As the 2016 lacrosse season came to an end, Coach Sam Fraundorf, after coaching at NC for five seasons, announced that he will step down from the position for the 2017 season. Coach John Almy, previously the assistant coach, will serve as head coach for the current season.

In April, Fraundorf and his wife had their first child. With the new experience of fatherhood, he decided to take time off to care for his family.

“I realized I only had one opportunity for [raising my child] and I can always come back to coaching at a later time,” Fraundorf said.

Although Fraundorf enjoys working with the lacrosse players and interacting with the other coaches, he always knew once he had children, he planned to step down from coaching. That decision, however, did not come easily.

“Even knowing this was a decision I wanted to make last year, it was hard to make the decision just because of all the great kids and the other coaches. Just being around the program and everyone involved with it was always very positive and was always something I looked forward to,” Fraundorf said.

Even though a coaching change might rattle and throw the team off, Fraundorf predicts the change will not affect the team and their performance. He worked closely with Almy and knows he will push the team to their best and possibly make the playoffs for the first time ever.

“[Almy’s] been an assistant coach with the program for longer than I’ve been around with the team. He definitely knows what’s going on and I don’t think they’re going to make huge changes,” Fraundorf said.

Fraundorf does not know when or if he will return to coaching, saying it depends on if he and his wife have more children and if any opportunities arise in the future. He does, however, plan to stay involved with lacrosse and attend the team’s games.

“I live relatively close by so I’m definitely planning on coming up here and checking out some of the games. I think they will be very successful this year,” Fraundorf said.

After five seasons, Fraundorf formed strong ties with the lacrosse players and saying goodbye forced challenges.

“They were a real close bunch of kids. I just really enjoyed working with them and trying to help them improve,” Fraundorf said.