Ted Emery has played lacrosse all over the country and all over the world. So when he was given the opportunity to coach the Valencia boys lacrosse team, he knew exactly what he wanted to accomplish.
“I definitely want to build off of what was already established here,” Emery said. “The coaches before me did a tremendous job of getting the teams organized. Hopefully making it into the perennial programs like back east that kind of have those teams the compete year in and year out.”
Valencia announced the hiring of Emery as its new head coach on Monday. A native of Columbus, Ohio, Emery has been playing and coaching lacrosse for 22 years.
Emery, 28, was a multi-sport athlete in high school, lettering in both lacrosse and basketball. He went on to play lacrosse at Regis University in Denver, an MCLA Division 2 school.
He is still the Rangers’ all-time leading scorer with 147 points (83 goals, 64 assists) and was named all-conference three times in addition to taking on leadership roles like treasurer, vice president and president.
In the offseason, he played with USA Starz, a team that took him to the Amsterdam Lowlands Tournament in 2011 and 2015 as well as the 2011 Berlin Open, the 2013 Asia Pacific Lacrosse Tournament in Beijing and the 2014 Denver World Lacrosse Championships.
After graduation, he became an assistant coach at Regis for a season and a half, then head coach for another season and a half. In 2018, he took his first coaching position in the state of California at Viewpoint of Calabasas.
“I coached all age groups from youth through high school, a little bit of college, but seem to have the most fun coaching high school because I can potentially send kids to colleges they might not have heard of,” Emery said. “It’s rewarding being on that end of it rather than being at the college and recruiting.”
Emery is also excited for the opportunity to contribute to the growth of the sport of lacrosse across Southern California, saying Valencia is a school that is “begging for lacrosse.”
“It’s kind of cool,” Emery said. “It’s very well established in the midwest or out east and potentially being one of those people that can establish that at high school would be really cool.”
Last season, the Vikings finished last in the Foothill League after losing experience from its 2018 team, which went 9-13 overall.
Emery and the boys lacrosse staff will begin planning for the 2020 season when school begins, then begin developing a club team throughout fall and winter. Those interested in joining the team can email Emery at [email protected].
“I’m looking forward to the years ahead,” Emery said. “It’s an exciting situation to be a part of.”
