SPORTS
Doug Shanahan
REPORTER: Camila Basora & Gabriella Morales
At the age of eight, Doug Shanahan was given the tool that
contributed greatly to who he is today: a lacrosse stick. Born in
Long Island, NY, Coach Shanahan has been playing lacrosse for
as long as he can remember. Lacrosse was already a prevalent
sport where he grew up. The main reason why he started to play
lacrosse was because of his father, who signed him up in a league
and encouraged him along the way. He played both lacrosse
and football at a very young age. Coach Shanahan played major
league lacrosse for thirteen years, and he played for the New York
Jets. He was a two-time member of the USA lacrosse team and
was MVP of the World Games.
Throughout the years, Doug Shanahan coached and taught
lacrosse in Pinecrest, Florida. Last year, he coached at St. Thomas
Aquinas as the Assistant Head Coach, and he took its lacrosse
team to the final four at the state games. Looking for a fresh start,
he decided that St. Brendan was a great fit for him. “I like the
people here when I came to visit, I was excited by the idea of a
new upper school, new athletic facilities, and the idea of having
my own high school program where no one else had a footprint
on it,” said Coach Shanahan. He is thrilled to get the program off
the ground and to get the St. Brendan name out in the lacrosse
community. His goal here at St. Brendan is to create a thriving
lacrosse program for future years, but he knows it will be a while
before that vision is successful. He said, “This year is obviously a
foundation year for the years to come here at St. Brendan, and
we [he and the team] look forward to building the program that
will be highly competitive with any team, hopefully, in the state.”
Shanahan feels the team has a good start and is happy with the
effort and excitement that the team has put into lacrosse so far.
He feels the time and commitment that is necessary to rise to the
upper echelon of lacrosse in Florida will take years to develop.
The team will be competing against other first-year teams and
programs, and Shanahan is excited about the freshman class and
with where their skills will be in four years. This year, he does not
want the team to be defined by wins and losses. “I think that once
the kids leave the program, we have a couple of seniors, with
better life lessons through lacrosse, which is how we try to teach
-- that will be our success story.”
“I LIKE THE PEOPLE HERE
WHEN I CAME TO VISIT, I WAS
EXCITED BY THE IDEA OF A NEW
UPPER SCHOOL, NEW ATHLETIC
FACILITIES, AND THE IDEA OF
HAVING MY OWN HIGH SCHOOL
PROGRAM WHERE NO ONE ELSE
HAD A FOOTPRINT ON IT”