#022: Premier Lacrosse League - Chaos Head Coach Andy Towers

The Jedburgh Podcast

Coaches are teachers, mentors, role-models, friends, and parents to many athletes. For most of us, Coaches impact and influence our lives during our most impressionable years. They drive us to be our best and give it everything. They show us that winning is the product of the team effort. They push us back out there when we fail. No matter what sport we play, or what level we play at, coaches lead.

Andy Towers is the Head Coach of the Chaos Lacrosse Club in the Premier Lacrosse League. He is a member of the United States Lacrosse Connecticut Hall of Fame ,as well as the Brown University Sports Hall of Fame. He is a world champion, multiple time All American, All Ivy and All New England; and the Ivy League Player of the Year. He was the 2019 coach of the year in the PLL's inaugural season.

Read the full episode transcription here and learn more on The Jedburgh Podcast Website.

Highlights:

-Andy recounts the start of the Premier Lacrosse League, how he was selected as a coach, and how the PLL is the highest level of competition in lacrosse.

-The characteristics coaches look for in building a team from scratch and the difficulty in selecting and managing the best players in the world.

-Andy shares the lessons of bounceback through his difficult Junior year at Brown where despite his lacrosse All-American status, he failed out of school and was forced to re-apply after demonstrating a change in attitude and behavior.

-Andy defines the ‘the decision to fail’ and explains that success is the product of proactively doing everything you can to succeed.

-The importance of the athlete-coach partnership today and what coaching style works best for today’s teams.

-How to display authenticity and real-ness to build trust, community and ownership among the players, coaches and staff.

Quotes:

-”Our only goal is to win the PLL championship.”

-“You don’t have to be a great player. You have to be a great teammate. You have to be a great competitor. You have to choose focus. You have to choose toughness.”

-“It was the most humiliating experience I have ever had, but the best thing that has ever happened to me, because it created a bounceback opportunity.”

-”What sets you free is knowing you did everything you could proactively.”

-”As coaches, your players and the culture of the program are going to take on the characteristics you consistently show them.”

-“Everything that we do, we are going to have a purpose to it and we are going to be able to verbally defend why we are making these decisions.”

-“There is no other way to be with people, than to be straightforward; and honest; and proactive.”

-“Your success is the team’s success. And the team’s success is your success.”

-“The best players are the ones who appreciate the importance of being zero maintenance as people, players and teammates.”

Coach Towers's Three Daily Foundations to Success:

-Get a workout in

-Handle my business administration

-Make sure my family knows I love them

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