SSN Coach Profile: Adrianne Wagner, girls lacrosse
October 12, 2020
Adrianne Wagner played lacrosse at her high school in Washington DC. Lacrosse is more popular and competitive along the East Coast compared to the Midwest. Wagner had offers to continue the sport into college but chose to go to Indiana University to study Journalism. At IU, she joined the club team and pursued her love of the sport.
Wagner has been coaching girls lacrosse since 2007. She started when she moved to Phoenix, Arizona after college and gradually worked her way up to be the President Coach of the league. Wagner was initially inspired by her high school coach. “She initially was kind of mean…” said Wagoner. “She was an army reservist and was known for making [athletes] run marine corps marathons.” She appreciated the discipline and sacrifices her coach had made as a mom. This inspired her to keep coaching while raising her own 2 kids while supporting her husband who owns his own business. Before Hse, Wagner also coached at Cathedral High School during 2015 and 2016. She moved to coaching at Hse in 2017.
Her goal is for her athletes to have their own pride and know their self-worth. She wants to athletes to realize that they can accomplish something on the field and contribute to the team. Wagner’s coaching style mainly fixates on discipline. In the beginning of her coaching career, she was like her old high school coach. Wagner considered herself strict but noticed that as the generations change, she needs to adapt her coaching style along with it. She wants the athletes to feel as if they can rely on their teammates and coaches as well. Wagner is not specifically worried about individuals but broadcasts her attention to doing what is right for the team. She takes what other coaches do and applies it in her own way. Wagner uses a chain of command system and gives certain duties to the captains of the teams.
One of Wagner’s proudest moments comes from one of her first seasons coaching. The first season was rough as the team barely one and ended up being one of the last teams ranked in the state. In the following season, the team turned it around and they were undefeated until the State Championship. Wagner was glad to know that she could make an impact and significantly change how they were playing as well as their teamwork. As a result of her hard work and dedication, her team was State Runner up at Cathedral in 2015 and won the State Title in 2016. Wagner’s HSE team has not gone farther than the sectional finals. She has high hopes for the following seasons as she continues being the Head Coach at Hse.
A small number of Wagner’s past athletes from Phoenix have moved on to become attorneys and dentists. Some of Wagner’s players have moved beyond high school lacrosse and continued playing in college. Kelly Donnelly accepted an offer to play lacrosse at Notre Dame and has just finished her senior year there. Wagner also previously coached Kate Burnside who now goes to University of Colorado Boulder and Rachel Harris who goes to Carthage College.
Wagner doesn’t only focus on lacrosse. She takes pride in being a mother of her two kids and does crafts in her free time. Wagner loves to read, and her latest favorite book is Regretting You by Colleen Hoover.