Bill Elliott (Photo by Danny Fulgencio)
How one dedicated coach made lacrosse accessible to all
Most of the teens didn’t know how to hold a lacrosse stick, much less catch a ball with one.
In 1996, Preston Hollow architect Bill Elliott established a lacrosse program in a state that worships football and only offered lacrosse at select private schools. Only 11 teens signed up for the Hillcrest Lacrosse Association that year. Most of them had never played the sport before.
The motley group was a cross between the teams made famous in “The Sandlot” and “Bad News Bears.” At least, that’s how Colin Cutler, who joined when he was 13 years old, remembers the program.
“We had to play in the high school league as seventh- and eighth-graders,” he says. “We got pounded on pretty hard.”
Now the assistant coach, Cutler has watched Hillcrest triple in size, compete in the state finals and establish a youth program, which he coordinates. The program has changed in two decades, but its dedicated, yet ornery coach has remained constant.
“I like to say I can’t find anyone else, but I enjoy working with the kids, and I like to see them develop,” Elliott says. “Quite frankly, I do it to preach the value of accomplishment through hard work.”
(Photo by Danny Fulgencio)
Elliott’s approach is centered on discipline. The 72-year-old is an ardent follower of rules and routine. During water breaks, players are required to lay their sticks, helmets and gloves on the field in the exact same way. They run a mile for each penalty minute they’ve earned and for every missed practice. The schedule never has changed, and meetings always are held at Denny’s on North Central Expressway, where customers and restaurant staff alike know Elliott by name.
He’s as old school as it gets, Cutler says. But the players respect him, even if they don’t always appreciate the lessons he’s trying to teach them.
“He’s a really good coach,” says Hayden Jackson, a junior at Hillcrest. “He knows what he’s doing. He’s not crazy, but sometimes I think he’s crazy.”
Remington Steele never looked forward to early Saturday morning practice, he remembers, but Elliott always brought him a doughnut to eat afterward as an incentive. After he graduated, Steele became goalie of the U19 Canadian National Team and now is the assistant coach of the Welsh Senior Women’s National Team. Without Elliott, that never would’ve happened, he says.
“Everybody seems to be in the win-now business — immediate success, instant gratification,” Cutler says. “Coach Elliott’s like a tree farmer. He doesn’t really know if anything works for another 10 years.”
Elliott’s coaching career began when he was a high-schooler guiding a six-man YMCA football team. He then signed up to lead youth soccer and baseball leagues that his children joined.
He delved into the lacrosse world on accident. One of his clients complained that his son was athletic but too small to play football. He asked Elliott, who played lacrosse as an East Coast college student, to teach his son the sport.
Although he jokes he should’ve pretended to be clueless, Elliott isn’t the type to say no.
When coaches for educational programs Odyssey of the Mind and Destination Imagination were needed, he volunteered. Lacrosse was no different.
“If they think enough to ask me, I’ll at least give it a shot,” Elliott says.
This year, the team is composed of 24 high-schoolers who come from South Dallas’ Barack Obama Leadership Academy to W.T. White to play on the Hillcrest team. It’s a socio-economically and racially diverse team, something that’s rare in the sport. There have been as many as 33 members from 16 schools, so Elliott has to simultaneously build cohesion and teach fundamentals.
Elliott knows lacrosse is perceived as a “preppy sport” and isn’t accessible to everyone, especially because of the equipment’s high cost. He says he can’t change that, so all he can do is give everyone a chance to play, regardless of what they can afford.
“It’s crazy he’s been so devoted to that, so committed to just making a difference in lacrosse in Texas and so many young men’s lives,” Steele says.
As long as the teenagers are willing to put in the effort, Elliott will be at the Hillcrest practice field at 4:30 p.m. Sometimes it can be taxing, and he says he becomes frustrated with “knuckleheadedness” — players who forget equipment or don’t follow instructions. His patience has paid off, because almost every player in the past 20 years has come back to visit after they’ve graduated.
“Winning is important. Don’t get me wrong. This is Texas athletics,” Cutler says. “But it’s not the primary focus of Bill’s agenda. He cares more about what you do after lacrosse, after high school — how you go into the world and become productive than how hard you shoot a ball.”
Coach Bill Elliott prides himself on discipline and requires Hillcrest Lacrosse Association players to set their gloves, helmets and sticks down in an identical way. (Photo by Danny Fulgencio)
