Q&A with Bloomfield Hills boys lacrosse head coach Jerry Meter
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. — Meet Jerry Meter鈥oach Extraordinaire!聽 Jerry is the Bloomfield Hills High School (BHHS) Boys Lacrosse Head Coach as well as an assistant football coach at the high school.聽 He is also the general manager of the Bloomfield Hills Lacrosse Club which is for boys in grades 3-8 that live in the Bloomfield Hills school district.聽 Jerry has a long history of athletic coaching.聽 He鈥檚 been coaching most of his adult life. Jerry graduated from the University of Michigan with an Education degree and State of Michigan Teaching Certificate in 1980.聽 He coached football at the University of Michigan for eight years.聽 For two of those years, he coached as a graduate assistant and he coached 6 years as a full assistant.聽 Jerry shares, 鈥淚 have coached my four children through a host of sports in elementary, middle and high school over the years.聽 These include football, soccer, baseball, softball, track, basketball and lastly lacrosse.聽 I started coaching at the youth level shortly after leaving the University of Michigan in 1987.鈥�
I had the opportunity to ask Jerry a few questions about his experiences in coaching the BHHS boys Lacrosse team.
What is your background in this sport?
Jerry Meter: My youngest son picked up lacrosse as a 6th grader and I began helping out and learning the game.聽 I first helped Dan Christ, another Bloomfield Hills resident and former Michigan State and semi pro lacrosse player, with a youth team in which both our son’s played.聽 Shortly after that, I joined two other BHHS football coaches who were just learning lacrosse, with a 7/8th grade boy’s team in the BHSD.聽 One of the coaches, Pete Karras, ended up coaching BHHS Boys JV lacrosse (only undefeated JV team at BHHS!) along with Bill Herdle, who was the defensive coach for the BHHS Varsity football team at the time.聽 Eventually, my son played Varsity lacrosse at BHHS and I went back to youth lacrosse in the district.聽 About 3 years later the opportunity arose to coach the BHHS Boys Lacrosse team and I have been doing it ever since.聽 I am very passionate about lacrosse and feel fortunate to have been able to be part of a great sport.
What are one or two things that the team does in training that are keys to their success?
Meter: First, in terms of success, I knew I needed young coaches who knew how to play the game.聽 I was fortunate to have Zach Dauch and Matt Guidobono, former BHHS lacrosse and Univ. of Mich. and Michigan State Univ. players respectively as coaches.聽 Also assisting them were Chris Peterson, Cole Sieja and Ryan Doski, all former high school and collegiate players.聽 Over the years we have been fortunate to have other local high school and collegiate coaches be part of the staff.聽 Currently, Cole and Chris, along with John Sennett, Mike Riley and Mike Buzzitta are our full time coaches.聽 Finally, we have had numerous parents with lacrosse backgrounds support the team over the years.聽 Without these parents as sounding boards it would have been harder for us to be successful.
The most important part of being a head coach is having quality assistant coaches who know the game, the skills and how to relate to the high school players.聽 Coaches are a fundamental key to any player’s success.聽 The other fundamental key for a player is the willingness to be coached.聽 I believe a big part of why an athlete fails to reach their potential is a resistance to fully accepting coaching, which includes the effort to work off the field on skills and conditioning. I think it is the same for many students who do not spend the time outside of the classroom developing their learning skills.
Please describe the most memorable games/tournaments/championships your team has won.
Meter: We had the opportunity to play in the State lacrosse semi final a few years ago, and this year we played in the regional final.聽 But the most memorable times are those small moments in a practice, game or other times when you have a chance to interact with a player and learn something new about them, help them with a situation, or just share a laugh.聽 I have many more of those small 海角社区 that I consider memorable that are important to me.
How do you encourage the team after a disappointing loss?
Meter: “Eyes up, chin up, look forward.聽 Leave the emotions of the past behind after reflecting and learn from the mistakes to improve through hard work.”
Describe your proudest coaching moment.
Meter: Every time I step on the field to coach doing something I truly love to do.
What is the biggest life lesson you’ve learned from being a coach?
Meter: I can always be a better coach if I keep an open mind, listen to players and coaches, and continue to improve my knowledge and coaching/teaching skills.
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