Chrome LC Season Preview: A Letter from Coach Tim Soudan

Chrome Lacrosse Club has gone through some major renovations since last seen on the field in September 2019.  A disappointed group of young players and coaches walked off that day with the league's worst record and only two victories under their belt. A bad taste in their mouth that still till this day won’t completely rinse out. In my eyes, the only remedy is to strap it on and play again to redeem themselves. The team has now had an extended offseason and more waiting for July 25th and it can’t come soon enough.  The mindset of a player in response to a loss or failure on the field is to get back out there as soon as possible and win; it erases the bad memories and feeds the competitive spirit.  If anything is true about Chrome Lacrosse Club, I know they will be hungry come July 25 and the PLL Championship Series.

Personally, my life changed on October 14th, 2019 when I read the following statement:  “The Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) announced today that Dom Starsia will be transitioning from Chrome Lacrosse Club Head Coach to a Leadership Position on the PLL Lacrosse Advisory Board, effective immediately.”  My phone blew up! Guys that I have coached, respected and love, each reached out as they heard the news.  I thought to myself how perfect it would be if only…. fast forward to December 10th and I got the news that I successfully navigated all aspects of the interview process and would be the man responsible for the fortunes of Chrome LC.  

Simple tasks - right? Hire assistant coaches, watch some film and make a game plan on the personnel we have.  Nothing could be further from the idea of a simple task.  Some personnel had to change meaning that the roster today looks far different than it would have without us going to a tournament format. What might have been a couple of changes turned into 10 guys not being able to play due to work restraints and a complete rebuild on the defensive end of the field.  So, Chrome 2.0 is born with 11 new faces and I am more than happy about how things came together.

Looking forward to the PLL Championship Series, I am excited about providing opportunities for all of our players to be successful, creating a winning environment, and family culture where everyone plays for their teammates.  As far as the competition, it’s exciting to know and start to prepare for the four teams that we will play during group play.  Evaluating each team’s group play schedule and the overall talent in this league it’s pretty easy to see that there are no easy opponents.

However, I am excited and looking forward to playing these four teams because of my connections with the head coaches. Looking at Coach Towers and Coach Bates, we go way back to our playing days and have personal relationships so I am really looking forward to those games.  Coach Nat (St. Laurent) and I have had many great conversations so far and he has been great in helping me acclimate to the PLL. Coach (Andy) Copeland and I are Rochester boys and both new coaches in PLL so we are in familiar territory. I am also looking forward to seeing and playing against many guys I have coached and have competed against over the years.  The thing I look forward to the most is the format. The PLL Championship Series will truly be a professional lacrosse experience where we are all together as a team - From practice and meals to film sessions and games,  having the ability as a coaching staff to have constant and steady access to the team is far different than normal years.  Everyone involved will have an incredible lacrosse and team bonding experience. Utah can’t come soon enough! 

- Tim Soudan, Chrome LC Head Coach