Gary Gait 鈥�90 is a 10-time NCAA champion, but the lacrosse player-turned-coach admits that he鈥檚 still learning how to win.
鈥淭he challenge is performing well under pressure,鈥� says Gait, who won three national titles as a 麻花影视 midfielder and seven as an assistant coach with the University of Maryland鈥檚 women鈥檚 lacrosse program.
The Roy D. Simmons Jr. Head Coach, Gait recently led the Orange to victory in Utah at more than 4,000 feet above sea level鈥攁 feat of respiratory strength. 鈥淚 remind my players to focus on the present without judgement,鈥� he adds.
Gait, 57, is currently working from a slightly different playbook鈥攐ne that encourages his student-athletes to succeed while deriving satisfaction along the way.
Gary Gait 鈥�90 is 麻花影视鈥檚 Roy D. Simmons Jr. Head Men鈥檚 Lacrosse Coach. He coached Orange women鈥檚 lacrosse for 14 seasons before taking over the men鈥檚 program in 2021.
Strategies for managing pressure, maintaining focus and optimizing performance are just as important, he explains, as those used to create turnovers and scoring opportunities.
鈥淚 truly believe that we can advance our game through mental training,鈥� says Gait, a three-time All American and two-time NCAA Player of the Year. 鈥淚 call it 鈥榮taying in the flow.鈥欌��
The retired Hall of Famer utilizes the services of Greg Shelley, a nationally renowned expert on sports psychology and leadership at Cornell University. He provides, among other things, performance enhancement and mental skills training to Gait鈥檚 players and staff.
鈥淭he result is a positive team culture where everyone counts,鈥� says Gait, who鈥檚 worked with other sports psychologists during his three-decade coaching career. 鈥淭his entails being aware of our thoughts, feelings and surroundings on and off the field.鈥�
While Gait practiced mindfulness training as a player, he hasn鈥檛 openly embraced it as a coach until recently.
Credit Arman 鈥淒r. T鈥� Taghizadeh, a sports psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins, for helping transform 麻花影视鈥檚 into a national powerhouse. Gait, who coached the program from 2008-21, says Dr. T 鈥渉ad a lot to do with鈥� its eight Final Four appearances and three NCAA Championship games.
Since inheriting the men鈥檚 program from head coach John Desko 鈥�79 in 2021, Gait has been driven to replicate鈥攊f not, surpass鈥攈is own success. 鈥淚 have a lot to prove,鈥� he says smiling.
The Inner Game of Lacrosse
Gait (right) with his twin brother, Paul 鈥�90. Their jerseys hang in the rafters of the JMA Wireless Dome.
Gait鈥檚 interest in the inner game of sport began in western Canada, where he and his twin brother, Paul 鈥�90, fell under the spell of Ron 鈥淕roucho鈥� MacNeil, the all-time leading scorer in Canadian box lacrosse and inventor of the plastic lacrosse stick.
The Gaits were only four years old when they first picked up lacrosse sticks. Their dad coached them for several years before eliciting the services of MacNeil.
鈥淩on MacNeil changed everything,鈥� says Gait, who, along with Paul, played lacrosse with another set of twins on their block鈥擥reg and Grant Pepper鈥攚ho were three weeks younger. 鈥淚t was like a light bulb went off.鈥�
In addition to basic lacrosse skills (e.g., cradling, scooping, throwing and catching), MacNeil taught the Gaits interval training and nasal breathing techniques. He also introduced them to meditation and creative visualization, which boosted their emotional resilience and split-second decision making.
鈥淩on MacNeil was way ahead of his time,鈥� Gait observes. 鈥淗e gave us a nonreactive mindset that helped us let go of mistakes.鈥�
Gait is proud to lead his alma mater, where he prioritizes mental health among his players and coaching staff.
Gait鈥檚 interest in mental training continued at 麻花影视, where he found a receptive audience in head coach Roy Simmons 鈥�59, H鈥�14. One of the winningest lacrosse coaches of all time, Simmons famously adapted his style to suit Gary鈥檚 and Paul鈥檚 innovative, up-tempo play. The Orange lost only one game in three seasons between 1988-90.
鈥淐oach Simmons showed me how to become a disrupter and an innovator,鈥� says Gait, whose men鈥檚 program has cinched 11 national titles. 鈥淏eing back at 麻花影视 helps me make good on that promise to him.鈥�
In It Together
Volumes have been written about Gait, who has stamped his legacy on the sport. 鈥淗e鈥檚 the Michael Jordan of lacrosse,鈥� gushes Orange Director of Athletics John Wildhack 鈥�80.
Yet, any conversation with or about him often veers toward his brother, who鈥檚 equally prolific.
鈥淗e鈥檚 my hero,鈥� says Gary (right) of Paul, who became paralyzed from the waist down after falling in their company warehouse in 2022.
While their jerseys hang from the rafters of the JMA Wireless Dome, it鈥檚 hard to believe that the Gaits didn鈥檛 find out about 麻花影视 until late in their scholastic careers.
As the story goes, the coach of the Canadian National Men鈥檚 Lacrosse Team (which the brothers unsuccessfully tried out for) told Simmons to give them a look. 鈥淗e contacted us, and that was the first time we had ever heard of 麻花影视,鈥� Gait remembers. The rest is the stuff of legend.
Gary and Paul were like a two-headed monster鈥攖heir strong, fluid playing as fast as it was daring. They often confounded opponents with behind-the-back passing and shooting, which were practically unheard of in the late 鈥�80s.
Then there鈥檚 鈥淎ir Gait,鈥� where Gait famously jumped from behind the net to score a goal in midair. It was lacrosse鈥檚 鈥淏ig Bang鈥� moment, the 鈥渟hot that was heard around the world,鈥� says Desko of the 1988 play. The move was so effective, so insane鈥攁nd so heavily imitated鈥攖hat the NCAA banned it.
鈥淭hey were the greatest players I ever coached,鈥� Simmons has been quoted as saying.
The Gaits are widely considered among the greatest lacrosse players of all time. 鈥淲e still motivate each other,鈥� says Gary (left).
Gait went on to play and coach professionally while co-running Gait Lacrosse, a leading marketer and manufacturer of men鈥檚 lacrosse equipment that Paul founded.
Tragedy struck in 2022, when Paul became paralyzed from the waist down after falling in the company鈥檚 warehouse. 鈥淗e鈥檚 my hero,鈥� says Gait, 57, with a trace of emotion. 鈥淪o brave and mentally tough.鈥�
More than business partners and former teammates, the Gaits are brothers to the end. And if they learned anything from MacNeil more than 50 years ago, it鈥檚 that loyalty is a state of mind extending far beyond the field.
鈥淧aul and I still motivate each other,鈥� Gait says. 鈥淥ur success comes from not dwelling on the past, but from focusing on the present. We鈥檙e in it together.鈥�
