J.R. Mastro is the new Head Coach for the Boys Varsity Lacrosse team. Before coming to the school last fall, he was the former Assistant Coach at the Brunswick School.
Trevor Lewis ’26, a starting attackman for the team, said, “A good coach is truly something special. Being that this is Coach Mastro’s first year at Hotchkiss he has made a great impact on me in the short time of knowing him. He is pushing our program into new directions and I can’t wait to see what we have in store for years to come.”
What is your coaching philosophy?
My coaching philosophy revolves around connecting with the players. I think it is really important to have an understanding of where the player is coming from to start building that relationship in the fall and winter.
When we did our small group 3 to 1 player to coach sessions, I really got a chance to meet a lot of guys in a small group setting to understand what they are coming from and what their skill set is. The goal is to help them improve as players yet more importantly help prepare them for life.
I want to build young men of character with accountability and responsibility. With the work we did in the fall and winter and what we are doing so far this spring, it is starting to come together. It is certainly not a finished product and none of us will be perfect, but it is helping each player take a step forward and improve.
Our motto this spring is to stack your one percents so in the long run we improved so much better than we started.
What aspects of the team are you hoping to improve on?
There is a lot of heart and a lot of effort in this program—those are really the building blocks we are trying to continue to improve upon. The effort is there and the desire is there.
The goal is to really help us compete in the league. Last year, if you asked the players, they came up short of the goal. This year, we are trying to put the bricks in place to contend for those top four spots.
What are some lessons you bring to the team from your experience coaching at other schools?
A sense of preparation. Making sure that the drills we are doing in practice are getting us better. Making sure that we aren’t just doing the fun drills, but doing the drills that improve an area that we are lacking in. I want our guys to be prepared skillswise, mentally if it’s gameplanning, watching film, talking X’s and O’s.
I want our guys to feel like every time they step on the field against an opponent that they are prepared to the best of their ability and that they have confidence in themselves and each other. That will ultimately build a winning team this year and hopefully a winning program down the line.
Can you tell us about some of your new recruits?
We have a lot of new players in the program. As a whole, we are a young team.
Players who are looking to step up into big playing roles include Liam McCummings ’24 headed off to MIT next year. New players include Jack Laganza ’25 who plays long stick midfielder, Reid Finster ’25 who plays midfield. We have some good young defensemen: Charlie Collins ’26, Alex Gibson ’26. There is Trevor Lewis ’26 on the offensive end, as well.
Then, we have our PG’s: Landon Douthit ’24, Andrew Lehrman ’24, and Ryan Ornstein ’24 who are going to be important in the success of the program.
They come in day in and day out working hard and making sure that we are competitive and winning as many games as possible.
What are some of your goals for the season?
This season, I want to do right by the Seniors. I couldn’t have asked for a better group to inherit—these twelve guys have poured a lot of time, energy, and effort into the program.
I think a realistic goal would be to make top four of the Founders League and to play in that end of season top half of the bracket.
