Boys Lacrosse head coach leaves program

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Fiona Zheng

Will Hancock (right) and Brian McInnis (left) have lacrosse practice under Coach Aaron Hensely. Hensley, who has been with the Jefferson lacrosse program for five years, coached his last official in person practice on March 1. “I had an incredible time, and I loved being with the program for all five years. [We have] kids [on the team] with insane work ethic, drive, intensity, and willingness to learn and listen. So overall, it was an absolutely amazing experience,” Hensley said.

Chris Yoo, Staff Writer
March 5, 2022

Aaron Hensly held his last practice as head coach of the boy’s lacrosse team on Tuesday, March 1, before moving to North Carolina. He will continue to work with the team until the end of the year.

“I will still be doing all the practice plans, and I’ll be working with the coaches and the captains to do that. I will also be handling all the administrative stuff such as team stores or scheduling. I’ll still be watching all the opponent films and creating the game plans. For this year, I will be still heavily involved as much as I possibly can from 300 miles away,” Hensley said.

Direct coaching responsibilities for the team will fall to assistant Brian Sotero. Hensely has been in Jefferson lacrosse for 5 years, and during that time, he has transformed the program into a district contender.

“He will be remembered for building the program to what it is today. He came on a few years before I got here, and the team wasn’t that good, but with his passion and getting people to work outside, we’ve gotten much better,” Will Hancock, co-captain, said. “We’ve also been to the district championship in recent years, which we hadn’t been able to do in 10 plus years, so he has definitely transferred our program to a winning one,” 

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Hensley was known by his players not only for his passion and love of the game, but for a very particular hobby outside of the field.

“One memorable thing about Coach was when I found out he had a Twitch [account], and so for a bit, [our team] would join the streams and ask him a bunch of questions, like when we were going to the weight room. It was fun because he was playing video games and would have to try and field our questions,” Bryant Park, co-captain, said.

In addition to his occasional FIFA and Star Wars: The Old Republic streams online, Hensley was recognized by the players he coached as one of drive, dedication, and understanding of both the game of lacrosse and the people surrounding him.

“Of course, he has the technical knowledge of lacrosse and was a great coach in that sense. But for me the biggest part was that he really cared about the team a ton. It really showed, and all the effort he put outside of practice showed that he really cared and it made me want to go out and practice more and get better,” Hancock said.

Hancock added that the team will greatly miss the many attributes that Coach Hensley brought to Jefferson lacrosse. Despite his move and eventual departure from the program, Hensley says that he expects many things from the lacrosse team. 

“I really believe this year, even with me in the background, that they can make a run in districts and be able to make a district championship. The team looks very, very good right now, and I can’t wait for all the success that they’re going to have. I really do expect big things and a district playoff run,” Hensley said.