Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 1/13/08
Tom Slate, who led Downingtown East to the state championship last spring, has been named head coach of the San Francisco Dragons of professional Major League Lacrosse.
Slate has served as assistant coach for the Philadelphia Barrage since 2005 and helped lead the Barrage to two consecutive MLL Championships (2006 and 2007). Slate, who will continue as coach at Downingtown East, became the first to win a state title as both a player (Springfield-Delco HS ’92) and coach in Pennsylvania history.
Prior to coaching at Downingtown East he served as assistant coach at Radnor, helping take the Raiders to the state semis and finals in consecutive years.
“I’m privileged and excited to be selected as head coach of the San Francisco Dragons, and am eager to get started.” commented Slate. “I have set goals in my mind for the team, and those goals are high. We have a lot of work to do and I’m excited to get the Dragons into the elite teams in Major League Lacrosse.”
The Dragons went 4-8 last year, finishing fourth in the Western Conference.
Slate graduated from West Chester University and was a 1st team All American selection at Essex Community College (MD) and a 1st team High School All American and captain for Springfield. He played for seven years with the Wings of the NLL and helped the team win two World Championships, in 1998 and 2001. He then played for the MLL’s Baltimore Bayhawks for one season. In addition, he was selected to represent the USA at the Heritage Cup.
“We are extremely fortunate to have a person of Tom’s background and experience to join our organization” said Dragons Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Locker. “Tom brings a great deal of experience and enthusiasm, and we could not be happier having him as our head coach.”
