Lacrosse Braves welcome blasts from their past
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By Christine Rivet, Record staff
KITCHENER — What’s old is new again for the Kitchener-Waterloo Braves.
The Jr. A lacrosse team welcomed some former players back into the fold at its recent annual general meeting.
Former Braves player, coach, general manager and team president Lawrie Hallman was acclaimed the team’s new president. Fellow former Braves players, longtime pro Colin Doyle, and Hallman’s son, Corey, also a former team coach and GM, will direct the hiring committee for the Braves’ latest coach and manager.
Now into his sixth decade in the game, the senior Hallman said his top priorities include hiring qualified staff, shoring up the team’s finances, and ensuring the Kitchener-Waterloo Minor Lacrosse Association and the Braves are on the same page. “I have a dream and that dream is to watch the Braves succeed,” said the 56-year-old Hallman, a vice-president of information technology for a local industrial supplies company.
It’s no secret previous members of the Braves’ board have had difficulty rowing in the same direction because often because of conflicting objectives, Hallman allowed. That’s partly to blame for the team’s lack of on-floor success. The once-proud Braves missed the post season for two straight years and haven’t won a playoff series since 1992.
“I’m convinced we can (turn it around). Am I convinced we can be No.1? Maybe not today. But maybe in two or four years. How ever long it takes.” Hallman said his approach is to develop homegrown talent through the local minor lacrosse system.
“I’m excited that Lawrie’s back,” said Kitchener’s Ian McGough, a longtime lacrosse coach and GM who accumulated three national Sr. B titles with the K-W Kodiaks and the Owen Sound Woodsmen.
McGough was also the Braves head coach when Hallman was the team’s president back in the early 1990s.
“Lawrie runs an organized ship. It all starts off the floor. I know he has the passion for that team to succeed.”
McGough said he’s not interested in either the vacant Braves coaching or GM positions. He’ll serve as a goalie coach for the minor teams, McGough said.
Former Braves GM Rick Wilson has resigned following his two-year stint, while the team’s head coach Jeremy Tallevi will also not return. Tallevi was handed a two-year suspension by the Ontario Lacrosse Association late last season for throwing water bottles in the direction of on-floor officials.
The team intends to hire its new coach and GM by the middle of December, Hallman said.