Chip Buzzeo named new coach of New Canaan lacrosse

The 2001 Princeton Tigers celebrate their victory in the NCAA Div. I championship game. Chip Buzzeo, a captain of the team and graduate of New Canaan HS, is on the ground just to the right of the National championship trophy. (Photo from Princeton Athletics)

The New Canaan Rams boys lacrosse team is going back to the future.

Chip Buzzeo, a 1996 graduate of New Canaan High School and former captain of the Rams lacrosse team, will be taking over the reins of the storied program beginning with the 2012-13 season.

Buzzeo was an All-State ice hockey and lacrosse player with the Rams before heading to Avon Old Farms and then Princeton University, where he played for famed head coach Bill Tierney. He?s also been a volunteer coach and board member in the New Canaan Lacrosse Association (NCLA) and has coached the NCHS boys during the offseason in the fall of 2011 and winter of 2012.

In a letter to NCHS athletic director Jay Egan, Buzzeo said ?I have always taken pride in representing New Canaan, both on and off the field.

?Coaching in New Canaan has been one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life and I want to continue to help the next generation of New Canaan student-athletes excel.?

Buzzeo was named the program?s new head coach after a nearly two-month search that began in October, when Alex Whitten stepped down after five seasons. Whitten, his wife Diana, and son Shepard, 2, have moved to Virginia and Whitten will be the head coach of the Western Albelmarle High School Warriors in Crozet, Va.

Buzzeo was selected from among three finalists and had the backing of several high-profile coaches and players, all of whom spoke with Egan. Those included former NCHS standouts Dave Campbell, the head coach at Middlebury College, Andy Towers, head coach at Dartmouth College, and Mike Murphy, head coach at the University of Pennsylvania, along with Coach Tierney, the head coach at Denver University and a member of the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

Buzzeo played for Tierney at Princeton from 1998 through 2001, helping the Tigers win the Division I National championship during his freshman and senior seasons. They also won four consecutive Ivy League championships during those four years, compiling a record of 24-0.

A team captain in 2001, Buzzeo was the recipient of the Scott P. Klurfield Memorial Award, which is given to a player, chosen by his teammates, who ?embodies the qualities of perseverance, hard work, team spirit and dedication to lacrosse and to Princeton.?

Tierney told Egan that there were eight or nine All-Americans on the 2011 team ?who worshipped Chip as a teammate.? He also said he would be ?honored to have his son play for Chip Buzzeo.?

Towers said Buzzeo is a coach who can get the most out of his players.

?Chip really understands the people aspect of coaching,? Towers said. ?He is smart intellectually and emotionally. He looks at challenges as opportunities. Chip is interested in helping young people achieve their full potential. If Chip?s not the guy, who is??

Buzzeo was a two-sport captain while at NCHS from 1992 through 1996, playing lacrosse for coach Howard Benedict, and ice hockey for coach Bo Hickey.

In hockey, his Ram teams won FCIAC championships in 1994 and 1996, and reached the finals of the State Div. I tournament in 1995 and 1996. He received All-FCIAC honors three times and All-State honors twice.

In lacrosse, Buzzeo?s Rams capped a strong season with the 1996 State championship, as they defeated rival Wilton in the final. That season, Buzzeo was named an All-American, All-State, and All-FCIAC lacrosse player.

After graduating from NCHS, Buzzeo attended Avon Old Farms for a PG year, helping the school win the New England Prep School lacrosse championship, while he earned a spot on the All-New England Prep School team.

He then headed to Princeton, where he played four years of lacrosse for the Tigers.

Buzzeo has been involved in coaching since his the late 1990s, when he worked with youth players in the All-American Summer Lacrosse Camp.

This summer, he began working as the head coach of the Charger 2017 Blue A Select/Club lacrosse team, which includes elite seventh grade players from the Fairfield County region. The team won three summer tournaments.

Buzzeo?s work with the NCLA includes guiding his teams to CONNY championships in 2010-12, as well a stint as the head coach of a CONNY U-15 All-Star team in 2011.

Source: http://www.ncadvertiser.com/17087/chip-buzzeo-named-new-coach-of-new-canaan-lacrosse/

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