The itch to pick up a lacrosse stick first came to Zach Charles as a youngster when he attended the NCAA men’s lacrosse national championship game in Maryland.
“That was kind of the breaking point for me,” Charles said. “I saw how fast-paced the sport was and fell in love with it.”
Charles began playing the sport in sixth grade, and hasn’t stopped since.
He played for some of Penn Manor’s earliest boys lacrosse teams in the mid-2000s before graduating in 2005, quickly joining the coaching ranks in the Comets’ boys lacrosse program in 2006, and working his way up from middle school coach to junior varsity head coach and varsity assistant coach. So it came as a no-brainer for Charles to apply for Penn Manor’s head varsity boys lacrosse coach when the position opened up earlier this year.
“I was definitely very interested. I talked to some of the assistant coaches who are gonna stay on with me like Connor Rowe, Brandon McCormick and Mack Handel,” Charles said. “Just the perfect fit for me having the perfect staff made me want to go after the job.”
Charles was approved by the school board at its meeting on Monday to become the new Comets coach.
“I love the young core of this team,” Charles said. “I think they’re going to be something special in a couple years. As for the veterans, we have our juniors and seniors stepping it up in the weight room, attending all open summer practices. We’re excited.”
Charles, who works full-time for R.R. Donnelly and is getting married next week, replaces Ken Snyder, who played a hand in turning Penn Manor into a winner on the lacrosse field. Snyder first came to Penn Manor and coached under his brother, Chris, as a varsity assistant for a pair of seasons before becoming the head man in 2010. The Comets went a combined 62-34 in Ken Snyder’s first five seasons before struggling to a pair of five-win campaigns the last two years. Snyder stepped down from the post after last season citing family responsibilities back home.
“I just want us to be known as a hard-nosed, good, fast-paced lacrosse team,” Charles said.
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