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PHOTOS: JAMES KNOX
After Grady left the team, he spoke to his family and some high school coaches.
“They said the easiest thing would be to quit,” Grady recalled. “So I spoke to
Coach Lang and said, ‘As much as maybe you don’t want me here, and I don’t
deserve to be here, I’d like to leave my past behind.’ Coach respected that and
gave me a clean slate.”
Grady made a complete reversal prior to his last year at La Roche. During his
senior year he was voted a team captain and scored more than 1,100 points
for his career.
“I give all the credit to Stacy,” Lang said. “We can’t make anybody do anything. He
was willing to work, willing to listen and willing to trust others.”
This season Grady, 24, serves as one of three assistant coaches for the
Redhawks while holding a full-time job as a financial adviser for First
Commonwealth Bank. According to Lang, he’s been particularly helpful in
mentoring the young players struggling with some of the same decisions Grady
himself had to make as a freshman.
“Coach said to me, ‘Stace, what you’ve been through can have an impact on
incoming players, so to not coach would do them a big disservice,’” Grady said.
He paused, then added: “Some people who come to college and say, ‘OK, I’m
here to play basketball and strut my stuff.’ But they forget the main reason they
are here. They think about four years of dribbling a basketball rather than the 36
years or more after graduation. You need to prioritize, and you’ll do fine.”
Women’s Soccer Boasts High Achievement
Having already won its second National Soccer Coaches Association
of America (NSCAA) Team Academic Award for the 2007-2008
academic year, the La Roche college women’s soccer team could
be on its way to a coveted three-peat this year.
To be eligible for the NSCAA award, a team must earn a collective 3.0 or
higher grade point average. The 2007-2008 La Roche squad posted a
3.26, an achievement that also secured a place for the team among 259
women’s soccer teams that achieved a team grade point average of 3.0
or better. All NCAA Division I, II and III colleges and universities, as well as
NAIA, NCCAA and junior colleges are eligible for this award.
The team received its award in January at the 2009 NSCAA Convention in
St. Louis, Mo.
The 2002-2003 La Roche women’s soccer team also earned the NSCAA
Team Academic Award and, according to Coach Miguel Lozano, the
2008-2009 team is on its way to capturing the honor again, posting a
3.26 GPA in the fall.
The La Roche women’s soccer team consistently performs with distinction
on the field as well as in the classroom. The team has made the playoffs
each year since its inception in 1996. This success is no fluke.
“When I recruit players, I ask a lot of questions of the athletes’ teachers,”
said Lozano, the only coach the soccer program has known. “I want to
know what kind of player we are getting. I put an emphasis on student
athletes. This creates fewer potential problems for the team and the school.”
“But I also have a passion for the game, and I look for this in a high school
student. The questions I ask the coach are: ‘How is she in practice?’ and
‘Does she want to play?’ Those who do are my ideal recruits.”
When it comes to the balance between academics and athletics, Lozano
says he feels a personal responsibility to his players. His two daughters play
soccer at the collegiate level – one at Georgetown, the other at Penn State.
”I run my program as if my daughters were a part of it,” he said. “I want
my athletes to graduate and have rewarding careers. I believe they all
should be able to manage their time, especially during the season and
study whenever they can. I’m very proud of what this program
accomplishes in the classroom and on the field every year.”THIS ....
LA ROCHE MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2009 15
PHOTO: JAMES KNOX
FEATURE STORY