- April 26, 2024
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Matanzas coach Adam Frys shakes the hand of an FPC player after the game on March 15. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas attackmen Cole Cabrera (6) and Jon Young fight for the ball against an FPC player. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas midfielder Zach Furey, right, passes the ball in front of FPC's Dylan Toriello. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas sophomore goalie Anthony Girgus makes a save against FPC on March 15. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas coach Adam Frys instructs his players from the Matanzas sidelines during a game with Flagler Palm Coast on March 15. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas players Cassan Britton (7), Vincent Ferrugiaro (15)in front of FPC's goal. Photo by Brent Woronoff
When Jordan Butler became Matanzas High School’s athletic director in August, 2021, he knew the boys lacrosse program was in danger of folding.
The previous coach had been fired and several players had transferred to Flagler Palm Coast High School.
He had to find a new coach, and they had to find enough players to field a team.
Butler asked for advice from former Pirates’ head coach Efrain Gutierrez, who had become an assistant coach at Flagler College.
“I remember him telling me if we don’t forfeit a game, it’s a win,” Butler said.
It turned out that there was a former college lacrosse player already on the Matanzas campus who had been an assistant coach for 12 years at a successful high school program in New York State.
Adam Frys, a Matanzas algebra teacher, reached out to Butler, but he wasn’t sure he wanted the job.
“Going away from coaching and coming back to it, you know what a huge commitment it is, and you know what a strain it can put on your family,” Frys said.
If Frys, who played lacrosse at Hartwick College, wasn’t sure he was the right man to lead the Pirates, Butler was.
“The first time I met him I knew he was the guy I wanted to lead the program,” Butler said.
Frys sought advice from wrestling coach TJ Gillin, with whom he co-teaches.
Gillin and the other wrestling coaches showed Frys how they built a successful program at the school and that he could do it too.
Frys took the job.
"The fact that it was torn down to the ground, to me was a good thing, because that meant I got to build it with my own vision.” — ADAM FRYS, Matanzas coach
“I kind of went back to why I got into teaching in the first place,” he said. “And part of it was to be a lacrosse coach, and I just really couldn't pass up the opportunity to do it my way. The fact that it was torn down to the ground, to me was a good thing, because that meant I got to build it with my own vision.”
At Johnson City High School, outside of Binghamton, New York, Frys was on a coaching staff that turned around a struggling program, so he had the blueprint.
But he may not have been ready for the first day of practice when he was greeted by all of seven players, three short of fielding a team with no substitutes.
The returning players went to work recruiting the school.
“We asked a lot of the sophomores and freshmen if they wanted to play,” midfielder Bryson Williams said. “We got a whole bunch of people out through friends and networking around the school.”
The new players had a short period of time to learn a game that was foreign to them.
“It was definitely a struggle,” Williams said. “The newer kids didn’t really know how to play, so we were trying to teach them at the same time we were playing.”
The transition was also difficult for the returning players, he said. Frys had a different philosophy than the previous coach.
“We had newer plays and a different formation than what we used to run,” Williams said. “Coach Frys is from up north where they play fast paced with a lot of different formations.”
Not only did the Pirates not forfeit a game last season, they won three games, including their season-opener against St. Joseph. They finished with a 3-9 record.
This season, Matanzas is 4-5. The gap between Matanzas and FPC is still palpable, as the Bulldogs’ 14-3 win on March 15 attests, but the Pirates’ progress has been unmistakable. And interest in the team has skyrocketed.
“I’m not turning kids away, but I had up to 40 kids interested this year,” Frys said. “I think that a lot of kids have seen us out there and they see the shiny helmets, they see the kids enjoying the game. It's recruited itself now. And I think that momentum is going to keep building.”
Last year, Frys said, the Pirates were unable to run an organized offense.
“This year, we’re running a set that we can run over and over and over again and possess the ball for long periods of time,” he said. “We’re seeing big improvements, and it’s not just from a skill level, but it’s in the IQ level as well in understanding the game.”
But the biggest difference in the Pirates this year from two years ago is discipline.
In the past, we struggled a lot with keeping our cool. We had a lot of hot heads. This year, we have higher positive energy around the team and we’re cheering each other. — BRYSON WILLIAMS, Matanzas midfielder.
“In the past, we struggled a lot with keeping our cool,” Williams said. “We had a lot of hot heads. This year, we have higher positive energy around the team and we’re cheering each other, not letting our mouths get ahead of us.”
Butler said Frys has proven to be one of the best coaches on campus.
“He’s very passionate,” Butler said. “He brought discipline and pride into the program, and that’s what we were looking for.”
The Pirates are led by four seniors: Williams, a dual midfielder, who has an offer to play next year at Webber International University; faceoff midfielder Brett Furey; attacker Jimmy Kelly; and defenseman Thomas Reilly, who Frys calls the heart and soul of the team.
“He's a bit undersized, but he's a sparkplug out there,” Frys said.
FPC coach Tom Morgello said the two programs are working together now. He and Frys trained players together last summer, Morgello said.
“We’re a unified county,” Morgello said. “This (rivalry) is real friendly, where in years past it wasn’t friendly. There’s some animosity between people, but that’s the way lacrosse and sports work in this lifetime. But we try to help them out as much as possible, help them with equipment, training.”
Frys stresses that he’s a teacher first and a coach second, but he is happy that lacrosse is back in his life.
“Obviously, I love lacrosse,” he said. “I tell the guys all the time that lacrosse gave me a lot in my life. You know, I met my wife at a lacrosse party. It's given me so much, and I just feel obligated to give it back. I know our goal is to win games ultimately, but I want (the players) to love the game of lacrosse like it is a passion sport and it's an addiction. When you pick it up, kids don't quit lacrosse, you know? It's that level of fun, and I just really felt obligated to give back to the game that has given me so much.”
