After coming off a disappointing, 8-12 season,  The boys lacrosse team  looked to bring in a new head coach. As the team played up in a division last year they will play back down to their original division, the Waterman division. This new coach, Derek Zacatenco, is hopefully going to give a spark to the program as the season starts.. 

Coach Z, who had an extensive high school career and achieved many accomplishments,went on to play at the collegiate level.  After playing at the collegiate level Coach Z started his collegiate coaching career at Fairleigh Dickinson while he was completing his masters degree. Coach Z had also taken a coaching job as an assistant coach and offensive coordinator at Randolph high school. Prior to coming to Bernards he was the assistant coach at Vassar college. As well as having collegiate and high school coaching experiences, Coach Z continues to play at a high level for the Mexico National teams (Field, Box, and Sixes ). Coach Z is a coach for the Club lacrosse team, Mad Dogs, where he is the Head coach for the class of 2031 North, East Elite, and National Gold teams. 

Coach Z shares “In those roles, I oversee team operations, maintain communication with players and families, and work to develop high-level offensive systems built on consistency, vision, and teamwork.” Coach Z shares, “All of those experiences have helped shape my approach to building strong programs and developing players both on and off the field.” 

Coach Z is now the head coach for the Bernards boys varsity lacrosse team. Hired this year after the departure of the previous coach. Coach Z shares that “ What really drew me to Bernards High School was the opportunity to be part of a program and community that values both athletics and academics.” Coach expresses his constant excitement to grow this Bernards lacrosse team going forward and continuing to make it great. Coach Z saw an opportunity “To come in, establish a strong culture, and help develop student-athletes not just as players, but as leaders and teammates.”  For this upcoming season, Coach Z shares “We’ll focus heavily on player development, fundamentals, and building chemistry so that we’re improving week by week and putting ourselves in a position to be competitive every game.” In the long term, Coach Z says that he wants to establish Bernard’s as a program that competes for championships. 

For Coach Z’s first year of coaching, he knows that they have a strong schedule coming up so one of his goals is “To show consistent progress throughout the year.” 

Captain Logan Stevens shares that “There’s always some uncertainty going into a year with a new coach. But it has been great to get the season started. Practice has been filled with energy and the boys have been buzzin” This Bernards team is looking forward to the season and the energy has been high.