What started out as a team that no one took seriously, transformed into a well-structured and respected program.  This change started with the introduction of a new varsity head coach for the boy’s lacrosse team, Nick Worek.

Coach Worek has been coaching lacrosse for eight seasons. He started at Chantilly for four years where they won states in 2008, then were runners up in 2009. Then he was at Thomas Jefferson High School for two years. Then, this year, he finally switched over to his home school, McLean.

“I wanted to be where I taught.  I grew to really love the students here. I thought it was tough to be teaching here and coaching somewhere else,” Worek said.

The first thing he wanted to change was how people viewed the program.  For a while the team had a negative reputation for not performing as well as other sports team at McLean.  Wanting to make the school and people realize that being part of the team was hard work, a high level of discipline was introduced.  The team’s success was the level of discipline that the coaches and team as a whole, and held each other to.

“I wanted them to see it was a serious team, and that we should have pride in the program,” Worek said. “Wearing a shirt and tie starts the mindset that it’s a serious game.  It’s about discipline and doing things the right way, and being held accountable for your actions on and off the field.”

A lot of the change, however, was attributed to the players.  It started with the seniors who were team leaders.  They had already been playing under previous coaches requirements for three years, and having someone new come in and change it up was a challenge.  However, they were willing to adjust and make changes allowing the team to continue forward.

“He made our program a lot stronger,” sophomore Justin Gibbons said. “We had more talent last year, but even without the talent we still did better than last year.  It shows how he totally turned everything around.”

His effort was reflected in his players, which showed when the team played Fairfax to determine where the next game would be played.  Beating them, McLean had their first home play-off game in eight years.  Beating them again, 11-5, McLean made it to the District Semi-Finals before losing to Madison.

His hard work was recognized as he won Coach of the Year for the Liberty District for the second year in a row.  This was when all the head lacrosse coaches came together and voted for the best of them all.

“I was extremely proud,” Worek said.  “Hopefully this is a starting point and not a finishing point.”