PRO-file Mark Grilo

Depois de uma primeira apresentação, eis o PRO-file do Mark Grilo.

Name: Mark Grilo

AKA: Grilo

Date of Birth: 17-06-1977

Born Belleville, New Jersey USA

Resides Long Valley, NJ USA

Height: 178 cm

Weight: 78 kg

Jersey Number: 12

Position: GOALTENDER

Left Handed / Right Handed / Both: Both

Weapon of Choice: Warrior Nemesis and STX Goalmaster

Favorite Lacrosse move: Split Dodge

Inspiration

Music: Tiesto, Avicii, Dr. Dre and Wiz Khalifa

Food: Mexican and Italian
Favorite Movie: Warrior

A Few Questions

How old were you when you started playing Lacrosse? – 15  years old, I saw my friends playing it and fell in love immediately with the hitting, scoring and teamwork.

You witnessed the huge growth of Lacrosse in the USA, can you point out some ideas, that you saw working in the USA so that we can use in Portugal? – Teams traveling and playing together in tournaments, are the best way to experience the game. You get to play against many different teams and you get to travel together and meet new people and see new places. Sponsors would help to reduce travel costs. To develop the sport in Portugal, you must get the Youth involved, that is the key. The younger they are the longer they will play and continue the tradition you have started.

You played in the MLL for the Philadelphia Barrage, how does it feel to play professionaly? – Its fantastic, You play and practice with some of the best players in the world. I played with one of my heros Brian Dougherty, One of the best goaltenders to ever play the game. I had Ryan Boyle, Matt Streibel, Mike Springer shooting on me in practice. Just playing against them in practice made me a better player. Every boy dreams of playing the sport they love at the professional level. It was a fantastic experience. Playing with and against them made me a better player.

How do you feel about your actual coaching career? Do you miss playing? – I still play in tournaments in the summer,i play against alot of college and post college players, but it’s not the same as playing in College or High School, where you practice every day and get to be around your teammates. Thats what i love about Coaching, it’s a family, everyday we work together towards a common goal. It’s a different satisfaction, but can be just as rewarding, watching my players grow into men and start their own families. Here in America there are leagues for me up to and over 60 years old. Once you start playing lacrosse here it’s hard to stop.

It’s fantastic to see that there’s always a Portuguese in some place of the world, in your case is fantastic to see that you live in the USA and that you promote an American tradition and besides coaching you have Lacrosse Clinics, Lacrosse Camps, Lacrosse everything, how did that happen? How did Lacrosse become such a big thing in your life? – I owe alot to lacrosse, I met my closest friends because of lacrosse, my job and career as a teacher and coach happenned because of lacrosse ,I met my wife because of  lacrosse. I had some success on my High School team when i was a teenager and was offered scholarships to colleges and universities and i chose to study and play at a very good small college near my home. I was recognized nationally while playing at the Collegiate level and that led to offers to coach and receive my masters degree after I graduated from Drew University. I loved coaching and teaching so much that i was offered a job teaching and coaching High School lacrosse and that is where i met my wife, Amy, she is the Head Coach of our very successful women’s lacrosse team at Morris Knolls High School where we teach. Because we both coach and teach lacrosse and we both worked camps and clinics for other people, we began to hold our own clinics for boys’ and girls throughout the year. We hold about 10 camps and clinics a year, and we have travel teams that we coach at tournaments in the summer. We coach and play lacrosse year round.

Can you point out the best moment in your Lacrosse career? – Besides playing professionally for the Philadelphia Barrage, playing in the Collegiate North-South All Star Game after College and winning several Championships at the College and Club level were my best personal moments.

Do you want to leave a message? – To all my portuguese friends um grande abraço! I would love to come back to Portugal to coach and play some day, I look forward to being there again and helping develop lacrosse in Portugal however I can.