Four years ago, lacking resources and leadership, Pepperdine’s club lacrosse almost ceased to exist. Today they are ranked among the best club teams in the nation. Meet the coach and some of the players that are working to build a winning tradition in one of Pepperdine’s least recognized team sports.
By Kyle Jorrey
Sports Editor
Four years ago Malibu resident Josh Waldbaum was driving past Alumni Park when he noticed an uncommon site — a few students playing catch with a lacrosse ball. As a former player and coach, he stopped to see what the guys were up to.
“I spoke with them, a group of about six kids and found out that there wasn’t a team, and that the club had dropped out of the league,” Waldbaum said. “They were freshman who came out and wanted to play but there was no organization and no coach.”
Eager to play competitively, the group of guys asked Waldbaum, who played lacrosse for the United States at the 1984 World Games, to come help out. He accepted, and in a few weeks became the head coach of Pepperdine’s club lacrosse.
“I was looking to get back into the sport, and after talking with the guys they seemed like a good group of kids who just wanted to play,” Waldbaum said. “After the guy who was supposed to be coaching bailed out I felt some responsibility, so I decided to take over the team and start to build a program.”
And build is just what they’ve done. After finishing out their 1999-2000 season with just two wins, the team came into its next season with newfound leadership and a place back in the West Coast Lacrosse League. Not only did their talent start to improve, but their drive and determination did as well. A lot of this had to do with the coach’s “give-it-all-you-got or go-home” approach to the game he had love since high school.
“I believe if you’re going to work for something you work to be the best,” Waldbaum said. “Let’s not just come out here and be average, let’s give 100 percent and see where the cards fall.”
With the aid of a few original team members who advertised the sport around campus, the team grew in size. It filled with players of different skill levels, different experiences and different backgrounds. But Waldbaum worked to unite the diverse group under one goal.
“I made them commit early to making this team one that they can be proud of,” he said. “And I think it’s something they’ve bought into.”
The Waves finished 5-4 in the 2000-2001 season, winning games against such athletic powerhouses as University of Southern California and Arizona State University. And just last year, the team went undefeated in the regular season, 10-0, before losing its first playoff game to USC.
The unprecedented improvement was a surprise to many, but not to those closely involved with the team.
“It happened pretty quickly, but I knew it was just a matter of time,” Waldbaum said.
Junior Michael Ferguson has been with the team since it first rejoined the WCLL in 2000. A former high school athlete and transfer from the University of Missouri, he found out about the team from a friend in the dorm. After attending a few practices, he decided lacrosse was just the sport he was looking for.
“I didn’t know how to spell lacrosse before I came to Pepperdine,” Ferguson said. “But I knew I could just go to class and come home, I needed something else … And I used to play football and basketball, and lacrosse was pretty much a combination of those two.”
Despite lacking experience, Ferguson, like many others on the team, soon gained a knowledge and respect for the sport. After a season playing short-stick, or offense, he switched to the long-stick and now anchors the formidable Pepperdine defense.
“What I like about the sport is that how good you get is up to you — you control your own destiny,” Ferguson said. “The basic throwing and catching, once you’ve got that down, you can do anything.”
After a successful year under his belt, Waldbaum set out to use Pepperdine’s academic and scenic reputation to his advantage. He put an ad with the picture of the campus in Lacrosse Magazine, a national publication, asking players if they were “Tired of playing in the snow and rain?” He was soon flooded with 200 calls from lacrosse players from across the country interested in coming to Malibu to continue their educations.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Waldbaum said. “It’s an excellent academic school, a great location — it’s easy to get kids interested in the program.”
Junior Jeff Holden and sophomore Trevor Self, who both played throughout high school, are two members of the team attracted to Pepperdine through the lacrosse program. Holden, a defensive longstick, is now the team’s captain; Self is the goalie.
“Part of the reason I came out here is because they’ve got a national reputation for lacrosse, whether people know it or not,” Holden said. “This was the greatest opportunity … I didn’t want to play at a varsity level where lacrosse is the only thing I could do, but I wanted to be able to go out and play it at a very competitive level.”
Self was attracted by Waldbaum’s ad, and was happy to discover that other incoming freshmen had made the same decision as him.
“All of the sophomores on the team came in as freshman and we were all in the same dorm,” Self said. “It really helped us bond as a class on the team, and we’re all still great friends.
As the team’s goalie, Self must face the reality of trying to stop solid rubber balls, “heavy as a baseball and just as hard,” traveling at 90 mph. He must do so protected only by a helmet, facemask, throat guard, glove and a bigger-than-average stick.
“I got hit in the shin the other day from a guy that was shooting 92 mph and it hurt for a little bit, but it went away after five minutes,” Self said. “You get used to it, I don’t even bruise anymore.”
Junior Jared Hermann, who expects to be the team’s offensive leader after two years playing behind skilled upperclassman, knows that to be successful in lacrosse one can’t think about getting hit — by the stick, the ball or even someone else.
As a shortstick, he must deal with the rush of bodies and sticks every time he goes for a goal.
“You know you’re going to get hit, you just have to make sure you either score or that you don’t get laid out,” Hermann said. “You’re focused so much on the goal, you don’t let hits bother you. As long as you score a goal you don’t feel the pain.”
Hermann and Holden explained the visible toughness of the sport leads to many misconceptions.
“Lacrosse is more about finesse than brutality,” Holden said. “You can’t slash anyone fragrantly, you can’t hit from behind or below the belt.”
Hermann agreed.
“You need to be quick, precise, have some strength and finesse,” he said. “(On offense) you’re not just throwing the ball in there or the goalie’s going to stop it. You have to think about where you’re putting it.”
Going into his third season with the Waves, Hermann is excited to see how far the small club, that is self-sufficient and receives very little university attention, has come.
“We’ve progressed so much since I came here,” Hermann said. “When I came here the year before we had won two games, my first season was the first winning season, and last year we only lost one game.”
This year they’re coming into the season ranked No. 23 out of all club lacrosse teams in the nation.
As Pepperdine lacrosse continues to grow, the sport is doing the same thing on the once “lacrosse-barren” West Coast. Just three years ago, Waldbaum started the Malibu Lacrosse Club that is comprised of 80 young lacrosse players high-school age and younger. Players from the team help coach.
And in Los Angeles, the number of high school teams has jumped from zero teams to 11 teams over the same time span.
Ferguson said that here at Pepperdine the rebirth of lacrosse has a lot to do with a new coach that wouldn’t settle for average.
“I think having a coach that is truly committed to the sport helps a great deal,” the junior said. “It just raises our awareness and our level of play.”
Waldbaum isn’t as quick to give himself credit.
“I did a lot, but it’s a team game. I’m just one little guy with a dream,” the coach said. “I’m not the one on the field playing and sweating and working hard.”
But Waldbaum acknowledges the team’s incredibly transformation.
“When I first started we were the door mats, everyone was embarrassed to say they play lacrosse for Pepperdine,” he said. “No when we go places we are respected. I want these guys to be able to walk around and hold their heads high and represent the school in a way they can be proud of.”
This spring the Pepperdine lacrosse Waves will look to improve on last year’s finish and make a run at the WCLL title. Their home games are played at Tari Frahm Rokus Field on the weekends.
October 24, 2002