New Tri-State University head men’s lacrosse coach Bryan Poole couldn’t decide which he loved more, coaching or playing professional lacrosse—so he’ll do both when he leads the TSU team in its inaugural season.

The attackman for the Chicago Machine knew he loved college coaching after a stint as assistant coach at Wooster College in Wooster, Ohio. He had just begun playing the pro circuit when he applied for the TSU job in May. “I chose to do both because I still wanted to play, but was also passionate about coaching,” he said.

The Vancouver, B.C. native played professional indoor lacrosse, and chose the U.S.—St. Vincent in Pittsburgh—for college, where he was all-time leading scorer and led the nation in NCAA Division III scoring in 2003-2004. 

His professional status isn’t lost on his new players. “It helps the recruiting process to have a professional lacrosse player as coach,” he said. “The players are so excited. I’m getting e-mails from them, and my first game of the year, six of them came and watched. They’re excited and ecstatic.”

He likes the challenge of putting together a first-year college lacrosse team. “I’m excited and looking forward to getting our name out there,” he said. “I have 37 kids, and half are first- or second-round all-state or all-region players. It’s a talented freshman class.’

Indoor lacrosse is Canada’s national sport, but field lacrosse, which will be played outdoors on TSU’s Shive Field, is gaining popularity in some areas of the U.S. “This is traditionally an Eastern seaboard fascination, but is really taking off elsewhere now,” he said. To counter the Midwest’s unfamiliarity with the sport, he will publish rules and penalties for spectators of the new TSU sport.

While Angola is far from the hue and cry of a city like Vancouver, he looks forward to the coaching challenge at the small private college. “We were joking—where is this place? Lacrosse is in its infancy in Indiana, but I wanted to be head coach, build the program and hit the ground running,” he said. Poole’s brother, Ian, will help him out as assistant coach.

Players from Texas, Minnesota, South Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Nebraska, Colorado, and New York, among other states, will make up the young team. “I recruited out East, and a big draw was that TSU is one of only four schools in NCAA Division III offering engineering,” Poole said.

He plans community involvement with lacrosse, and will begin camps at the Breeden YMCA in Steuben County and the DeKalb County YMCA for boys and girls. “I plan to be here a while, and girls’ lacrosse is blowing up,” he said.