Club Notebook: Back from the Bagram

Afghan-theater vet eyeing national title for Kutztown

Nov. 19, 2008


by Jac Coyne, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

Tony Leonetti had just returned to the Kutztown University campus and was already a month behind in his coursework when he stopped by the house of Kevin Messina, a fellow captain of the Golden Bears men's lacrosse team.

Leonetti had spent the previous three months at Bagram Air Force Base, a heavily-fortified, barbed wire-laced airstrip in Eastern Afghanistan, just north of Kabul. There, he worked on A-10 Thunderbolts, potent ground-attack aircrafts lovingly known as Warthogs. He was happy to be back in the U.S and getting reacclimated to college life.

So when Messina gave him all of 15 minutes before asking whether Leonetti was prepared to reprise his role as Kutztown's goalie, where he was twice named the Bears' team MVP and a National Collegiate Lacrosse League (NCLL) Division II All-Star, Leonetti was understandably taken aback.

"Messina said, `Hey, man, you want to play in Maryland this weekend?' I said, `Are you kidding me?!" said Leonetti.

But after a brief spell, the lure was irresistible.

"Alright, cool. Let's do it,'" added Leonetti, with a chuckle. "Half a week of practice and I didn't know half the rookies, but I said let's go down and kick ass this weekend and have a good time. And we did."

It was this gung-ho attitude that almost kept Leonetti off the Kutztown lacrosse fields. After graduating from Garnet Valley High School in his hometown of Glen Mills, Pa., he was dead set on joining the U.S. Marine Corps, to the point where a couple of Marines were sitting in his living room his junior year ready for him to sign the papers.

"My mother said, `No way. Go to school, try a year of college, and then you can go into the Marines,'" said Leonetti.

After enrolling at Kutztown to placate his mom, Leonetti started playing rugby - his second-favorite sport - but while walking to class with his Garnet Valley lacrosse jacket, he was approached by one of the lacrosse captains. In what amounted to an enrolled recruiting visit, Leonetti was escorted to practice and a couple of team functions. "I did that and I loved it," he said. "I said, `I'm definitely switching back to lacrosse.'"




College life was nice, but his dreams of joining the military did not dampen. In fact, they were heightened when Leonetti talked with a couple of his teammates - Mike Manara (Marines) and Fred Koons (U.S. Army) - who had enlisted and are currently serving in Iraq. They reaffirmed his decision, but just as he was about to meet with a Marine recruiter again, he bumped into a friend returning from Air Force basic training who encouraged Leonetti to take a look at the his branch.

"I was really sold on the Marines, but I went to his drill and met everybody in his shop and his unit," said Leonetti. "They worked on A-10s and right away I fell in love. Holy crap! This stuff is awesome. How many college students get to say they got to work on multimillion dollar airplanes?"

Leonetti returned to Kutztown in 2006, where he re-upped with the lacrosse team and spurred the Golden Bears to a spot in the NCLL tournament. In what Messina describes as the biggest win in the program's history, KU beat Kentucky in the quarterfinals to earn a spot in the national semifinals. Last spring, Leonetti and his team was back in the tourney, advancing to the quarterfinals.

This spring, nothing but a national title will do for the Bears.

During the fall ball campaign, Kutztown dominated most of its competition, using Leonetti as an anchor on the backline. And while he was a good leader before, everything he yells out from the crease or in the team huddle now carries a little extra weight.

"The way he uses his words just resonates with everyone," said Messina. "Even with the young guys who are just getting to know him. They heard all of the stories about him going to Afghanistan, so they just naturally look up to him, including me and the other captains.

"When he says something, everyone shuts up and listens. He has the experience of being a great goalie and a two-time MVP, but now he has the experience of going halfway across the world to protect our country, so everyone has that great respect for him."

For Leonetti, his experience at Bagram has given him a new perspective on lacrosse.

"What are these guys going to do to me? They'll hit me with a ball in the arm or leg, and it will hurt, but it's no big deal," he said. "I know what it's like to have enemies on our base. We had a briefing once where we were told that up to four percent of the local nationals working on our base were the enemy. We witnessed these guys at the fuel depot being arrested, getting reports of attacks in the night and things blowing up. You come back here and playing this game is fun.

"I love this stuff. In the past I would get down on myself if I gave up a goal. Now I realize that if I just go and have fun, what's the worst you can do to me? You can't do anything to me I haven't already been put through."

Whether the Golden Bears win the NCLL title or not, Leonetti's future is in good shape. Shortly after he graduated from USAF basic training in 2005, Leonetti was put aboard a bus and shipped to what amounted to a refugee camp from Hurricane Katrina. It was another eye-opening experience and one that will shape his future.

"We had to help out these displaced individuals, set up cots, give them water - I'm talking about thousands of people," said Leonetti. "I had no idea Katrina was going on because I was in basic. We got to help out all of these people, and now I'm trying to get a job with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) because of that experience."

That's still a year away. It's all about winning an NCLL title for the next six months, right Tony?

"Oh, hell yeah!"

Kutztown Crusade
While Leonetti and the current Golden Bears are striving to reach the NCLL title game, the Kutztown alumni group, specifically Frank Hickey '85, has been fighting for recognition for one of its former members.

George Kruse played lacrosse for the Golden Bears from 1974-77, where he established himself as one of the most prolific scorers in the game's history. Kruse's mark of 8.33 points per game his senior season still stands as the NCAA Division II record, while his 7.90 ppg in '75 and 7.46 ppg in '76 remain in the top 10 of the record book. He is also still ranked fifth in career points (276) and second in career assists (172) - one of the few remnants of the Kutztown program that was terminated as a varsity sport in 1990.

Kruse earned All-American status at the conclusion of his senior year.

After his playing days were over, Kruse continued his dedication to the sport, becoming a highly-respected official in the Philadelphia area (he was also an assignor) and a coach at the Malvern Prep School.

Tragically, Kruse was killed in on Sept. 11, 1993, when he was returning home from the ceremony for his wife's induction into the Kutztown Hall of Fame and a drunk driver hit his vehicle head on.

Through the tireless efforts of Hickey, Kruse finally earned admittance to the Philadelphia Lacrosse Association - the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of US Lacrosse - Hall of Fame for this cycle, and will be inducted Feb. 7.

"It was kind of neat communicating with different people because some of the guys in the officiating arena and coaching arena around Philadelphia who had worked with George, and everybody who I spoke to who knew him, said this is long overdue," said Hickey. "It was kind of cool for me to hear that, and kind of kept it going. If you look at some of the records he has, they're pretty substantial."

Hickey and the rest of Kruse's supporters are now setting their sites on the US Lacrosse National Hall of Fame. Hickey understands that there is a long list of worthy candidates for our Hall, but he feels Kruse has a strong resume - one that would have been a lot stronger if he had been given the chance.

Slides & Rides
- It appears the MCLA is further tightening its administrative structure. The association is overhauling its Web site, mcla.us, in an effort to attract sponsors and increase transparency in its decision-making process, according to a post by MCLA president and Michigan head coach John Paul. The MCLA is also setting up tournament committees to determine at-large bids for its Divisions I and II tournaments. Previously, the at-larges were determined by a final poll conducted by the MCLA's loosely affiliated site, collegelax.us.

- While Mandee O'Leary was busy wrapping up the University of Florida's first recruiting class, she did not turn a blind eye to the existing WDIA program, nor its courageous club president. Kaley Pendley, the 21-year-old player whose recent bout with colon cancer was >documented Feb. 1 in a Lacrosse Magazine Online article by Clare Lochary, and Jesse Hogan have been asked to join the Gators when they go varsity in 2010, according to teammate Aubrey Siegel.

"They are both seniors at UF on the club team and have been asked by Coach O'Leary to stay at UF to provide senior leadership for the new team," Siegel wrote in an e-mail. Due to NCAA regulations, O'Leary could not comment on the players, but did say she would hold open tryouts for members of the club team, which she coached in 2008.

- According to the BYU Web site, Jason Arias, who was a freshman defenseman on North Carolina's men's lacrosse team in 2006, has transferred to the Provo school and will join the Cougars in January. Arias was the captain of the 2003 Iroquois Nationals U-19 Team. The Lexington, Mass., native just returned from a two-year Mormon mission.

- After two years in Denver, the WDIA national tournament will be moving to Scottsdale, Ariz., in 2009 and 2010. The Scottsdale Sports Complex will be the host of the event and it is sponsored by the Phoenix Regional Sports Commission in partnership with Scottsdale Parks & Recreation and the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitor Bureau. "We know the team in greater Phoenix will help us deliver a top-notch experience for everyone involved and show that the Valley is a great place to play lacrosse," said Sarah Oglesby, US Lacrosse director of special events, to The Arizona Republic.

- A.J. Stevens has landed as the associate head coach at Claremont College. An assistant coach for the Chicago Machine of the MLL, Stevens remains in the MCLA after a less-than-amicable split with the University of Illinois in 2007...Dwayne Hicks, a senior coaches trainer for USL, has been hired as the head coach at Michigan State...Scott Morrison, the defensive coordinator for national champion Michigan for the past three seasons, has taken the reins of the University of Arizona program. He replaces P.J. Rovinelli, who was signed on as the assistant at rival Arizona State.

Ellie