Army WEst Point Lacrosse
2024 Update
Please give us ten minutes of your time and read through this brief but comprehensive update on the Army Lacrosse Alumni (ALA) and the status of the Army Men’s Lacrosse Endowment.
We are sensitive to the volume and frequency of information we disseminate so we limit this message to just once a year. It is important that you are aware, kept up to date, and that you have the opportunity to respond if you like.
The moral and financial support emanating from the ALA is profoundly impacting the success of our team. Coach Alberici said it best on the last Zoom with the alumni:
“Thank you for making this an incredible season for our guys. The amount of support felt was like none other. There are so many measurements of that but the part that I’m mostly talking about is the immeasurable piece, the connection that all of you have had and the effort you put into it…jersey numbers and connecting with our guys individually that way and many more than I even know about. We felt it more on the road than any other time before this year, in Atlanta vs. UMASS in a one goal game, we came back in the 4th quarter. That was an Army crowd in Atlanta, it was ¾ Army. When you start talking about those one-goal games energy matters and we certainly felt like we had the home crowd there. It happened again at UNC, another one goal game. It was their home game, but in name only, it was a 75% Army crowd that was certainly into it. And then we come home to the Navy game and have 10,000 people with 400 alumni. And for me the more special moment off the field happened there, to witness and be part of the dedication of the team room in honor of Coach Dick Edell. On behalf of the coaches and especially our players, it is so much appreciated. Thank you.”
Although Army has had Men’s Lacrosse since 1907, the Army Lacrosse Alumni (ALA) has only been in existence for two years when it replaced the Friends of Army Lacrosse as the sole and unifying external entity supporting Army Lacrosse.
The ALA is an informal volunteer organization. We are not registered, do not collect dues, do not have a treasurer, and have no paid staff. It’s just a few volunteers making all this happen. If you can step up and help at any time please do.
Our Mission is: To conduct unique and valuable activities for the benefit of the Army Lacrosse Program and Alumni to honor and preserve the attributes of Family, Toughness and Tradition.
Our Honorary Chairman is the oldest living graduate. The first was COL(R) Guy Troy (#45 ’46) who passed away on his 100th birthday in March ’23. (See article in our Sept ’22 inaugural newsletter.)
The current Honorary Chair is Dr. Mike Dowe (#53 ’50), 96 years old and he lives in Houston, TX. (See article in Dec ’22 newsletter.) We thank “Dodger” Dowe for his leadership and example of service that inspires all of us.
The current ALA Co-Chairs are Rick Bifulco (#24 ’76), Jim Pappafotis (#29 ’78), Ken Dahl (#13 ’82) and Frank Giordano (#19 ’83). Our General Counsel is Bill Sardella #9 ’82.
There are several committees that serve you:
1. Merchandise is handled by P.J. Groce ’86, father of Austin Groce #34 ’25. You can purchase high quality shirts, jackets, hats, shorts, pants etc. at this link which is open all year.
You can also find the link on the left side of our website armylax.com and if you don’t see what you are looking for in our online store, message PJ on the website. 10% of all sales is returned to the team through the parents to help offset costs of routine player support.
In addition to this merchandise link, there is a limited opportunity to purchase some of the cool stuff you see the parents wear from this Boathouse link
Use Code: 4BAC6
This option closes on 15 October so act now or you must wait until next year. You will receive your items at your address before the holidays.
2. Communications is led by Chris Prentice (#32 ’92) and Head Officer Representative COL Paul Evangelista (#23 ’96). They look after armylax.com (573 members), and monitor our presence on LinkedIn (507 members), Facebook (281 members), Instagram (107 members), and X. The BEST place for information, updates and to connect is armylax.com so please register as a member and visit often.
3. Events is led by Frank Giordano (#19 ’83). The big annual event is our hosted tailgate at Michie Stadium which was the Navy game in ’24 and drew 400 people. In ’25 the hosted tailgate will be our home game at Michie Stadium vs. UNC on Saturday 29 March so save the date. Frank also coordinates to gather all alumni in one tailgate at home and away games, often in partnership with the parents. Coach Alberici is especially appreciative of this since it makes it easier for him and the team to visit after the game. Frank is a one-man show, so if you are in the local area of a game, please step up and volunteer to help Frank keep this top shelf.
In Atlanta and Chapel Hill, the ALA coordinated for “military appreciation days” and drew huge crowds to create what felt like Army home games. This included parachutists jumping in the game ball, a color guard and vocalist for national the anthem, an Apache flyover, static displays of vehicles and heavy weapons, recruiters, swearing in new recruits at halftime and more. We plan to muster as much of this as possible in Naples, FL for the Army vs Mercer Game on 22 Feb ’25 in the Southwest Florida Shootout.
4. Mentoring and networking is led by Paul Cino (#3 ’83). This is an informal effort to do all we can to identify folks in transition and connect them with alumni who can help. Those departing the Army can find help from other lacrosse alumni who may be in that sector or location. This also applies to those still serving as they move from one post to another. If you are moving/transitioning or want to help those who are, contact Paul or any of us. We’ve been able to help quite a few alumni already so take advantage of this network. Here’s a couple testimonials:
Griffin Schultz #10 ’19, “The ALA has been the single most helpful resource as I have transitioned out of the Army and into a civilian career. Whether it has been professional connections, the grad school application process, or simply thinking through my career options I have had countless alumni bend over backwards to help. I cannot overstate the value of the alumni network and the mentorship that comes with it!”
Jeremy Angle #8 ’19 “I reached out to the Army Lax Alum network one year before my planned separation and within twenty minutes I was in contact with an alum 9 years my senior. Two years later he’s still one of my biggest soundboards and sources of advice for things from insurance claims to job searching. I have found that the ALA network has a guy in almost any industry you could think to pursue.”
5. Newsletter is led by Neil Hamill (#44 ’81), DJ Beil (#30 ’98) and Mark Albe (#30 ’82). We have published eight quarterly newsletters, and each one is better than the previous edition. It is YOUR newsletter so PLEASE provide input for content and ideally draft a short article and submit it to Neil. We prefer to edit and publish the newsletter not to write it, so send in content on anything you think is worth sharing with fellow alumni. We are always looking for feedback so let us know what you think.
6. Hall of Fame Nominating Committee is led by Sonny Uberti (#33 ’83) and Jose Olivera (#27 ’78). They will ensure the ALA always has one or more nominations before the Army Sports Hall of Fame selection committee to maximize recognition of the many deserving candidates young and old.
7. Local “Chapters” of the ALA are popping up across the country and are currently active in Colorado Front Range (Frank Eich, #20 ’72), Savannah/Coastal GA (Chris Auclair, #37 ’95), Fort Liberty/Southern Pines, NC (Pat Mulholland, #50 ’11), Fort Moore/Auburn, AL (Alex Alacqua, #6 ’20 and Greg Doepke, #3 ’71), Central Texas (Kevin Capra, #8 ’95) D.C/Maryland/Virginia (Ken Dahl, #13 ’82 is looking for a volunteer to lead this)
8. Endowment Committee is led by an Executive Committee of 12 alumni and one parent of a former player. Hyperlinks to their email are provided at the end of the following update.
The purpose of the endowment is to provide critical resources to Coach Alberici that supplement his base budget so he can remain competitive against much larger and far wealthier programs in the top tier of Division 1 lacrosse. This email to Coach is one reason you may want to participate:
“Coach Alberici –
My son plays lacrosse at Bucknell, and I was at the Army-Bucknell game on Friday. Congratulations on the victory and it was amazing to watch your team play.
I felt compelled to send you a note after I talked to my son at the game. I always ask him after the match how the players from the other team were. Most of the time I get “they talked a lot of BS” or “they were jerks” etc.
When I posed the question this week, he replied that they did not talk any BS and they were the kind of guys that would knock you down and help you back up. I have always been proud of the service academies, but this struck a chord with me. I have never been more proud of the young men on your team and at Army because of that response.
Whatever is in the water at West Point we need to bottle up and pass around to the rest of the country.
I want to wish you and your team continued success this year. I’ll be rooting for you.”
The endowment was launched in August 2021 and the lacrosse alumni assumed leadership of it under Coach Alberici’s direction in October 2021. In just three years we have 1,100 individual donors from all 50 states, D.C., and the Virgin Islands. 677 are alumni and 423 donors are non-alumni representing parents, family, coaches, doctors, trainers, ex-players, and friends.
# Of Alumni Donors by Class
1946-1 1961-2 1976-3 1991-7 2006-9 2021-4
1947-0 1962-4 1977-7 1992-8 2007 -6 2022-17 (100%)
1948-0 1963-3 1978-13 1993-11 2008-9 2023-8 (100%)
1949-0 1964-9 1979-11 1994-14 2009-5 2024-15
1950-1 1965-33 1980-35 1995-6 2010-5
1951-1 1966-7 1981-11 1996-13 2011-9
1952-1 1967-10 1982-28 1997-12 2012-11
1953-0 1968-5 1983-17 1998-14 2013-7
1954-0 1969-16 1984-15 1999-8 2014-8
1955-1 1970-12 1985-14 2000-10 2015-9
1956-4 1971-11 1986-8 2001-7 2016-7
1957-0 1972-10 1987-11 2002-6 2017-10
1958-1 1973-8 1988-14 2003-12 2018-10
1959-4 1974-9 1989-9 2004-5 2019-9
1960-4 1975-6 1990-8 2005-11 2020-8
· Note 1: 32 non-lacrosse alumni from ’80 gave in memory of Kevin MacGibbon· Note 2: Every player and manager from the classes of 2022 and 2023 donated, and 2024 is already 15 out of 22.Here is another reason---really a reminder---of why you might want to support this team: unlike Army Lacrosse, our competitors routinely add top players via the transfer portal, are eligible for Naming, Imaging and Likeness, and may soon be able to pay their players directly because of the recent NCAA legal settlement. This past season the top ten teams were stacked with graduate student players: Georgetown had 5, Denver and Hopkins 7, Boston and Virginia 8, Maryland 9, Syracuse 10, Notre Dame 14 and Duke 18. Army has none of these “advantages” and yet was #1 in the Nation in all polls for 2 weeks in ’24. We are not griping; the United States Military Academy is not there to produce talent for the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL); it commissions Army Officers. For the team to achieve such success the old-fashioned way tells you this is a program worth investing in.
Our goal is a $5M cash balance in the endowment investment account. Coach can pull 4% annually so a $5M balance will provide $200K/year to supplement the base budget. That supplement will fund the Director of Lacrosse Operations (Amy Prince), the expanded varsity roster in the absence of a JV team (60 players vice 40 players), team travel by air once a year at Coach’s discretion (the base budget will only fund bus travel), enhance the compensation and thereby retention of the three assistant coaches, and any other unfunded requirements Coach feels are necessary to sustain the team at the elite level.
As of this update our cash balance in the investment so far is $2,830,877; we are more than halfway, 57% to our $5M goal. We have another $862,000 in commitments that are future payments on existing pledges or planned gifts from an estate, will or trust.
There are twenty-two USMA team endowments and although we are the newest, as of the end of ‘23 we rank #6. We are the fastest growing endowment by far and with your help will maintain a steep ascending trajectory. On the current path, we may be #3 at the end of ’24 but as one donor said “we want to be #1”. Teams ranked above us are Gymnastics, Swim & Dive, Hockey, Wrestling, and Sprint Football who started their endowments 5-15 years before lacrosse.
How will we reach our goal?
· We would love to have 100% participation so if you have a teammate who is not in the game, please encourage them to give.
· If you give on a monthly or annual basis, we ask that you continue to do so and consider an increase in your gift until we have met our goal.
· If you have completed payments on a previous pledge, we ask that you start a new pledge and consider an increase to build on the momentum you have created.
If you have payments remaining on an existing pledge, please consider accelerating your payments. Paying earlier will mean your gift earns the 9% interest from the endowment investment and increases the value of the 4% that Coach can access annually.
To add some context, here is a view of various levels of giving:
· 1 donor has given $500K
· 2 donors have given $250K+
· 7 donors have given $100K+
· 15 donors have given $25K+
· 35 donors have given $10K+
· 49 donors have given $5K+
· 215 donors have given $1K
· 127 donors have given $500+
We have launched an exploratory effort to seek donations from Corporations and Foundations. If you know of any Corporations or Foundations we should pursue, please let us know so we can reach out to them.
Here are a few creative ways to give:
MATCHING GIFTS: Please check to see if your employer will match your gift. We have several donors who take advantage of this, and it doubles or even triples the size of your gift. Some companies will even match gifts from retirees and spouses. Please ask your company if they will match your donation before you give. Details on this program are here WestPointAOG.org/matching gift
THE LEGACY SOCIETY OF PLANNED GIFTS Make a planned gift in your will, trust, insurance, or estate. Anyone making an irrevocable planned gift of $25,000 or more becomes a member of the AOG Cullum Society, and the new Army Men’s Lacrosse Legacy Society. Members will be recognized on our endowment website, in our newsletter, and on our future donor wall. If you prefer your gift can remain anonymous. We already have planned gifts of $250K, $100K, $35K, and two at $25K.
DONOR ADVISED FUNDS (DAF) have become a popular and convenient way to make a charitable donation. DAF’s represent 25% of all individual giving in the U.S. You will transfer appreciated shares and receive an immediate tax benefit while avoiding an increase in taxable income or paying capital gains tax. Several of our donors take advantage of this new method to execute a charitable gift. If you are interested see your personal financial advisor, call 845.446.1658 or email giftoperations@wpaog.org You can also reach out to your endowment decade representative.
QUALIFIED CHARITABLE DISTRIBUTIONS (QCD) is another popular method to donate to receive tax benefits and avoid an increase in taxable income. This is a direct transfer from your IRA or other retirement account. This can be especially helpful if you are approaching or already over 73 years old and must take a Required Minimum Distribution. Email plannedgiving@wpaog.org or call AOG Gift Operations at 845.446.1658
How Does the Endowment Investment Account Work?
The AOG endowment, where we invest, has historically earned about 9% total return over the long run. All our deposits and the interest are fenced exclusively for men’s lacrosse, so while we pull 4% annually the rest is reinvested so the endowment balance grows, and we can fund the team in perpetuity.
Please do what you can for the Army Lacrosse Team through your generosity to the Endowment. You can find more information to include the Top Ten Ways to Donate at our website https://www.awplaxendowment.com/
If you have any questions or input, please contact one of your Endowment Committee Decade Representatives below or contact me directly at kd.ltg.ret@gmail.com 703-677-6146
Thank you and Go Army Lacrosse!
Bob Radcliffe ‘65 Lou Kousouris '98
John Connors ‘70 Marko Kostovic ‘04
Charlie Bartolotta ‘78 Justin Bokmeyer ‘08
Frank Giordano ‘83 Brendan Buckley ‘13
Patrick Daly ‘86 Reaves Klipstein ‘17
Chris Prentice ‘92 Bobby Abshire ‘22
Angus Gephart ‘Parents