By Chris Goldberg, Phillylacrosse.com – Posted 9/20/21
Grant Ament admits that coming back to Haverford School as the team’s new Offensive Coordinator completes a unique circle of growth in his lacrosse career.
“It’s kind of crazy, I’ve come full circle,” said Ament, who was recently named to the post by Fords head coach Brendan Dawson. “I couldn’t turn that down.”
Ament was a high school All-American on Haverford’s 26-0 team as a senior in 2015. The club is considered by some to be one of the best teams in Philly history and among the best on a national scale. Ament then became a First-Team All-American and Tewaaraton Award finalist at Penn State and set an NCAA record for assists in 2019 when he led the Nittany Lions to the Final Four at Lincoln Financial Field.
He could have played one more year at Penn State in 2021, but entered the Premier Lacrosse League draft in 2020 and this year blossomed into an All-Star and MVP candidate for Archers. He was named the PLL Attackman of the Year last week.
Ament, who also is helping train players as co-owner of the Attack Academy, said coaching at Haverford School is special.
“Haverford School is not a typical high school, so being an assistant coach there is a little bigger for me,” said Ament, who led the PLL in scoring this year with 13 goals and 22 assists. “Coach Dawson (an assistant with the PLL Waterdogs) and I started a relationship last year in the bubble.
“We had a few conversations. I have worked with some Haverford guys in the off season and we went to lunch and he offered me the position.”
Ament said he sought out the advice of his Haverford coaches, John Nostrant (now head coach at Washington College) and assistants Mark Petrone and Travis Loving.
“The first person I called was coach Nostrant and he was obviously pumped for me,” Ament said. “He is more than a coach to me and advised me to take the job.”
Ament admits he has a full schedule these days between playing at the highest level and helping run a business.
“It was too cool an opportunity,” Ament said “I have a lot going on, but at the same time I am not part of a ‘group’ aside from playing with Archers.
“I like the journey of the high school season and watching kids go through highs and lows, battling adversity. I like being a consistent impact on kids.”
Ament, who played club lacrosse for Mesa and Duke’s LC, said a group of the juniors were on a Mesa team he coached 6 years ago after graduating from Haverford School.
“My goal is to inspire kids to be not only great Haverford School lacrosse players, but great college lacrosse players,” he said. “The school does a great job of getting great commits but I want kids to truly learn how to work and operate in a college system.”
Ament said he appreciated the great coaches he’s had at all levels and the long-term impact they have had on his career.
“I have been coached by, in my opinion, the best coaches in the world in the last 10 years of my life,” he said. “I will be taking different coaching styles and giving that to the kids.
“I think a big plus is that I am not that far from having graduated from Haverford and I will be able to relate to the kids. I will be doing things with them that I am still doing myself.
“Th relationships I had with my coaches had such an impact on me and has pushed me in this direction. They mean a lot to me.”
Ament, a native of Doylestown, is Penn State’s all-time leader in points (274) and assists (183), both also Big Ten records.
Ament’s 2019 season saw him set the NCAA, Big Ten and program record for assists in a single season (98) while breaking the NCAA tournament record with 25 points. He was named an All-American three times (first team in 2019 and 2020, honorable mention in 2017) and also became the program’s first ever Tewaaraton Award finalist in 2019. He received the NCAA’s Lt. Col. J.I. (Jack) Turnbull Award for Outstanding Attackmen in 2019, was voted the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in 2019 and earned three All-Big Ten honors (first team in 2018 and 2019, honorable mention in 2017).