Administrator by day, coach by afternoon, professional athlete by weekend. Meet Hampton Roads Academy assistant director of admissions and boys lacrosse coach Michael O’Brien.
O’Brien, who joined HRA in 2011 after graduating from Hobart College in New York where he was a defensive standout on the tradition-rich Division I program, recently added a new title to his growing resume: professional defenseman for the National Lacrosse League’s (NLL) Minnesota Swarm.
Following a successful fall season in the Professional Lacrosse League (PLL) with the Charlotte Copperheads, which ended this past December, O’Brien recently signed on as an undrafted free agent with the Swarm.
Like most professional sports, the NLL holds an annual draft that attracts some of the top collegiate players from around the world. The NNL, regarded as one of the sport’s most competitive leagues worldwide, currently fields nine teams – six in the United States and three in Canada – that play a 16-game regular season to decide the Champion’s Cup.
“Out of college, instead of entering the draft, I decided to move down here (Newport News) for work,” said O’Brien, who in his first season guided the Navigators to a VISAA Division II state lacrosse title last spring. “I’ve been looking for a way to get back to playing at the professional level, and after doing pretty well during the PPL season in the fall, I was invited to try out with Minnesota.
“Signing with the Swarm and being named to their active roster is like a dream come true.”
While O’Brien got a taste of what life as a pro is like this past fall, he says the NLL will nonetheless be an entirely different adjustment.
In addition to being surrounded by a more talented pool of players, which will require stricter training, O’Brien will also be traveling far more than he ever did in college or with the Copperheads, where Jacksonville, Florida was the furthest trip from the team’s base in Charlotte.
For example, the Swarm’s next two contests are slated for Friday, Jan. 21, against the Toronto Rock and Saturday, Jan. 22, against the Washington Stealth. That means leaving school early Friday the 21st to catch a flight to Toronto in time for the Swarm’s 6:30 p.m. game, only to depart later that evening for Seattle, Washington for Saturday’s 7 p.m. contest against the Stealth.
“My lifestyle is definitely about to get much more hectic,” said O’Brien, who didn’t travel with the Swarm in their season-opener last Saturday in Buffalo, New York but anticipates dressing for the team’s upcoming two-game road trip. “It’ll almost be like beginning a whole new work week when I leave [HRA] on some Friday afternoons.
“Lacrosse is something I love doing, so I think those Sundays where I know I’ll be flat-out exhausted will be worth it.”
O’Brien says he has every intention of balancing work and, well, more work, but says he’s looking forward to learning a few things to make him a better coach, too.
“I’ve constantly been trying to incorporate things I’ve learned at the professional level, like more intense drills and exercises, into my practices as a coach,” O’Brien said. “A few of my Swarm teammates have already shown interest in coming to Hampton Roads for a clinic.”
