins and outs of yet. I’m actually sitting down with one of our people in the athletic department next week to kind of run through all the scheduling stuff.

But, yeah, it’s definitely something I’m looking forward to. It creates an awesome environment. Being able to watch some of the kinds of championship weekend games last year once I knew I had the position was a really cool experience. I think anybody that’s watched some of those games gets a super-high level of lacrosse, and you get a ton of people coming out to them. I think it’s great for the game. I mean, who doesn’t love playoffs? 

Kyle Devitte: When you were playing at Middlesex, who was your rival? And is that the same rival in the ISL today? 

Brian Powers: I want to say (Governor’s). There were a lot of teams that wind you up, especially as an 18-year-old kid. There are a few teams that kind of fall under that that bracket for me when I was in high school. So, while I love all the coaches in the league, I’m sure when I see guys in that jersey again, it’s going to feel the same way in a lot of ways.

So, I think that that’s something that’s a fun part of part of sports. But kind of going off of that, I’ve always been super-proud of Middlesex for … doing a great job at keeping it about us and not necessarily letting that bleed over into conduct that’s kind of unnecessary or unbecoming or unacceptable. That sportsmanship piece is something that (former coaches) Ned Herter and Doug Worthen always preached to such a high degree, that you’re playing the game the right way and that you’re loving playing it.

So, I think that that’s something that I’ll continue to preach. I love that animosity, that little bit of juice that kind of gets the game going, but making sure that you’re understanding the situation. It is a game that you very desperately want to win, but you’ve got to represent yourself in the right way. We have definitely have done that in the past and we’ll continue to do that as we move forward with the program. 

@TheKyleDevitte
[email protected]

More Episodes