Compared to other club sports at the University of North Florida, UNF Men’s Lacrosse has a massive following on social media, with nearly 20,000 followers on Instagram. 

When put up against sanctioned UNF Athletics sports, UNF lacrosse currently has more followers on Instagram than UNF men’s soccer, basketball, and baseball combined. According to new head coach and UNF alum Chris Hendricks, this follower count is largely because of the program’s national championship run in 2019. 

“We’ve just kind of maintained that throughout those years,” Hendricks said. “We had a ton of activity and people getting excited about the program.”

Following its championship win, sophomore Ross Jacobs said the club team has been rebuilding since the pandemic. 

“We had a great 2019 year, but COVID sort of broke it down,” Jacobs said. “We’re still rebuilding right now.”

Coach Hendricks’ culture rebuild

Now, with Hendricks returning to campus, multiple players spoke about the “ideology” and “community” he is instilling.

“I appreciate his enthusiasm to the team,” Jacobs said. “He seems really committed. He just wants to build a community here.”

To build a community, Hendricks said he is encouraging team bonding, which includes spending time with each other beyond practices and games. For example, Hendricks said his team watched the Jaguars-Chiefs primetime thriller after practice on Monday. 

“Just doing things outside of practice to really be a brotherhood, rather than just some guys who come out and play lacrosse together, Hendricks said.

From 2017 to 2018, Hendricks was an assistant coach with the program before moving to Nashville to coach at Vanderbilt. After a quick stint with Georgia Southern, Hendricks returned to UNF to be closer to his family and revitalize this program.

“I have a lot of love for this school and this program, and really, I’ve seen what we could be when we went to Nationals…” Hendricks said. “And I want to kind of bring that back.”

Hendricks and club president Connor Insel said the program stands out from other clubs because of its strong alumni group, which meets once a month.

“They’re super supportive and they’re all excited about the vision that I have and they want to be a part of it,” Hendricks said. 

Club president Connor Insel echoed a similar sentiment. 

“We have a strong alumni association,” Insel said. “We’re an older program. Yeah, our history dates back quite a ways.”

Without strong alumni and team numbers, the self-funded UNF Men’s Lacrosse Club may struggle to find its footing. During each fall season, UNF Lacrosse hosts an alumni game to keep graduated players involved.

“We have all these seniors, next year they’re going to be alumni,” Hendricks said. “I want them to continue to be part of the program, and if we can leave whatever their legacy is going to be, it’s going to last for as long as it goes.”

Current team and season outlook

As for current players, UNF has double the roster compared to last year. Hendricks said it is a “great mixture” of younger and older players.

“It’s cool to see those kind of older brother, younger brother, kind of coming together,” Hendricks said. “They’re starting to buy into that.”

In addition to team bonding, Hendricks is requiring his team to read a book titled ‘21 Best Ways To Be A Teammate,’ something he hopes translates on the field. 

Coming off two straight losing seasons, the UNF lacrosse team is anticipating an improved season. Returning with many seniors and all its team captains, UNF lacrosse will use this fall season as a way to improve before the real season starts in the Spring. 

One of those seniors, Bobby Jones, has a new outlook this season. 

“So we’re kind of trying to revamp and look for a new outlook on the season and just try to improve on what we have here,” Jones said. 

Despite losing its opening game to UCF on September 27, many players and coaches feel they’re heading in the right direction, highlighting a third-quarter comeback where the UNF Dirty Birds briefly tied the game. 

“Our loss to UCF was honestly a pretty good showing from us comparatively to the last two years,” Jones said. 

Insel felt the same way. 

“There were a lot of positive takeaways from that game,” he said. “If we can just play that way for all four quarters, I think we should have no problem handling anything.”

From a coaching perspective, Hendricks pointed out that UNF will have its chance at redemption in the Spring. 

“[We] didn’t quite have the legs to finish out with the win, but fortunately, we get to play them again in the spring, so that’s when it matters,” Hendricks said.

Overall, with half the team being freshmen or transfers, Hendricks said this fall is “about getting guys to know each other.”

Hendricks said the fall season is filled with scrimmages, while the spring season is what counts towards national rankings.

How each player started lacrosse and found their club roles

Jones began playing lacrosse in third grade after driving by a field where people were practicing.

“It looked really interesting,” Jones said. “My parents said I could sign up.”

Later on, in his early college years, Jones transferred from FSCJ to UNF to play hockey and not lacrosse. 

Nonetheless, through some high school friends, Jones heard about this club and joined just over one year ago. 

Raised by a lacrosse family, Insel said his brother wanted to throw with him, teaching the current president basic lacrosse skills. 

Like Jones, Insel is a junior college transfer. As president, he helps manage the team’s finances, ensuring they follow all UNF club regulations. Even though the club doesn’t receive funding, Insel said they still have to follow player eligibility and waiver rules. 

Lastly, Jacobs started playing lacrosse in his sophomore year of high school. Playing soccer all his life, Jacobs wanted to try another sport. When applying to UNF, Jacobs was surfing through club pages and found the team’s Instagram. 

How students can get involved

While its fall season is underway, Incel said there are still ways for students to get involved. 

“Anybody who comes out to practice, commits themselves, pays their dues, as of right now, anybody has a spot,” Insel said. 

As a spectator, Jones said all games are free and fun to attend.

“There’s constant action, constant goal scoring,” Jones said. “It’s pretty fast-moving, fun to watch.”

Hendricks said people who want to join can reach out on Instagram or at a practice, emphasizing that there’s talent on this campus. Mentioning that practices are more structured and emotional, Hendricks wants students, even players who didn’t enjoy previous practices, to see his new coaching style. 

“There’s a lot more [people] that I’d love to reach and get them to just watch a practice, especially if there’s guys who were out here previously and didn’t like what they saw,” the first-year coach said. 

With a rival game looming, Hendricks and the team leaders want students to pack the UNF Turf Field. 

“We have one more home game next Friday,” Hendricks said. “I’d love to get as many students out here to games as possible.”

On Friday, October 17, UNF will play its final home game of the fall, hosting Jacksonville, with first touch scheduled for sometime in the evening.

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