Interview with Scott Teeter -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

TEETER GETTING READY TO COACH TEAM CANADA IN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

(SCOTT TEETER'S THOUGHTS ON TEAM CANADA, THE RESPONSIBILITY, HIS PLAYERS AND STAFF.) 

Q: You’ve been associated with Team Canada since 2011, but you have to be excited for the World Championships coming up in August.

COACH:  “It’s sort of two-fold. Being the defending world champion and having the opportunity to defend our gold medal is phenomenal. But, the most important is hosting the World Cup in Peterborough, Ontario, which is only two hours from where I grew up. It will be the first time that I have coached on Canadian soil.”

Q:What would it be like to defend that world championship in your home country?

COACH:  “I’m excited to show the growth of women’s lacrosse the last decade across Canada. To be able to show that we are world champions to our supporters and our fans would be amazing. Having my friends and family there to support will be great, my grandparents will be in attendance for the first time in my career, which is very special.”

Q: How different is it preparing for this tournament when you have such a short amount of time to prepare?

COACH:  “It seems like we’ve been a camp behind with this team because of some negotiations with the Canadian Lacrosse Association and the Players Association, so we have a bit of a delayed start. Everything is moving quite quickly. We just named the final 18 with alternates a few weeks ago and we have a three-day camp before we hit the World Cup. It’s definitely doable, the players are excited. It’s the most talented and deepest team that we’ve had at the U19 level. The Americans will be one of the teams to beat, but the bullseye will be on our back because we are defending champions. We only have to be them (USA) on a given day and we have enough talent to do so and we’ll have the help of our Canadian fans.

Q:What are some of the strength and weaknesses of the team, and what do you need to do well to defend your title?

COACH:  “We have depth at every position. We have skill and we have our Canadian flare with tons of creativity. There are really no holes on this team. One thing we might not have is that clear cut superstar. We have a lot of talent across the board, but not a superstar and it’s always great to have a superstar players as a coach.”

Q: Nicole Perroni will be a freshman next year at Louisville and is on your Canadian team, which is something she’ll bring to the team?

COACH:  “Nicole brings a lot of grit and determination. What I love about her and her style of play, she has that one foot over the line constantly. She toes that line and leaves it all on the field. We’re going to use her in the transition game, she plays tremendous defense and she’s very athletic. When she has the ball, she can just run with our fastest players. She knows her role on offense and can score some big goals. I think she’s going to have a really good World Cup.”

Q: What’s it like to get a chance to coach her at the World Cup?

COACH:  “Any time you get a chance to coach your players, you get to know them a little bit better. And we get to experience this together. She has had this goal to make Team Canada the last ten years of her life, to represent her country. This is why I coach, to give back to the country of Canada. For us to experience together, it’s something that no one can ever take away from us. And when we get to Louisville, we can quickly transition her game into her freshman year. She’ll be used to division I speed, which will make the transition easier. In the past, it has helped players excel.”

Q: How difficult is it to balance everything when you are with Team Canada, but you have recruiting and others things to do back in Louisville preparing for next season?

 COACH:  “I have a great staff here and having Kay (Morissette) on both of my staffs, at Louisville
and Canada, really helps. But, we’re really relying on Renee (Poullott). They have done a fabulous job recruiting while I’ve been away. I have seen as many players as a I can recruiting throughout the summer, but it makes it a little more hectic. I get back on August 12 and the players return on August 14, so there’s not a lot of time to get things ramped up again. There’s always a lot of excitement when the players get here to prepare for the upcoming season.”

Q: How does this help Kay and her development as an assistant?

COACH:  “It’s great development for her. She’s working along my other assistant, Allison Daily, who took over for me when I left Canisius. They are working together under my mentorship. I’ve given them the offense, they are running the offense. I give them my opinions and some pointers, but the offense is theirs, which is a great opportunity for growth. They know my philosophies as well as any of my former players or coaches. Just seeing her come out of her comfort zone is nice to see and she’s doing a great job.”

Q: Will it ever get old representing Canada and what is that feeling?

COACH “It’s obviously a tough feeling to explain. It’s a great feeling. When you hear your national anthem before every game and your players are standing beside you and your staff, and your singing like you did when you were in grade school every day, that just puts all of the hard work into perspective. And to see where Canada lacrosse has come over the last decade, while I’ve been involved has been phenomenal. Winning the gold medal in Scotland four years ago was surreal. It took three weeks for it to set in that we were world champions. In a couple of weeks, it won’t just be our team, it will be all of our supporters and a filled stadium, which will touch home even further.”

(A special thank you to Nick Evans for the interview with Teeter article!) 

paulie

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