Colorado University Athletics
Colorado Lacrosse: How To Build A Winner
September 29, 2016 | Lacrosse
CU's lacrosse team opens its fall season on Saturday with a scrimmage against Friends of CU Lacrosse at 9:30 a.m. at Kittredge Field
BOULDER – Building a Division I athletic program from scratch is a difficult task. It involves the process of hiring a head coach, building new facilities and creating new traditions that will become the trademark of the program.
In the case of the University of Colorado's flourishing women's lacrosse program, the process hasn't been easy, and it's far from over. But thus far, it has been a successful process for the program and the CU Athletic Department.
CU added women's lacrosse to its list of varsity sports in early 2012, and right away the process of finding a head coach began. Then-athletic director Mike Bohn and assistant athletic director Julie Manning handled the search.
"The first place you start when building a program is hiring a coach," current CU athletic director Rick George said. "And we hired a great coach, so I give Mike Bohn all the credit in that."
The coach that Bohn and Manning eventually picked was Ann Elliott, a former player and assistant coach at Northwestern. In her time there, she had helped Northwestern become a national powerhouse in the sport.
As a player with the Wildcats, she played on three consecutive national championship teams. As a member of Northwestern's staff, she was a part of three more national titles.
"Ann came here as a young coach with a lot of pedigree and experience," George said. "She was a terrific hire then and she's a terrific hire now."
Since CU played its first game on Feb. 13, 2014 (a 12-4 win against Stetson University), Elliott has put together a record of 35-20 (18-9 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation). The Buffs have finished in the top four in each of their three years in a conference that includes perennial power USC, along with Stanford, Oregon and California.
"In the three years since Ann came here and started this program, we've gone to the conference tournament, which you have to qualify for, every year, which is pretty amazing," said George.
Elliott knew she was in for a challenge when she took the job, but thanks to her time at Northwestern, she was more than ready to begin the process.
"It's fair to say that without being at Northwestern I wouldn't have made it here to CU," Elliott said. "Northwestern gave me so many opportunities, first as a player, then as a coach. And it gave me the opportunity to come out here to CU and build this program."
But, as is the case with new programs, the cupboard was empty when she arrived. The team had a playing surface, Kittredge Field, but that was just about it.
"Obviously coming in with pretty much nothing built or developed, you really have to start at the ground level," said Elliott. "There's so many aspects that go along with that, like facilities, equipment and uniforms."
It is the simple things that really make a big difference, and for CU the simple things needed to be designed and put together. The team needed a locker room, which was recently finished in the Coors Events Center; and it needed equipment. But more importantly it needed players.
With the first game scheduled for 2014, Elliott didn't waste any time getting the program up and running after her hiring in 2012. But while time was of the essence, she knew it had to be something she was proud of and something that met her standards of excellence.
"A lot of our program is built on similar values I learned at Northwestern — hard work, belief, positive attitude, and to never give up," said Elliott. "Those are really the cornerstones of this program and from there we really think that we can keep building and become an elite program."
Elliott had the right mindset, and she had to backing of the Athletic Department to go out and get the players she wanted.
"Ann had to go out and recruit based on the future," said George. "Since there wasn't a history or tradition here, I think that says a lot about her and what she's been able to get done."
For Elliott and the CU program, the process of recruiting served up an interesting hitch. Lacrosse as a sport is still growing west of the Mississippi. That meant many of the top players would have to be found on the East Coast, making things a little bit more difficult.
The school and the vision of Elliott and her staff would have to be the selling points, which meant talking 18- to 19-year-old women into leaving their comfort zones and coming across the country to a place they likely had never visited and believing in a program that had yet to play a game.
"It's really about going out and really trying to find those kids that believe in our program, and those kids that want to take the opportunity to come west," said Elliott. "The biggest challenge that we have is getting someone from the East Coast to understand everything that Colorado has to offer."
Senior midfielder Marie Moore hails from Brick, N.J., and was one of the women that Elliott needed to sell the new program on.
"There is a big tournament held in Naples, Florida, and Coach was out there during that tournament," said Moore. "That's where I was recruited from and I was able to get talked into coming out for a visit."
Moore made the trip west, and was sold on what Elliott knew the program would become. But it was still a big step for a young woman to make.
"It was a challenge and interesting to come out here to Colorado," said Moore. "My parents and our support system has been great and that's been important in helping make this transition easier. Coach Elliott and everyone involved with the program help guide all of us, and even though it was a difficult transition, the coaching staff and coach Elliott help make everything easier for me and my East Coast teammates."
It's been one of the key components of building the program. Elliott makes sure women coming across the country are taken care of, and that they are the type of players that will fit in at CU and are willing to be pushed by Elliott and her coaches.
"You need to get the kids who are willing to take the risk and who see an opportunity in taking that risk," said Elliott. "They need to have excitement in building something that is their own. We go out and find those kids that believe in our program, and those kids that want to take the opportunity to come west, to go away from home and love the experience that Boulder has to offer. This community and the school are huge selling points, but you have to get them out here."
Recruiting from the East Coast is one thing, but locking down the state of Colorado is also important.
"The sport is growing here in Colorado, and we want to recruit in the state of Colorado," said Elliott. "We want to keep the best kids in the state of Colorado, here in Colorado. I think those kids are passionate about Colorado and they're passionate about proving that you can play lacrosse here and win."
Recruiting has become easier and easier in this part of the country as the sport of lacrosse has been growing not only in Colorado but all along the West Coast.
That growth is evident in the fact that the Pac-12 will be sponsoring women's lacrosse starting for the 2017-18 season, when Arizona State will officially begin fielding a Division I team.
While the sport has been growing, players from states like California still need to make a trip east just to be recruited. Senior midfielder Molly Rovzar is from Newport Beach, Calif., and even though she played her lacrosse in California, she still needed a way to be seen on a bigger stage.
"When I was getting recruited it was hard to get seen in California, since it's not huge there," said Rovzar. "So I had to join a travel club team, which put me on the East Coast a lot, but that allowed me to be recruited by coach Elliott."
Rovzar was exactly the type of player that Elliott was looking to build the program with. She had the excitement and drive that all the women needed when coming to a brand new program.
"Being a part of something new to pioneer, I think it's an opportunity that not a lot of people get," said Rovzar. "I knew that I could come here and have a chance to establish what I want with my teammates and it takes a certain type of person to come and do that. It is a challenge, but I think it's a challenge that I was excited to take."
Building a new program is a challenge, and it takes a special type of person to want to come and build something from nothing.
"This will be Elliott's first graduating class," said George. "There are 16 women graduating this year, and I really think that says a lot about her and how Ann's developed this program over the past three years."
From day one Elliott hit the ground running, attempting to do something that is not easy. She has built a program that not only experienced early success, but a one that meets the standards she set for herself and the standards of the Athletic Department and school.
"When we started this program we had nothing," said Elliot. "What's really exciting about building a program at the University of Colorado, is that the University speaks for itself. The players we brought in needed to have excitement in building something that is their own. Our first class will really be the foundation and this will always be their program and something that they built."
