Cornwall is a household name in lacrosse across the Lower Mainland, not only for their contributions on the floor, but also for their dedication to giving back.
Vancouver Warriors’ defenceman Jeff Cornwall, and Travis, a consultant for the Warriors, have spent countless hours coaching and mentoring young athletes at various levels, from field lacrosse to Bantam, Midget, and Junior A. Coaching and teaching runs in their blood— they’re both teachers, many of their relatives share that same profession, and their father, sister, and uncle all have coaching backgrounds.
For the Cornwalls, developing the next generation of players is a passion and lifelong commitment.
Travis started coaching 17 years ago, and Jeff started shortly after, both of them coaching at their former high school, Dr. Charles Best Secondary, when the team needed a coach. They were inspired by Neil Dinsdale, Jim McIntosh, John Kirkovich and Ray Madison, and Jeff was also inspired by his big brother.
They’ve been influenced by Lacrosse Hall of Famers John Allen and Bill Bradley and many others they’ve met along the way, including Warriors’ General Manager and Head Coach Curt Malawsky, who coached Jeff and Travis in Junior A and in the pros.
Travis coached box lacrosse at various levels with the Coquitlam Adanacs for 10 years. He went back to coaching community and high school field lacrosse for two years before returning to the box where he is currently the Head Coach of the Jr. A PoCo Saints, with Jeff by his side as the Defensive Coordinator.
“Getting to that age of 17, 18 where I could actually start to think back and recognize that some of my coaches were Hall of Famers, champions, and they were all coaching me for free,” Travis shared. “My parents could not have afforded to pay these people to coach me and from that I felt like I wanted to give something back. When you feel so strongly about something, there’s really no other choice but to go do it.”
Twenty or 30 years ago, the opportunity to get elite level coaching in lacrosse was more limited than it is now. Jeff doesn’t feel like the success he’s enjoyed to this point would be possible without coaches he had who stepped up.
“Travis and I, along with a lot of people who we grew up with, were really fortunate to have people who have a lot of experience in the game, had a passion for coaching, come back and volunteer their time for nothing more than a crest on their shirt,” Jeff said.
“So, to have had success in lacrosse, you have to pay it forward and give your time back because I wouldn’t be where I am if people didn’t do that for me.”
All of Jeff’s coaching has been in tandem with Travis and they play to each other’s strengths. Travis is extremely analytical and detail-oriented and runs the offence while Jeff is the player’s coach, running the defence and helping out anywhere he’s needed.
“Often at our Junior A practices, I’ll run the practices with the players, so I’m involved in all the drills, I’m setting the tempo, chirping the goalies, and giving the kids someone to compete against at a higher level,” Jeff said.
When creating a plan for a team, Travis emphasizes the importance of community, culture, and team building. Forever a competitor at heart, he enjoys the challenges of adjusting his coaching style depending on the personnel while holding players accountable and finding ways to motivate them to keep improving.
“It’s really dynamic. In Poco over the last three years, we’ve really been able to kind of build our own culture. Thinking back to my own Junior A career, I try to emulate the things that I really liked and implement the things that I wish we had done,” Travis said.
Jeff says that belief is at the forefront of team culture and is the strongest determinant of team success. He talks about success not always being measured in wins and losses, having gone through a rebuild in Poco when they started with the club, graduating 16 players in a season.
“That season there wasn’t really a focus on winning or losing games, it was a focus on improving and really that’s all we brought from that season into this one and moving forward. Our goals are to constantly get better, not only as lacrosse players, but as people in the community and as young men,” Jeff said.
When coaching as long as Cornwalls have, it is inevitable that you coach a lot of kids, including current Warriors’ defenders Brayden Laity and Remo Schenato.
Photo courtesy of Shelly Fey @boldphotosbyshelly
Laity spent four of his Junior A seasons with Jeff and Travis, helping take his game to the next level and ultimately get drafted in the NLL.
“I learned a lot of things, and over the last two years, they helped me take the extra step, challenging me with individual skill development. For example, Jeff challenged me to really work on the Kyle Rubisch check,” Laity said.
That challenge has served Laity well, being named to the NLL All-Rookie team in his first season and continuing to level up his game in his second year as a professional. Laity said he and Jeff are growing that player-player relationship now that they’re teammates, but it will take some getting used to as he still sees Jeff as his coach.
Laity confirms that when it comes to X’s and O’s, the Malawsky effect has transcended to the Cornwalls and they have similar principles when it comes to how things work on the floor and their preparation being top notch.
“All three of them put a ton of time into the prep that goes along with this. Travis had these Powerpoints, slide by slide of x’s and o’s for the offensive players last year for where they should go for different plays and sent it to the o-guys for them to study, and the amount of time that Curt puts in with film is ridiculous,” Laity said.
Travis learned the importance of planning and preparation from Malawsky, instilling confidence in players from Derek Keenan in Saskatchewan, and he’s picked up things from Shawn Williams that they’ve implemented in his Poco Saints’ practices too.
Travis embraces his role as a mentor for young athletes, understanding the impact he can have on the next generation. He acknowledges that because of his background, black players may look up to him, just as he once admired lacrosse stars like Kyle Harrison, Johnny Christmas, and Chazz Woodson. Though he never met them in person, seeing their success showed him what was possible.
“It’s just being a role model for everyone that I can be a role model for,” Travis said. “I spend a lot of time teaching elementary school lacrosse programs and whether I’m white, black or Asian, or they’re white or black, or Asian, hopefully they are just really into playing the sport and having a good time. It’s a bonus that if any of them can look at me and say ‘Oh, if he can do it, I can do it too’ then I think that’s great.”
Travis and Jeff have had the pleasure of coaching kids who will go on to do incredible things on and off the floor and they say having a small part in that is an honour.
“I just hope that everyone that I’ve had the opportunity to coach or mentor or whatever role I was in in the sport, has had a positive experience,” Jeff said. “Whether or not they’re fans of the game now, playing at the professional level, a beer league, or even just not playing at all, I hope that I was able to make lacrosse a little more accessible to them and little bit more fun.”
The Cornwalls’ legacy in lacrosse extends beyond the wins and championships. They’re giving back and growing the game they love and hopefully inspiring others to do the same.
