The 2006 Waves warming up for the first game in program history. Photo by J. Petrone.
The 2006 season was the Ware Academy Waves very first lacrosse season. With only a handful of 7th and 8th graders, the majority of the team was elementary-school age. These younger players were the foundation on which the program has been built. The older members of the history-making team provided the leadership and confidence that helped the program flourish. Playing only three games that season, the focus was on learning the basics and practicing the fundamentals. 
New Traditions The 2008 season featured, for the first time, a "JV" squad composed mostly of 3rd and 4th grade boys. This team played its first games during the 2009 season. |
Coaching Staff
The Waves head coach is Chris Petrone. Chris brings 13 years of playing experience to the Waves, winning a Pennsylvania state championship (Ridley High School) and a Division III National Championship (Washington College, MD), combined with 8 years of coaching experience at the youth club, middle school and high school levels.
Ned Markert serves as an assistant coach for the Waves. Ned has extensive playing and coaching experience growing up in Syracuse, NY. Once moving to Virginia, he helped develop the lacrosse program at Norfolk Collegiate School, where he was the head coach for 10 years.
Bob Leibowitz joined the program in 2011 as an assistant coach. Bob comes to Ware after a very successful coaching career at Annandale High School in Northern Virginia, where he coached the Atoms to a 1997 Virginia State Championship. That same year, Bob received the Coach of the Year Award. In 1998, Coach Leibo helped begin the Annandale Youth Lacrosse program, which, in its first year boasted over 60 participants.
John Singleton joined the program in 2009 and brings a knowledge of the game that he developed while playing at Woodberry Forest School. Heading up the U-11 lacrosse program, John specializes in fundamentals and defensive play.