How to build a winning Team culture in HS sports (2022): part 4

By Jason Shea

Located about 11 miles west of Syracuse, New York, in the heart of Onondaga County, lies the town of Camillus, New York. Named after the 4^th century Roman dictator, Marcus Furius Camillus, this small town (current population roughly 25,000) is home to West Genesee School District’s High School.

The West Genesee school district is made up of the Upstate New York towns Eldridge, Onondaga, Van Buren, Geddes, and of course Camillus. Onondaga County, one of the Iroquois Confederacy’s 5 nations that played a major role in the French and British battle for North America, which helped Once known as one of the epicenters of our Nation’s manufacturing with major factories turning out television sets by GE, military electronics parts by Lockheed Martin, air conditioners by Carrier, auto parts by GM and Canadian company Magna, and a John Deere distribution center, among the most notable.

Onondaga County has long had a rich history of manufacturing and industry, with a 1910 Syracuse Chamber of Commerce document reporting some 277 factories employing over 29,000 workers in industries including iron and steel, textiles, chemicals, transportation, leather, glass, lumber, tobacco, food, paper, and beverages. 

At its peak, the Onondaga county was one of the top manufacturing areas of our nation. Then came the slow, economic downturn in manufacturing, led by cheap oversees labor and high income tax rates, eventually culminating in the recent loss of roughly 700 jobs at Lockheed Martin’s Liverpool electronics plant.

Between 2009 and 2013, factory jobs in Onondaga County have fallen roughly 17%, losing nearly 4000 jobs in that time. Since 1990, the area has lost over 21,000 factory jobs, nearly half the manufacturing jobs. Over the past 30 years, manufacturing plant closings include:

• Magna factory that employed as many as 4000 workers
• GM closed its auto parts plant in 1993, with the area losing 1,300 jobs
• In 2010 John deer closed its 135,000-square foot parts distribution center.
• As of August 1, 2015, per real estate website loopnet.com, there is roughly 3.5 million square feet of vacant warehouse space in the Onondaga county alone.

Despite the economic turmoil that has challenged the perseverance of the grittiest of employers and employees, the Onondaga County West Genesee High School, has been home to something extraordinary. Over the past 37 years this small town high school in the middle of a long drawn out manufacturing financial collapse has been home to quite possibly the most successful public high school lacrosse programs ever to don the helmet, socks, and pinny. Perhaps a perfect reflection of the environment the program has been cultivated from. Equal parts:

• The spirit of a Roman leader upon which the town is aptly named
• The hard work culture representative of years of manual labor inside many of the local factories
• The precision, discipline and work ethic instilled by a former wrestler and wrestling coach. 
• The team first culture born out of a community that has faced and overcome several adversities.

When the lacrosse players go off to college, coaches need not worry about the discipline, humility, work ethic, and fundamentals of these “West Gen kids”. Many of them become college All-Americans, even though they were never awarded this same recognition in high school. At West Genesee Lacrosse, it is team first, and every athlete in the program buys in. Amazingly, only a handful of players from the West Genesee program have not gone off to play college lacrosse.

Coach Mike Messere is the architect of this winning culture. If he had to describe the culture of the team in one word it would be: disciplined. Coach Messere expresses “we have a philosophy on how thing should be done, how skills should be performed, how practices should be approached, and how our athletes should act as respectable, high character members of our community.”

Messere recalls “I was a PE major at Courtland State. There my teachers taught me the ability to focus on movement and skills. At West Genesee we emphasize the high percentage way to perform simple fundamentals lacrosse movements such as throwing and catching. We discipline these kids in these techniques through quality repetition. Everyone does their part and can perform the skills they need in certain situations.”

“Eventually it becomes a motion offense and defense. We try to teach them to be decision makers and perform in the moment on the run. We try to play out all these things in practice, so they are prepared for any situation when they play. Our goal is to try to educate them to be the best possible players they can be within the parameters of a team first construct. We have found this builds a great base for them when they head off to college” explains Messere.

“He’s a West Genny kid…. he probably knows more about lacrosse than I do.”  This has been a common sentiment amongst many college coaches who have had the privilege of coaching these “kids” from the West Genesee lacrosse program.  And, just how has this team first, disciplined approach to the game and life worked for Coach Messere and the West Genesee Lacrosse program over the past 4 decades:

• 803 wins (most wins all time) against just 72 losses (89% win percentage) despite playing against some of the top teams in the country on a weekly/regular basis.
  • Undefeated Seasons: 11 (81,82,83,85,87,90,91,94,95,98,05)
  • 1 loss Seasons:11 (76,77,79,80,84,86,88,99,03,04,07)
  • 2 loss Seasons: 6 (89,93,97,00,02,09,12)
  • 3 loss Seasons:3 (96,08,11,15)
  • 4 loss Seasons:3 (78,01,10)
  • 5 loss Seasons: 2 (92,06)

• Finished #1 in national rankings 7 times (1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2003, 2004). These ranking include prep and private schools as well.
• Won 15 state championships while appearing in 23 overall
• Won 30 Section III titles
• 20 undefeated regular seasons
• From 1981-1984 had a national record 91 game win streak until losing in the 1984 state championship game. After the loss, they then went on to win another 44 games in a row, giving them 135 wins in 136 games.
• Less than 20 West Genesee players, over 40 years of coaching, have not gone on to play lacrosse in college.
• Coached over 50 High School All Americans. Even more impressive is the fact that over 86 of his former players have gone on to become college All-Americans.
  • College All-Americans on National title teams
    • Syracuse: 5 All-Americans on 1983 National Title Team, 1 on 1988, 2 on 1989, and 1 on 1993 National Title Teams.  
    • Hobart: 1 on 1980, 1 on 1984, 1 on 1985, 1 on 1986, 1 on 1987, 1 on 1988, 1 on 1990 National Title Teams.
    • Princeton: 2 on 1994 National Title Team
• More than 100 West Genesee lacrosse alumni have gone on to become coaches.
  • At the 2009 NCAA Lacrosse Championships, four of the six teams in the finals were coached by West Genesee graduates
  • West Genesee grad and LeMoyne Lacrosse Coach Dan Sheehan has won 2 Division II national titles and earned national coach of the year.
  • Steve Beville coached Cortland to a Division III National Title.
  • John Desko has led Syracuse to 5 national titles
  • Jeff Tambroni helped Hobart to 2 DIII national titles as a player and is the current coach for Cornell.
• 7 of the starters on Syracuse’s 1983 National Title Team were West Genesee grads.
• Coach Messere founded the legendary Shove Park Recreational Lacrosse Program in 1975.

There was the time they lost the 1984 state championship game to a suspect call, ending their then national record 91 game win streak. Per coach Messere “the kids all wanted to leave the field and sulk about the loss.” He viewed this moment of adversity as a character building opportunity, insisting his team maintain the self-discipline that been a staple of their success, and stay on the field to honor the other team’s achievement. Through this loss, the team then pulled together the following season, and ran off an additional 44 consecutive wins.

From his first-year coaching, 1976, through the next 10 years (1986), the lacrosse program had amassed 230 wins to just 10 losses. Except for the 1978 season with 4 losses, over that time West Genesee lacrosse had 4 undefeated and 6 one loss seasons. Extending through to 1996, they had 430 wins versus 17 total losses over 20 years.

In a highly competitive public school program such as West Genesee Lacrosse, it is the little things that can make a big difference. Simple concepts ranging from “five guys do not stand around while one guys does the work” to something more personal, unrelated to the lacrosse field such as buying flowers for mom on Valentine’s Day”, that have played a significant part West Genesee’s success. The focus is not only on the development of high caliber lacrosse players, but also upstanding young men and community leaders.

At West Genesee, it is the little things that are the start of an athlete’s discipline on the field. This includes being on time for practice and school, getting your school work done, being respectful to your teachers and peers, and adhering to school, community, and team policies.

Messere believes“you must try to put the carrot out there that there are more important things, hopefully lax is more important, than getting in trouble. Culture is absolutely critical to the success of a program. No question about it. The x’s and o’s don’t work if the culture is not there. The one thing you can control in a kid’s life is conditioning them, both physically and mentally. A lot of conditioning within practice. No question, x’s and 0’s aren’t worth a hill of beans without culture.”

Explains Messere, “We have pretty strict rules if you are going to remain on the team. We have sent kids home. On time is 5 minutes early. If you are late to school today, go home. Don’t wear a hat to school. Always be respectful to your classmates, teammates, and adults. When communicating with coaches, you better make eye contact. On our team, if kids break eye contact, they will either run or go over in the corner and stand there thinking about it for a while. In practice and games, the athletes need to be focused on you and avoid any distractions.”

“School starts at 7:30. Academics are priority. Kids need to get their school work. Kids can do some lifting in the morning. I just want total focus and concentration at practice.”

When the coaches catch kids glancing at girls’ practice, they run. One example of the well-rounded approach to developing their athletes is the story of a student athlete who was not doing particularly well in one of his classes. Coach Messere had him bring his desk out to practice to do homework while his teammates were practicing around him. Not only did the kid end up becoming an All-American in college, but he also became an honors student. The Coach explains “You have to do what you say you are going to do. You have to follow through.”

“You suffer together, you build together” says Messere. In the West Genesee lacrosse program “there is no complaining, no blaming, and no excuses. Quite often, kids can start to make excuses even before they come out of their mouth. We must be able to trust the kids. Honesty and trust are very important, and we let them know that. For this, our captains can be a great intermediary. We show that when one guy is doing something wrong on the field, it hurts everyone. The Same can also be said for off the field behavior.” Per Messere “Everyone has to perform and conform. They must buy in, and sometimes it is through the physical and emotional pain that comes with hard physical training. They train and work so hard, all they have is each other. They have to be accountable to EACH OTHER.”

“We practice every day after school 3-6 or 6-9. I try to keep on top of their grades, and performance in the classroom. The extra stuff is great, do it in the summer. Most of my kids play 2 sports. We encourage every kid on our team to play two sports.”

Humble beginnings for a humble man

“As a coach, it is that one person that says one word to you that changes your life. You can have such a positive or negative impact on a kid’s life”, Messere expresses. “I was a Junior in high school competing on the wrestling team. I figured would follow in my dad’s footsteps and go on to work at the steel mill, as he had done, after high school. Then, one day, the high school lacrosse coach came by and said, “what do you think about playing sports in college?” This was the moment that changed the course of my history.”

Recalls Messere, “When I began wrestling, everything changed in my life. Sports sent me in a different direction.  I will never forget when my uncle told me “you don’t drink, don’t smoke, you are a good person. A lot of what I do and how I approach things was from a foundation of wrestling and the hard work associated with this sport.”

“When I started coaching, I wanted athletics to have the same effect on others as it had on me. I wanted athletics to give kids a great direction in life. The coaching staff and I work really hard in the off season to watch what kids are doing in and for the community.”

Coach Messere began his coaching career coaching middle school football, wrestling, and lacrosse. Through Messere’s approach to coaching, these young athletes had the tremendous opportunity to learn respect and discipline at a young age. Each season Messere would invite the kids from the previous sports season to come and play for him, so the football players would wrestle, then the wrestlers would come out for lacrosse. Thus, creating a foundation of a winning attitude and culture.

Before moving up to the high school level, Messere developed the now legendary, Shove Park summer program. This program, that started in 1975 with less than 15 kids, has well over 400 eager participants lined up to learn and play every year. It is here that the kids have an opportunity to work skills, teamwork, sportsmanship. Per the Insidelacrosse.com article by Marc Sorbello, titled Summers at Shove Park, “nearly 15,000 careers begun at Shove Park Summer Rec Program (25).”

In the park, the goals were 50 yards apart. They worked out in an outdoor hockey arena for 5 on 5 drills. With so many little kids joining the Shove Park program, Messere has seen the opportunity for many teachable moments. “Right when they do something wrong, we stop the situation and teach them what they did wrong and then, immediately teach them how to do it correctly. A lot of kids come back year after year, high school and college All-Americans, they all promote it. All of the coaches buy into it as well.”

Messere expresses “wrestling has played a big part of my philosophy. There is nothing more grueling than a wrestling practice. It builds a lot of character. It builds a never give up attitude. The attitude of a wrestler is you step across that line on the mat or field and there are no friends on the other side. This is all out and it is just you against the other guy.”

Messere feels wrestlers and hockey players make some of the best lacrosse players. Both sports have a great understanding of hard work and the drive, motivation, and respect that are forged through years of grueling practices.

As for the hard work on the West Genesee Lacrosse field, coach Messere believes in pushing the athletes to their edge, but not endangering or hurting them in any way. According to the coach, “We work, we start out before practice. Always had to run. 1.5 miles before practice. On game days, we would run 1.5 miles to the game, then run home after the game.”

The “Res”

About 3.7 miles from West Genesee High School is the Westcott Reservoir. The area is known for its hilly landscape, attracting sledders in the winter and in the past, served as a testing ground for hang gliders. The hilly landscape has also attracted the attention of the West Genesee Lacrosse team.

According to the team website “For many, many years, “running the res” at Westcott reservoir was an integral part of the West Genny lacrosse program. When a team occasionally did not perform particularly well in a game, the team bus would stop by the reservoir on the way home for some “extra work”. The team from 1998 had the good fortune of not stopping in Westvale the entire season and went on to defeat Ward Melville in the State Championship at Hofstra University. Now days, the “run” is reserved as a reward after winning the State Championship. The team bus now makes the detour for the obligatory stop and has become almost routine after each championship game.”

Messere explains, “the reservoir was never used for losses. The next day we worked on our mistakes in practice. If we played very poorly in a win, we would drive down to the reservoir. Right took us to the school, while left took us to the reservoir, then snapped on the helmets and ran up and down the hill. You have to be able to go out and give it your best!”

The Coach states further “the 1982 team screwed up screwed up pretty good. We brought them to the reservoir, lined them up on the edge, and told them their attitudes needed changing.” Messere then told them “you guys aren’t good enough, too many All-Americans have run this hill, you guys aren’t good enough for the privilege to run this hill.”  

It’s the little things that count

“Be careful. If you make rules and regulations, you must start with something little, working on small disciplines. Things that you can do and control. Don’t wear a hat to school. Haircuts. The athletes learn the importance of small little disciplines. You cannot shut the door on a culture that has been there forever. Athletes need to work at it improving through small, simple, disciplined steps” says Messere.

The coach continues“I expect that by the time any athlete graduates from high school they will know every position on this field. As a coach, we will know what they are thinking. They will be able to read opponent body language and react rather than waiting for something to happen.”

Of his coaching staff and players that go on to become coaches, Messere says “I also expect that we should be able to walk out and coach every position. Constantly asking what the other positions are thinking. I expect them to be able to coach every aspect of the game. A lot of my guys are now college coaches. They understood the whole game, not just individual positions.”

Coach/Athlete Relationship

“Communication between coach and athlete is critical.” Messere believes. Setting fair, but strong expectations, while holding firm on the consequences is very important. He believes a coach must be serious with their athletes, keeping separation between friendship and coach while the athletes are playing for him.

The coach and staff must be the adult leaders. The kids can see how much you care about them as people and athletes by the structure, discipline, and leadership you present to them. Being sarcastic with or allowing athletes to get too close to the coaches can be devastating to a lacrosse team culture if the kids become too comfortable. According to Messere, “it can be difficult as you can’t really enjoy them as much as you want to. Sometimes you want to give them a hug to let them know how proud you are of them, but this can leave an opening. As a coach, I feel you cannot allow the kids to joke with you on the field. You must maintain your role as the adult leader. As coach, you say go, they go. You say stop, they stop. This direction on the field is crucial for any success.”

Coach Messere believes that once the kids have finished their high school careers with him, he can then open up to them, joke with them and allow them in. It is for this reason that many of the athletes that go off to college and beyond always come back West Genesee to see their former coach.

Goals and Expectations

Each season, unwritten, but expected, is the goal of winning a state championship. “The kids know the commitment and how hard they should work. You always have to be competitive. It is an unwritten thing. Once you have finished giving your best effort and competing in a game, it is always about the next game, next opponent, on the schedule. We try to bring up examples of how we performed well or where we didn’t perform up to our expectations, address and correct these, then move on. The kids expect to work and go out and win state championships,” says the coach.

Over the years Messere has adjusted to the kids without compromising his or the team principals. Messere explains “Our community used to be a really blue collar factory community, a tough economic area. Over the years all the factories have closed and gone away. A lot of kids had to move away because there was no work here.”

No individuals on this team

When looking at the West Genesee Lacrosse team website, there are many incredible statistics; win loss records, team streaks, team goals for in a season, team goals against in a season, ground ball and assist records, but one stat is noticeably absent: individual records for goals. This speaks to the type of team environment Messere cultivates.

In a recent game, Messere gives the example of how the team was up and he had instructed them to work on ball control. Just then, one of the players, choosing not to listen to the coach’s instructions, went right down, dodged through three defenders and dumped the ball in the net. What was the coach’s reaction? He told the kid to sit for the remainder of the game.

Messere believes the “third” type of kid is the key to many successful teams. The third best attack are the key to winning championships. Developing these kids is key. They may make some errors, but they will always try to help. Messere tells the story of the year there was a junior who was the last guy picked on the team. The coach recalls “the kid worked so hard and was willing to do anything. The next year he went on to win the MVP of the state finals”. The coach remembers another kid, now at West Point, who would shoot 2-3 buckets of balls before school then after school practice or working on skills.

Another great example is one of his players who went on to play at the Naval Academy and was inducted into the Upstate New York Hall of Fame. The kid was a gangly 5’7” athlete but had a great work ethic and attitude. The coach chose to keep him over a senior that year.  Messere recognizes that “if you keep all the most talented kids, you miss the chance to develop kids with work ethic.”

Coach as a teacher

Messere expresses, “Coaching is teaching. We are teacher coaches. Coaching consists of tactics, strategy, positioning, etc. Teaching is when you teach the game. You work on developing the mental aspects of them as both players and people. You are going to be faced with lots of decisions in life. There are times when the right decision can be harder or take longer to achieve but be much more rewarding. That is character.”

The coach continues “I haven’t changed too much as a coach. Guys tell me I am a lot softer now. I didn’t realize this until recently. Something happened. A bunch of the kids realized we are teaching them to be good people and successful adults. To be good family men. Paying it forward. You are giving them those life lessons on the field that carry on.”

“Take for example the Syracuse head coach, Jon Desko, a lot of these guys have now gone on to become coaches themselves. They don’t talk about the wins and losses. They talk about commitment. Being a good person. They don’t mention wins and losses at all.”

Messere proudly recalled “at a recent award ceremony, not a single word about how great we were, it was all about development as a person. You don’t look at your lesson plan and say I am going to teach self-discipline. If you live it long enough you get to see those coaching, families, kids, the person they become. Can’t be prouder of these guys. They are all over the country.”

Stay tuned for How To Build A Winning Culture In Team Sports Part 5: H.E.A.R.T.. If you haven’t read part one, two, or three in this series you can find them here: Part 1 How To Build A Winning Culture In Team Sports – Part 1: Intro Plus 3 Powerful And Proven Strategies and Part 2 How To Build A Winning Culture In Team Sports Part 2: Performing Under Pressure And Team-Building Strategies.

For more on Building a Winning Culture in High School Sports…..and Beyond pick up a copy of the 500+ page book on Kindle or Paperback today. Be sure to check out the other books in the Specific Sports Training and Athletic Workout Programs series as well.

Thx for reading!