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04/21/2016 12:00 AMJames Naccarato has learned all about lacrosse while coaching the sport at various levels throughout Clinton. This spring, James is ready to take what he’s learned from his lengthy tenure and put it into practice on the varsity stage.
James, who works as a police officer in East Haven, grew up in Branford, where he played football and baseball for the Hornets before graduating in 1984. After moving to Clinton in 1991, James began coaching lacrosse as a volunteer with his oldest daughter Alyssa’s team when she was in 4th grade. After spending nearly a decade as an assistant on the Morgan girls’ lacrosse squad’s coaching staff, James has taken the role of the Huskies’ new head coach this year and has them out to a 2-2 start following two straight-victories.
“When [former Head Coach] Lindsay Carroll left during the fall, I was asked by [Morgan Athletic Director] Kevin Rayel if I was interested in the position,” says James. “The girls had known me so long from the previous years, so I didn’t want to let them down and I took the job.”
Although James’s initial experience with lacrosse came out of the blue, he quickly came to appreciate what makes it such a unique sport.
“When Alyssa started with lacrosse, my wife signed me up as a volunteer coach, actually, and I knew really nothing about the sport at the time, so I didn’t know what to expect,” James says. “I just started seeing the girls passing and catching the ball in that little net with no pocket and it was incredible to see them be able to do that. From there, I grew to really like the sport.”
Rayel says that James brings so much more to the table than knowing what it takes to succeed on the field.
“We are extremely fortunate and thrilled to have identified an exceptional person and coach in Jim Naccarato to be our head girls’ lacrosse coach. Coach Naccarato is a very skilled coach,” says Rayel. “It’ll be a philosophy of high energy, being excited to be part of the program, and working together, plus high-character skills and learning what it means to be part of a team.”
As both a parent of athletes and a former athlete himself, James has a firm grasp as to the true essence of what high school sports are all about in developing the essential characteristics of early adulthood.
“I had three daughters go through the program here, so I know the experience and I try to be understanding. I try to be a mentor to the girls about sports and life. They will appreciate sports even more later on in life as it’ll help them mature,” says James. “I love seeing when they start as freshmen and then see when they graduate and see how they mature in sports and as young women. It’s great to see.”
In terms of the immediate future with Morgan girls’ lacrosse, James would like to see the Huskies capture a postseason bid during his rookie season on the sidelines. Beyond that, he wants to build a program that climbs to success on the strength of the basic, yet crucial components of competition.
“In the short term, we certainly want to qualify for states. But we started this year with the mindset of being a fundamentally sound team,” says James. “We’ve seen teams that are not fundamentally sound and ones that are that have beaten us in the past. We’ve worked hard on catching and passing and we’d like to see it progress and maintain that focus.”