Andy Bonasera is no stranger to starting a program from scratch and he will get another chance at Cornell College where he has been named head coach of the school’s new men’s lacrosse program. Bonasera has started two programs already, first at Mount St. Joseph in Ohio and most recently at Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama.

“I like sharing in the excitement on campus and bringing a new sport to an area that might not be accustomed to it,” Bonasera says. Bonasera says he was attracted to the job at Cornell in part because the sport of lacrosse is growing rapidly at the high school level in some of the largest cities in the midwest.

“It’s huge right now in Chicago, Minneapolis and St. Louis, and Cornell has pulled kids from Colorado and California as well,” Bonasara says. Bonasera says each program offers unique challenges but the biggest key in starting a new program is recruiting.

He says you have to be genuine, open and personable with recruits and he say he’s been given a budget to travel and bring in players. Bonasera begins his new job in July and the Rams will compete in the first season in the spring of 2015.