An Old Face Becomes the New Head Coach
Photo by Kyle Comi
Following their best season in program history, Centenary lacrosse has named their former associate head coach, William LeClair, as the official head coach. Charles Seling, the former associate head coach alongside Coach LeClair, has decided to take a small step back by taking the role of assistant coach of the team. The Gents returned most of their starters from last year and recruited five new faces to help build on the momentum they gained at the end of last season.
William LeClair, commonly referred to as Billy LeClair, has been with Centenary’s lacrosse program since it was officially brought back in 2019.
Coach LeClair attended Defiance College in Defiance, Ohio, where he played college lacrosse. LeClair captained the team during his sophomore and junior year, and after college, he coached at the high school level in Illinois. Coach LeClair was brought on as a full-time assistant coach here at Centenary in the Fall of 2019 and made an immediate impact after taking the reigns of the Houlas defense.
Since being hired three years ago, Coach LeClair has assisted the Gents in six program wins, acting as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator, until he was promoted to associate head coach last year. This new promotion marks huge strides not only for the program itself but also for Coach LeClair’s professional career. In a sit-down interview, he explained that this promotion meant a lot to him and the effort he’s put into this program. There was a mutual risk between both employer and employee when Coach LeClair became an assistant coach, but through trials and tribulations, he has earned the school's and team's respect.
“Sometimes I think it’s good to be thrown in the deep end of a pool to see if you can stay afloat, and this was definitely one of those situations when I came in, in 2019,” explained Coach LeClair.
Coach LeClair is taking over Charles Selings position, who is now acting as an assistant coach for our Centenary lacrosse team. Coach Seling has been with the program since it was revived in 2018 and was officially named head coach in the fall of 2019. Coach Seling ran the offensive side of things while Coach LeClair handled the defensive side of the ball.
This year the team can expect the same core values as previous years but with a bigger focus on holding the team academically accountable. Coach LeClair wants to send the message that he cares about his players' success, not just on the field but in the classroom and even after college.
When asked about some of his goals for the team this season, Coach LeClair had this to say, “Something that Coach Seling has said since day one that I still want to put into the program is that we’re teaching life lessons through lacrosse lessons.”
Aside from the academic standpoint of being a college coach, Coach LeClair has big goals for how the team is seen on the field. He talked about how he wants Centenary’s team to become a more established program and be able to compete with some of the other teams in the conference. Last season showed that Centenary could compete with some already established programs like Huntingdon in Alabama and Anderson in Indiana. This season the Gents are looking to make a statement and prove that the success they saw at the end of last season wasn’t just a fluke.
Centenary’s lacrosse team competes in the spring, with their first scrimmage against LA Tech scheduled for January. So be sure to be on the lookout for the Gents games this spring to see Coach LeClair lead the Houlas to possibly their best season yet.