By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 11/5/23
Chris Bates has been named head coach at St. Andrew’s School in Middletown, DE.
Bates served as head coach at Episcopal Academy for the past 7 years. He also was head coach at Drexel University (10 years) and Princeton University (7 seasons).
Bates also is the head coach of the Archers Lacrosse Club and led the team to its first Premier Lacrosse League championship team in September at Subaru Stadium in Chester.
He graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in psychology and was a two-time All-Ivy attackman in 1990. After a brief stint working in New York City, he began his coaching career in Philadelphia by establishing the first lacrosse program at Archbishop Ryan High School in 1992 while playing for the Philadelphia Wings.
He then got hired at Drexel University and served as an assistant for 5 years and then head coach. He helped build the Dragons into a perennial CAA conference contender, winning two conference championships, as well as being named the CAA Coach of the Year twice. He replaced legendary coach Bill Tierney at Princeton University where he guided the Tigers to three Ivy championships and two NCAA tournament appearances.
At Episcopal Academy, Bates helped create and lead the school’s auxiliary programs, including athletic camps and clinics, summer academic offerings, and Lower School enrichment classes and aftercare. He served as a liaison between the college counseling and athletic departments and worked with athletes on campus interested in playing a sport in college. He also served as an advisor for the freshman class. During his coaching tenure, the team was a perennial top-three finisher in the Inter-Ac League.
He played for eight seasons in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (now the National Lacrosse League) and won three championships with the Wings while earning all-pro honors in his one season with the Charlotte Cobras.
At Drexel, Bates had a record of 70-71 as a head coach but was 31-17 in his final three seasons. Bates led Princeton to three Ivy League titles and a 53-42 record, but was let go in his final season after it was determined that he made contact with a Brown player while the player was leaving the field.
Bates is originally from Katonah, N.Y., a suburb of New York City and is a member of the Hudson Valley Lacrosse Hall of Fame
