Bio

George Sheppard is entering his fourth year as head coach of the men’s club lacrosse team (it should be mentioned that this year’s squad, which began playing against other universities in exhibition matches in the fall of 2005 -- and gained entrance to the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association last year in 2007 -- still has five vets from that original jaunt south to play McMaster). Sheppard, who earned both an honours B.A. and M.A. from Laurentian back in the 1980s, also holds a Ph.D. in Canadian History from McMaster. Since 2004 he has taught undergrad courses in Education and Schooling, Management and Lesson Planning, as well as Pro Year classes in Social Studies, History and Civics for Laurentian’s English-language School of Education. In the fall, George also runs a popular lacrosse activity course for the School of Human Kinetics.

George’s first exposure to coaching lacrosse occurred back in the mid-1970s when – still only a midget-aged player himself - he was given the reigns of the Novice rep team from the Timmins Minor Lacrosse Association. Since then he has coached a variety of box teams (both house league and rep, from tyke to bantam, from D to A level) for the North Toronto lacrosse association, Toronto Beaches, and the Greater Sudbury Lacrosse Association. His first real exposure to field lacrosse began back in university in the mid-1980s where he played three seasons for the McMaster team (he now coaches against his former linemate Eddie Comeau who still leads the Mauraders). While pursuing his doctorate, Sheppard was an Attackman on the Ontario University field lacrosse championship team in 1987 (which was the first of just 5 times where Brock was denied the Baggataway Cup over the last two decades). After that Sheppard played for a series of field club teams from Mimico and Toronto and began a near-decade long job of coaching the Upper Canada College Varsity lacrosse team in 1995. Over the next 9 years the team managed three CISSA championships beating perennial independent school powerhouses like St. Mikes, Ridley College, and St. Andrews.

Since returning to Northern Ontario in 2004, George has been the coaching director for the local box lacrosse association, and all three of his children have played in the GSLA (Max has played rep lacrosse, and both Maude and Ellen were part of the GSLA’s first all-girl squad back in 2005). George also continues to organize and play in the GSLA’s Master’s box lacrosse league each spring and summer (and helps run a Sudbury Playground Hockey League Atom team in the fall and winter) and – for two glorious non-coaching weeks each year – he enjoys time with his wife Kim at their cottage in Killaloe