9/9/2005 - (Riverdale, NY) – Mount Saint Vincent Head Women’s Lacrosse Coach Michael Spinner has been named Head Coach of a team of American College Lacrosse players that will compete in the Down Under Cup this Spring in Australia. The team will represent USA Athletes International, and will face teams from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and several other countries during the annual Tournament that will be held in Melbourne from June 5-17. The Down Under Cup will feature several members of the Australian National team that won the 2005 Women’s Lacrosse World Championship.

“It is an honor to be selected as the Head Coach of the USA Athletes International program, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to go to Australia with what I hope will be a great team. Since I started coaching, it has been my dream to coach internationally, and to not only get the chance but to do so in a tournament such as the Down Under Cup is simply overwhelming,” said Spinner, who will enter his third season at the Mount Saint Vincent helm in 2006. “Ultimately, I hope to have a team that will play great lacrosse and live up to the ideals set forth by the USA Athletes International, and to give this team an experience they will never forget. I’d also like to think we’ll have a team capable of becoming the first American team to ever win the Cup,”

Spinner, who has selected Guilford College Head Coach Matt Grosso to be his Assistant Coach in Australia, will spend the next few weeks performing the arduous task of selecting a team to attend the tournament. Last summer, the USA Athletes International program toured the Czech Republic with a team of Division I, II, and III players who were selected based on what the Czech programs brought to the field. That group included four members of the Mount Saint Vincent program that finished the 2005 season with a 12-4 record in its inaugural season. Spinner said he has a sense for the right kind of player he is looking for to bring to Australia, but ultimately picking the team will prove to be a challenge.

“As Australia showed everybody this summer, you can never be too fit. They run like crazy, they move the ball extremely well, and they are about as aggressive of a team in transition as you’ll ever find. We’re going to target kids who come from programs that employ a similar ‘run and gun’ style so that they’ll be prepared for what they will see next June.” Spinner said. “I am proud to be able to represent the program we’re building at Mount Saint Vincent for this new challenge. I believe I was selected for this honor because I have a group of young ladies who continue to overachieve and bring this program to new heights. I am especially thankful to my team for helping to make my dreams come true as both a College Head Coach and now as a Coach on the International level.”