Baldwinsville — All of the changes affecting high school sports has caught up to girls lacrosse in a big way, and Doug Rowe, a staple on the Baldwinsville sideline for more than a quarter century, is not immune to those changes.
In fact, the 59-year-old Rowe has announced that this, his 26th season at the helm of the Bees, will be his last, coinciding with his retirement from teaching in the school district.
When Rowe started with the program, in 1991, girls lacrosse was still in its developing stages, with a few schools fielding varsity programs. There wasn’t even a New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship until Rowe’s fifth season, in 1995.
By then, though, B’ville was an established power, and would only get better. In 1999, the Bees won its first Section III title and made it all the way to the state Class A final before a last-second loss to New Hyde Park. A year later, though, B’ville returned to SUNY-Cortland and earned that elusive state championship.
Over the next 15 years, B’ville remained a yearly contender, and Rowe’s win total grew. Yet the dominance of other programs, especially West Genesee (who would claim seven state championships), kept the Bees from another sectional crown until 2013, when it again reached the state title game before falling to Farmingdale.
During his long tenure, Rowe’s teams have picked up 355 wins against just 114 defeats, a .757 win percentage. Also, dozens of his players have made it to the college lacrosse ranks, with some of them going on to coach their own programs and he also organized the annual Star-Spangled Lacrosse Tournament in July that draws hundreds of players from across the state and the region to B’ville.
The timing of Rowe’s departure adds to the poignancy. Two months ago, West Genesee’s long-time coach, Bob Elmer, stepped down amid allegations of misconduct from the early 1990s that predated his coaching tenure with the Wildcats. Thus, the two coaches with the most wins (Elmer had 313 of them to go with his seven state titles) could be missing from the field once the 2017 season starts.
Rowe said he wants to continue his long association with B’ville’s youth lacrosse programs, and hasn’t ruled out coaching elsewhere. No successor has been named.
