By Owen Fallon

Zack Schroeder, Collegiate’s new assistant athletic director, has had quite the upbringing centered around various sports, but his specialty has been lacrosse. His long list of achievements includes guiding the US Naval Academy lacrosse team to three NCAA tournament appearances, receiving multiple military awards, and earning a degree in economics and sports administration. 

Zack Schroeder, newly hired assistant athletic director. Photo credit: Collegiate School.

Born and raised in Long Island, New York, Schroeder was the middle child of three brothers, and sports were seemingly the backbone of the family growing up. Street hockey, backyard football, basketball, and volleyball were just a few many popular childhood activities for the Schroeder brothers. As Schroeder’s father played college lacrosse at the University of Massachusetts, lacrosse was taken particularly seriously in the household. All three brothers went on to play lacrosse in college. The decision for Zach to attend the Naval Academy was easy for him, as he took his official visit in 2004 on the third anniversary of 9/11 to watch a football game. 

Schroeder attended the Naval Academy Prep School in Newport, Rhode Island for one year before playing lacrosse for four years at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. When asked about his time in the Navy, he responded with “it was tough, there were a lot of days when it was really hard, but I’m so grateful that I went there… I wouldn’t trade it for anything, and would do it over again if I could.” Schroeder was an extremely impactful player for the Midshipmen, as he piled up 65 ground balls, 23 forced turnovers, 7 goals, and 6 assists in 48 games as a defensemen for Navy. During his time there, the Midshipmen won two Patriot League Championships, as well as three appearances in the NCAA tournament. Lacrosse aside, Schroeder also met his wife of twelve years at the Academy.

After graduating with a degree in economics and being commissioned as a naval officer, Schroeder attended six months of training to become a naval logistics officer in Newport, Rhode Island. A year later he was sent to Norfolk, Virginia for his first sea tour, where he spent two years. Following his tour in Norfolk, he was transferred to Guam for another two years, which he noted to be an “awesome experience.” After some surgeries and other medical-related issues, Schroeder was officially medically retired from the service in 2015. Schroeder has earned a host of military awards, including the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for superior performance and two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals for outstanding performance. During his five years of military service, Schroeder was completely isolated from the game of lacrosse and noted that “he didn’t have much interest in getting back into the sport.” His transition back into the sport was a slow one. 

Schroeder leads the Maryland men’s lacrosse team out onto the field. Photo credit: Zack Schroeder.

Following his service, Schroeder moved to Texas in 2015, where he worked for a fuel company. In Texas, he began his transition back to the sport by coaching high school lacrosse with a fellow Naval Academy graduate. Realizing his passion for sports again, he decided to start the process of earning a masters degree in Sports Administration from the University of Miami. Luckily for Schroeder, the Director of Operations job opened up for the Maryland men’s lacrosse team in 2016. John Tillman, the head coach for Maryland, was an assistant at Navy when Schroeder played there. This helped him get the job, despite not having much direct experience in that field. After receiving the job in January, Schroeder was thrown into the work as the season started only a month later. Maryland went on to win the national championship that year. Schroeder worked for three full lacrosse seasons, but a call he received in November 2019 forced him to consider his options. The head coach at Navy called him and offered a similar job to what he was doing at Maryland. After some back and forth, Schroeder decided to take the job at Navy. 

Unexpectedly, Schroeder now had to deal with the football team and the lacrosse team, whereas previously he was just managing the lacrosse team. This grew hard on him and his family, as almost every weekend of the year he was gone with a team. With two kids, a daughter born in 2012 and a son born in 2016, settling down at a high school like Collegiate was an easy decision for his next career move, and he started at Collegiate in the fall of 2021. 

Schroeder also noted his passion for helping younger student-athletes get to the next level, a task much more easily accomplished in high school than in college. In the future, Schroeder hopes to eventually be the head Athletic Director of a school but feels he has time until that comes around. In addition to being an assistant athletic director at Collegiate, Schroeder has returned to coaching and is an assistant coach for the boys varsity lacrosse team.