March 3, 2016
By Maria Canales, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's lacrosse team (3-1) is spending its spring break traveling to Penn (1-1) on Saturday and Furman (0-3) on Tuesday. The preparations for such a trip begins several months prior, and is almost entirely coordinated by one man, David Shriver, the team's director of operations.
Having been raised in Maryland, Shriver was born into a lacrosse family and attended Boys' Latin School, where is father Bob was the head coach of the men's lacrosse team. Boys' Latin is one of the most well known preparatory programs in the country, and during Shriver's time on the team the Lakers went 21-0 on their way to a national championship in the 2006 season.
After playing his college career at Georgetown, serving as a captain in his senior year, Shriver found his way to Penn State as a volunteer assistant coach in the summer of 2011.
While in his position as a volunteer assistant coach, Shriver performed both coaching and administrative duties. Shriver spent much of his time with the team on the field helping with shooting drills and instructing during games.
"I knew I wanted to stay involved with the team, with the sport," said Shriver. "And my time as a volunteer coach evolved into this role that I have now."
On Aug. 29, 2013, head coach Jeff Tambroni hired Shriver as the program's first-ever director of operations, a position Tambroni had been hoping to create for several years.
Tambroni noted that what sets Shriver apart is his ability to connect with players and build individual relationships with them while also maintaining a sense of mentorship. Shriver's proficiency in organization, selflessness, and dedication reiterated Tambroni's reasons for choosing Shriver for the job.
"It's tough to find a former athlete who's willing to check his ego and just do the things that he does for this particular program behind the scenes without any fanfare or real recognition outside of our staff," said Tambroni.
On any given day of the week Shriver can be found watching film, typing up practice plans, preparing budgets, or in his office organizing the week ahead.
For the team's upcoming road trip to Philadelphia and South Carolina, Shriver had to start formulating plans months ahead of the team's departure on Friday. Calculating logistics for a party of almost 50 traveling by bus down the eastern seaboard is no easy task.
"I started preparing for this trip about two months out," said Shriver. "We had to put the pieces together, working with obviously getting a hotel, and then once you get there it's about working out practice times with Furman, working out mealtimes, finalizing those plans."
Shriver explained that even the little details couldn't go unnoticed. For the Nittany Lions, who will be wearing their blue jerseys in both games over spring break, Shriver even needed to think ahead about laundry facilities the team can use between contests to wash equipment.
No detail is too small, Shriver explained, and noted how organization is key to keeping a program with as many team members and coaches as they have running smoothly on the road.
As for the team, their duties fall a little bit differently during these next two road contests.
Coming back to Happy Valley with two wins under their belt would be ideal, but long road trips such as these aren't all about wins and losses. Road trips are an opportunity for teams to build strong relationships across classes.
"It gets to that point here in State College with the weather and school starts to wear on our guys a little bit in conjunction with the preseason that we just went through," said Tambroni. "I think it's important to get them away mentally to help them build energy and team chemistry."
There will be no lack of team building during their spring break trip as the Nittany Lions have a nigh out at Dave and Busters in South Carolina planned, along with a tour of the BMW manufacturing plant.
"We're going to get some competitions going," said Shriver of the team's night out. "It'll help build some team chemistry in a fun way."
Shriver joked how the competition will be particular tough once the coaches create their own team for competition.
With the logistics planned down to the smallest detail, the Nittany Lions are prepared for their first back-to-back contests of the year. Thanks to the constant effort and hours of planning by Shriver, the team can focus on their games and the coaches can focus on their leadership duties.
"He is a true friend to the program," said Tambroni. "He just has a personality that just connects with every coach, every player, every parent. To find someone that's as compassionate as David, who genuinely and authentically cares about the people he works with and the players he works for, that could just never be replicated."
Penn State will faceoff at Penn on Saturday at noon, and at Furman on Tuesday at noon.