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03/24/2016 12:00 AMThe Valley Regional girls’ lacrosse team hasn’t even started its season, but the Warriors have already won big. The recent hire of Cory Needleman as Valley’s new head coach is a huge development for the future of the program and one that has everyone excited.
“Coach Needleman has a lot of background and success in lacrosse. We are extremely lucky to have her,” says Valley Athletic Director Jeff Swan. “She is very experienced, very energetic, willing to do anything to help, and wants to succeed. This was the perfect hire at the perfect time. She is extremely active in the community, a great communicator, and I feel she is the one to give this program a turnaround.”
Cory, who coached the girls’ freshman squad at Hand last spring, comes to the Warriors with tons of experience and has collected several honors on the lacrosse field. Cory was the starting midfielder on the U-19 Canadian national team that took the bronze medal in the 2003 Lacrosse World Championships. Alongside her sister Christie Alcorn, Cory started every game in the tournament for Canada, which lost to eventual champion USA in the semifinals, but defeated England in its next match to claim the bronze. It was the first time two sisters played together on the Canadian team and the squad’s bronze matched its best all-time showing at the World Championships.
Following that experience, Cory enrolled in Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York and started at center for the Valiants from 2005 until graduating in 2008. Cory finished her college career ranked in the school’s top 10 for all offensive categories, including sixth in points (229), fifth for goals (175), fourth in assists (54), and first for game-winning goals (11). Cory was also the team’s captain in her junior and senior years and a multiple All-Conference selection who led Manhattanville to its most wins in a season at that time with nine.
“Making the national team was such an honor. Competing against the top players in the world and winning a bronze medal was an amazing experience. I don’t think at the time I really understood how big being on the Canadian National Team was. It was really cool at the time, but now when I tell people, they kind of look at me differently because I played for my country. It is something I will remember for the rest of my life and always have with me. It was even more special to do it with my sister. I also made so many great friends that I still keep in touch with today,” Cory says. “My time at Manhattanville was great, too. We put in a lot of hard work and had a lot of fun. We weren’t one of the better teams when we started there, but we improved and were a much-better team when I was a senior.”
Cory was born and raised in Orangeville in Ontario, Canada and started playing hockey while she was still learning to walk. Cory didn’t pick up lacrosse until age 11, but she immediately fell in love with the sport.
“I love that lacrosse is not an individual sport. It’s a team sport, which is so important, especially for girls,” Cory says. “Lacrosse is fun, competitive, keeps you in terrific shape, and what you put into it, how hard you work, will show up on the field.”
On the heels of her exceptional career as a lacrosse player, Cory stayed with the game on the sidelines as a coach. After years of instructing players in Canada, she came back to the US and coached at Larchmont High School in New York as an assistant, then moved to Ivoryton three years ago. In Ivoryton, Cory got involved with the Ticks Youth Lacrosse U-9 program and she’s still the coaching director who oversees each team and works with every athlete on their skills. Last year, Cory coached the freshman team at Hand and led the Tigers to an undefeated season.
“Cory was great with us last year and coached the freshman team to an undefeated season,” said Hand girls’ lacrosse Head Coach Kevin Siedlecki. “She obviously has a tremendous understanding of the game, but more importantly, she also understands how to teach it. We will miss her here at Hand this year. Valley is very lucky to have her.”
Coming from a program with such a deep tradition like Hand, Cory knows she has a challenge ahead to build up a Valley program that’s never had a winning record in fifteen seasons and won two games last spring. However, Cory is more focused on teaching her athletes about the game, as opposed to wins and losses.
“I’m here to show the girls new techniques, new skills, learn how to play as a team, and how to apply that to your life. You are not going to win every game, so it’s not about that,” says Cory. “It’s about getting to know the girls and making an impact on each individual. I’ve been involved with these situations and have seen firsthand what kind of positive effect a coach can make on a person.”
Cory is full of positive energy and can’t wait to start working with the Warriors. Cory says her most-important goal right now is to see her athletes on the field and get a sense of their abilities.
“I haven’t seen them play yet and I have no idea what to expect, but I’m excited for the challenge. I want to work with the girls on technique and assess their skill level, build the team up so that they all have each other’s backs, and become a family,” Cory says. “These friendships can last a lifetime and that is very important to me. Our goal is to bring lacrosse to the community and make it so other girls who don’t play see what we have and want to be a part of it. And no matter what, we are going to have fun. You can’t play sports and not have fun.”