Ex-McDonogh coach to take over Fla. high school team
Former McDonogh coach Chris Robinson will return to coaching high school girls lacrosse next spring at Lake Highland Prep in Orlando, Fla.
When he left McDonogh in January, Robinson planned to concentrate on the National Girls Lacrosse League he founded for middle school girls. The league is expanding across the country and Robinson said coaching in Florida goes right along with those plans because it will help with the NGLL’s expansion, including into the Orlando area in 2019.
He worked with the Lake Highland players this spring as a consultant and, in addition to coaching the Highlanders, he wants to build youth and club lacrosse in Florida. He also plans to start a chapter of his M&D Lacrosse Club in Orlando.
“The more that I was down there, the more I saw that it’s really becoming a lacrosse hotbed with a lot of potential for growth,” Robinson said. “Maryland is saturated. It’s a lacrosse town. Everybody’s in it. Down there, there’s a huge desire for coaching and a huge desire for development and things like that that here are kind of taken for granted because there’s so many great coaches and so many former players that are here. Down there, they’re really thirsty for some great lacrosse instruction and guidance. It’s a really appealing opportunity.”
Last month, the Highlanders reached the Florida state championship game for the first time, falling to American Heritage, 10-7, and Robinson has a history of coaching championship teams, first at Mount Hebron and then at McDonogh.
“They brought me in to teach them some stuff about a dodging offense. It went from there to bringing me in a couple more times, including for their playoff run,” he said. “I really hit it off with the team. There was a lot of great chemistry between the players and the coaches, myself and the administration, so it was really a lot of fun. It kind of made me see where I have a niche in life, I think. It was fun and the opportunity to go to a growth area like that and develop the club scene is just really pretty awesome. It’s a win-win for everybody.”
Robinson will not be teaching at Lake Highland as he had at McDonogh, so will still spend a lot of time in Maryland. He will still run the M&Dclub and Robinson Sports Inc., a business he runs with his brother, Scott Robinson, of Maryland. He said his children will remain at McDonogh.
The expansion of lacrosse in Florida presents a lot of opportunity for Robinson Sports, which also runs girls lacrosse clinics, camps, showcases and combines. Scott Robinson said he will retire from teaching after this year and become director of operations for Robinson Sports. He will, however, stay in Howard County and continue to coach the Howard girls basketball team.
Chris Robinson, a three-time AllMetro Coach of the Year, began his career at Mount Hebron and coached the Vikings to five state championships in six years. He took over McDonogh in 2005 and led the Eagles to nine Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championships. He guided the Eagles to the first 177 of their national-record 198-game winning streak that ended this season. His record as a high school head coach is 341-18-1.