Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/4/11
From Press Releases and Staff Reports
Former Ridley High and Penn State men’s lacrosse standout and Radnor High coach Michael Busza will be inducted into the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame as part of its 2011 class for his contributions as a player and for his service to the lacrosse community.
He will be honored in this year’s ceremony along with seven other men and women Saturday for their impact on and involvement with the sport of lacrosse.
The 2011 class will be inducted in a ceremony at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club in Lafayette Hill. The event is sponsored by the Philadelphia Lacrosse Association.
Busza played high school lacrosse at Ridley High School from 1988-91, garnering All-American honors in his senior season. The midfielder then donned the Penn State blue and white for four seasons, and was a member of the USA Under-19 World Team in 1992.
A key contributor on the Nittany Lion midfield, Busza was an integral part of Penn State teams that compiled a 35-14 record over four seasons, and never finished a season ranked outside of the USILA top 20. In his senior season, Busza registered 26 goals and 14 assists for 40 points, and was voted the team MVP.
The captain was also presented with the George Pittenger Award, given to Penn State’s most valuable senior, was an Honorable Mention All-American, and was selected to represent Penn State in the North-South Senior All-Star Game. Busza finished his Nittany Lion career ranked eighth all-time on Penn State’s career ground balls list with 258.
Busza went on to play four professional seasons with the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League from 1998-2001. Busza was a part of two NLL championship teams, helping the Wings to take the crown as a rookie in 1998, and then again in front of a record setting crowd of 19,409 in 2001. Busza also played one outdoor season with the Boston Cannons of Major League Lacrosse in ’01.
Following the conclusion of his playing career, Busza returned to eastern Pennsylvania, where he would serve as the head coach of Radnor high school from 1997-07. Busza led the Red Raiders to Central League Championships in both 1999 and 2003, and was selected as the Eastern Pennsylvania Scholastic Lacrosse Association’s Coach of the Year in both seasons.
He also led eastern Pennsylvania’s prestigious Team GMH to the Vail Lacrosse Shootout in 2005, where his club would win the tournament and Busza would be named the All-Tournament Coach.
Others being honored are:
Brian Dougherty, Player
Robert “Buzz” Lynn, Umprire
John Nostrant, Coach
Lee Allen Krug, HS Coach
Gail Cummings-Danson, Player, Temple University, ’80-’90
Lynn Anderson, Player/Service, Penncrest High School/Penn State University
Joan W. Salmon, Official/Service, West Chester State, ’54-’04
