Bryn Athyn College Alumni Magazine Spring/Summer 2017 | Page 29

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INTERVIEW
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Tucker Durkin plays
professionally for the
Florida Launch.
worked in the lacrosse world, and my experience out-
side of it was very good.
Award in 2013.
Tucker entered the world of professional la-
crosse as the third overall pick in the 2013 Major
League Lacrosse (MLL) draft, going on to play for the
Hamilton Nationals, who have since become the Flor-
ida Launch, where he is currently playing. Each of his
four years in the MLL he has been named first Team
MLL All-Pro. Since 2014, Tucker has been playing
for Team USA, and, in that same year, he was named
to the All-World Team and was awarded the title of
World’s Most Outstanding Defenseman at the 2014
World Games.
The intense work ethic and endless dedication
help explain how he has reached such heights in his
career, but Bryn Athyn Alumni Magazine caught up
with Tucker to get to know him a little better and find
out what his underlying motivations are. We asked
him about life, lacrosse, coaching, and what’s impor-
tant to him.
We know that you have an incredibly successful lacrosse
career, and are, in fact, competing in the MLL for your
fifth year. Has lacrosse always been your profession or
did you have different jobs before?
➠ In college I was focused on doing really well
academically so I could put myself in the best pos-
sible position for life after school and lacrosse. After
graduation I worked at Exelon for about two and a
half years while playing in the MLL. It’s a really great
company, and I learned a lot about what it’s like to
work in the corporate world, how to work on a team
in a corporate setting rather than an athletic setting,
how to be organized, etc. Things were going really
well, and I was, luckily, still able to be immersed in
lacrosse. The people there were extremely supportive
and flexible with my schedule. So no, I haven’t always
How did you end up coaching at Bryn Athyn College?
➠ When I became aware of the opening at Bryn
Athyn, I had to ask myself if I wanted to get into col-
legiate coaching. As I mentioned, my life and career
were going well, and I wasn’t necessarily looking to
leave. After really taking some time to sit and think
about it, I thought, “What a great opportunity: I can
really do what I love, make a positive impact on col-
lege students, and help build a championship pro-
gram.” Any hesitations about coaching here that
I may have had went away when I came to campus.
I heard Matt Kennedy’s vision for the athletic pro-
grams at BAC, and I found it exciting, and immedi-
ately saw it as a good opportunity.
What draws you to coaching, and how is coaching at
Bryn Athyn different than somewhere else?
➠ I want to use lacrosse as a platform to teach and
ingrain in students qualities that make us better
people: character, hard work, discipline, punctuality,
accountability, team work, attention to detail, etc.
I think coaching is about setting students up to be
successful people, not just successful players. That
means we have to hold ourselves to high standards
on and off the field and see the bigger picture – that
we represent not only ourselves, but our families and
the school we play for. My coaches taught me in this
way, and Bryn Athyn is really supportive of this kind
of approach because it’s directly tied to the mission
here. I like that BAC is committed to keep improving.
I’m excited to see where it’s going to be in five to 10
years.
What has changed since your first year here?
➠ One huge thing is the General Ronald K. Nelson
field. Having turf is so important to this sport, par-
ticularly because of where the season falls on the cal-
endar. With unpredictable weather, you really can’t
be outside on a grass surface. Last year we spent the
majority of the first month indoors. Lacrosse is an
outdoor sport. To understand spacing and field per-
spective, you have to be out on the field. The new turf
has propelled us beyond where we were last year at
this time. The playing surface and the lights have
both allowed us to get the practice in that we really
need to work toward our goals.
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