Lacrosse has given Warriors forward Adam Charalambides plenty over the years, and this offseason, he found another way to give back to the game that has shaped his life.
From coaching his first Junior A season with the Langley Thunder to working with athletes through his personal training program, Charalambides takes every opportunity to share what he has learned throughout his playing career.
This summer, that commitment also meant stepping behind the bench alongside Warriors teammate and defender Matt Beers in Langley. Charalambides was the Thunder’s offensive coach, while Beers managed the overall approach and defence, helping the team to a 10-7 regular season record and an appearance in the BCJALL playoffs.
Charalambides decided to take the leap into coaching Junior A because of the life lessons he’s learned through lacrosse and his desire to help others benefit from the game the way he has.
“It’s always about the next generations. From a value standpoint, you always want to leave things better than you found them, and in terms of human evolution, you always want the person coming up behind you to do better than you did,” Charalambides said.
“I just want to share that love for the game, help the kids navigate learning the game and enjoy it, and then based off the level of competitiveness, tailor that coaching level to what is needed.”
There’s fun to be found at every level of coaching, and Charalambides had a lot of fun helping players maximize their physical and mental performance as expectations take another step once players begin Junior A.
He got deeper into explaining and thinking about the game within the game, managing last shots, and determining how aggressive he wanted the offence to be at different points within the game. Bides learned a lot about being a good leader, emotionally and tactically, and this summer gave him a better understanding of what Warriors Head Coach and GM Curt Malawsky expects of his team.
“You really start to understand the intensity that Curt brings when all it takes is one guy to be a half second off, and the opportunity might not be there,” Bides said. “I definitely saw a lot of translation and learning between being a player versus being a coach, and hopefully it helps me in terms of coachability, adds to my ability to take feedback, and see the game tactically. It just really gave me some good perspective being on the other side”
While he saw the game from another perspective, he also got to watch Beers in a different light as a coach.
“It was awesome. He’s really detail-oriented, very focused, and very calculated,” Bides said.
Charalambides has always had his hand in coaching, giving private lacrosse coaching from a young age and added his personal training certification five years ago. He became interested in personal training and healing his body while rehabbing his ACL injuries at Rutgers University, which eventually led him to his career path.
“Injuries are unfortunately inevitable in contact sports, but I hope I can help some athletes navigate injury processes when they do get injured. Also try to help athletes be more resilient and a little injury resistant, increasing athlete availability: less nagging injuries, less missing practices, and hopefully less catastrophic injuries as well,” he said.
As a personal trainer, he runs the Impact Performance Program at OT Performance Rehab to help athletes develop lacrosse-specific skills, speed and agility, and high-level strength and conditioning designed to help players perform at a higher level.
Last summer, the Georgetown, Ontario native was also the Head Coach for Team Canada West U19 Boys National Development Team Program and last week he was announced in a full-time role with the Warriors as Director of Instruction, U13 Program Director and coach of the Vancouver Warriors Elite Academy. Charalambides is grateful to be part of the growth of the Elite Academy, something that Beers dreamt up three years ago and presented to Warriors ownership.
“These kids are playing a lot of lacrosse, and we’re just hoping to be another voice that can really impact their game in terms of building better habits,” Charalambides said.
“We’re into year three here, and I’m really excited to see where this thing keeps building because the buy-in is there from the top coaches amongst U11 and U13; we’re really building those relationships through minor lacrosse.”
Between coaching, his expanded, full-time role with the Warriors, personal training, appearances, and preparing for his NLL season, Charalambides has managed to strike a balance in managing his time across various roles. He sticks to his morning workout schedule before coaching in the evenings, while his girlfriend, Jenna, understands the grind and works alongside him as they both pursue their own aspirations.
His busy offseason is a reflection of a larger commitment within the Warriors organization. More than a dozen Vancouver players and coaches are spending their summers coaching at various levels of the sport, from teaching young players how to pick up a stick for the first time to coaching Senior A lacrosse in the WLA.