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Peebles leaves Canfield lacrosse program in solid shape
Peebles leaves Canfield program in solid shape
By Brian Dzenis
CANFIELD
Dennis Peebles is starting on another long-term project.
After seven years of running Canfield’s boys lacrosse program at various levels, Peebles is stepping away. He was forced to vacate his role because he is moving outside of Ohio as a result of General Motors closing its factory in Lordstown in March.
Peebles helped make boys lacrosse a varsity sport in 2017 and at the same time began planning for what the program will look like without him.
“I didn’t know what exactly would occur, but I knew that someday there would be a transition and I tried to build and prepare for that,” Peebles said. “We hoped to have a smooth transition and come out of it better.”
While building Canfield from a club team to a varsity program, Peebles was a team leader on Chassis 1 in Lordstown. As uncertainty swirled around the factory, he didn’t let it affect him and didn’t express any bitterness toward GM.
“I didn’t let it weigh on me as much as it did for other people, but I stayed apprised of the situation,” Peebles said. “We were standing on the sidelines. There was our international bargaining unit, General Motors and our local and national politicians.
“General Motors gave me the opportunity that I had the type of job where I can use my free time to get involved in coaching and with my community.”
Peebles was working as an assistant football coach at Lowellville in 2012 when he was approached by Tom Trefethern, who had started Canfield’s boys lacrosse team and Cardinal Mooney’s program a year earlier. Trefethern was looking for an assistant coach at the time and Peebles embraced it without knowing much about the sport.
Trefethern stepped down in 2013 due to work conflicts and Peebles was named the head coach.
“I thought ‘a coach is a coach.’ I figured I would learn on the fly,” Peebles said. “That’s when the ride began.”
He recalls opposing coaches asking him if ever played lacrosse and their surprise at his answer of no. The culture around the sport was an adjustment.
“The big thing was I’m a football guy and when you get on the field, you’re on one side and the other guy is on the other. You’re my enemy and we’re in competition,” Peebles said. “Instead we’re on the same sideline and it’s more like basketball and we’re shaking hands and everyone is nice. It was a shock.”
Canfield started out as a club team, which meant next to no support from the school district. Peebles said former athletic director Greg Cooper was helpful in getting him connected with the school board and superintendent for its eventual transformation to a varsity program, but the team is carpooling to games and had to move around to find places to practice.
The team didn’t have access to the high school’s stadium or locker rooms.
It took the combined efforts of Peebles and girls lacrosse coach Melynda Guerrieri to get the school board to bump the programs up to varsity status the same year the OHSAA sanctioned boys and girls lacrosse as a sport.
“Melynda was working with the middle school and high schools and because there was a lot of interest with the girls, the board had no choice but to recognize that we had a support system, we had our own boards and our pitch was Title IX,” Peebles said. “We had good feeder programs, which showed we had sustainability.”
Peebles coached the first varsity season, but off the field, trouble was brewing a county away. GM laid off an entire shift in Lordstown at the time and Peebles found himself working shifts that weren’t conducive to coaching. Current coach Gordon Byrne, who does have playing experience, took over the high school team while Peebles stayed on as an assistant and continued to help the middle school teams.
Peebles started to see the writing on the wall in Lordstown and got to work getting the program to a place where it could run without him.
“I told Byrne and I told the board that I could see and feel some changes coming and I didn’t want the varsity program to suffer,” Peebles said. “I started having parents helping me out with preparation or during games. I started grooming dads that wanted to step up and were interested but not confident. I started having them take online courses from U.S. Lacrosse so they could be certified.”
Peebles will report to Lansing Grand River Assembly in Lansing, Mich. on Aug. 12. His family will remain in the Mahoning Valley as his oldest daughter, Arianna, attends Youngstown State University and his younger daughter, Angelina, is starting her junior year at Struthers this fall. He’ll visit his family on the weekends.
He’s been receiving well-wishes from families, players and opposing coaches as he informed them of his move. It was a fitting reward for helping to build Canfield lacrosse from the ground up.
“Everyday, I’d wake up and say, ‘How do I make myself relevant in this world? How do I prove myself?’ You do it by making a difference,” Peebles said. “When you hear from parents and kids, it just brings a well of emotion and pride that yes, I know I did it right. No amount of money will represent that.”