Coaches

Regy Thorpe

Head Coach

Regy Thorpe completed his first season as a Major League Lacrosse head coach in 2011 by guiding the Hamilton Nationals to a second-place finish and a berth in the playoffs. Hamilton advanced to the championship game, falling by one goal to the Boston Cannons.

Thorpe returned to the MLL for the first time since the 2008 season when he helped the Rochester Rattlers win the 2008 Steinfeld Cup. Thorpe spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Rattlers, which included a stint as a player/assistant coach during the 2006 season. He also played for Rochester for six seasons (2001-06). The job with the Nationals is his first professional head coaching job.

Thorpe has an extensive playing and coaching background. Thorpe coached the Junior “A” Six Nations Arrows for three seasons. In his first season, the Arrows won the 2007 Minto Cup, which is the national junior championship in Canada. In 2009, he led the Arrows to the OLA Junior “A” Finals. He is currently in his second season as the Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Syracuse University, where he works under lacrosse icon Gary Gait. Gait and Thorpe will now walk the sidelines together in Hamilton.

Thorpe spent 15 seasons with the National Lacrosse League’s Rochester Knighthawks and in 2008 became the first player to also serve as a team’s general manager. It’s on the field, however, where Thorpe made a name for himself that placed him among the greatest names in National Lacrosse League history.

What’s more impressive is that the Elbridge, NY, native spent his entire career in Rochester, where he stands as the team’s all-time leader in games played (193), loose balls (966) and penalty minutes (385). Thorpe also played in every postseason game in franchise history (23), guiding Rochester to six title games and 13 playoff berths in 14 seasons. More importantly, Thorpe is the only player in team history to play for both championship teams: 1997 and 2007.

The defensive stalwart was also the team captain in 2008 and served as an alternate captain from 2005 to 2007. He also wore the “C” after Mike Hasen was injured in 2007 and captained Rochester to its second championship. Thorpe also won numerous team and individual accolades along the way, winning the team’s Unsung Hero three times and earning the Connors & Ferris Comeback Player of the Year twice. In 2005, he was also named to the Knighthawks’ All-Time Team.

Thorpe arrived in Rochester in 1994 after playing his college lacrosse at nearby Syracuse University (1992-93). He was one of the co-captains on the 1993 team that captured the Division I National Championship. That season, he earned Honorable Mention All-American honors.

Gary Gait

Assistant Coach

Gary Gait, arguably one of the greatest names in lacrosse, joined the Hamilton Nationals as the team’s assistant coach in 2011. Last season, the Nats finished in a tie for second place with a 7-5 record and earned their second playoff berth in three seasons. Hamilton advanced to the championship game, falling by one goal to the Boston Cannons.

Gait has achieved unprecedented success as coach and a player. In his playing career, he has won 11 championships, which includes three National Lacrosse League titles (1991, 1994-95), three Major League Lacrosse titles (2001-02, 2005), three Mann Cups (1991, 1997 and 1999), the Heritage Cup (2004) and the International Lacrosse Federation (ILF) World Championship (2006). Further, Gait captured three NCAA championships with the Syracuse University Orange men’s team.

Gait played 18 seasons in the National Lacrosse League, three of those with the Rochester Knighthawks. The Victoria, BC, native ranked second in league history in goals (635), fourth in assists (529) and second in points (1,164). His playing career has taken him to Rochester, the Detroit Turbos, Philadelphia Wings, Baltimore Thunder, Pittsburgh CrosseFire, Washington Power, and Colorado Mammoth. In 1991 with Detroit, he was named the NLL Rookie of the Year, and later in his career he was selected the league’s MVP a record six times, including five in a row (1995-99). He was also an All-Pro 15 straight seasons and led the NLL in points and goals seven times and won three league championships, leading the Turbos to the title in 1991 and the Wings to consecutive titles in 1994 and 1995. In 2006, he was selected as one of five charter members of the league’s Hall of Fame.

His other playing accomplishments include helping the Victoria Shamrocks to the Mann Cup in 1997 and 1999, winning the 2004 Heritage Cup, and leading Canada to its first world title since 1978 at the 2006 ILF World Championship in London. Playing on the international stage for the last time, Gait saved his best for last, tallying four goals in the ILF title tilt to lead the Canadians to a 15-10 upset of the U.S. squad.

After retiring, Gait has achieved the same success as a coach. In two seasons as the head coach of the Colorado Mammoth of the NLL, he led the Mammoth to two playoff appearances and the 2006 Champion’s Cup. The following year, he coached Team Canada to the 2007 World Indoor Championship.

Gait is currently in his fourth season as the head coach of the Syracuse University women’s lacrosse team. In the past three seasons, he has led the Orange to a 47-15 record and two trips to the national semifinals (2008 and 2010). Gait also served as the assistant women’s lacrosse coach at the University of Maryland and was a part of seven national championship teams (1995-01).

Jason Johnson

Assistant Coach

Jason Johnson is in his fourth season with the Nationals organization. The Six Nations native had a busy summer in 2011 both on and off the field. At the professional level, he helped the Knighthawks return to the Champion’s Cup Playoffs in May and then moved on to begin his fourth season as an assistant coach with the Hamilton Nationals.

The Nats, like the Knighthawks, finished near the top of their league and advanced to the postseason. The Nationals went all the way to the MLL Finals. Johnson has been with the team since its inaugural season in 2009, when he served as an assistant coach with the Major League Lacrosse championship team.

Johnson also packed up the family and flew to Germany for the 2011 FIL Lacrosse Under-19 Women’s World Championships. His daughter Tawnie scored 10 goals and added four assists in her international debut with Team Canada. She netted a hat trick to help Canada defeat England in the bronze medal game.

If that wasn’t enough, Johnson served as the offensive coordinator coach for U-19 Team Ontario at the 2011 Field Lacrosse National Championships. While working under Head Coach Clancy Almas, the team captured the gold in Burnaby, BC.

Additionally, he was the head coach for the Six Nations U-16 and U-19 men’s field teams. The U-16 team won gold this summer as well. He also was the assistant coach for the Senior “A” Six Nations Chiefs (MSL) from 2008-09. In 2009, he was the head coach for the Six Nations U-19 women’s field teams as well. Johnson also assists with minor box teams throughout his community. In addition, he was a player/coach on the Six Nations Senior Men’s Field Team in 2008 that won Ontario Championship and the 2009 team that won the Canadian Field Nationals.

He was the offensive coach for the Six Nations Arrows from 2004 to 2006 and helped the team win three consecutive Ontario Championships and advance to three Minto Cup Finals. He was also the offensive coach at the Indoor World Games for the silver medalists: the Iroquois Nationals. Further, Johnson was an assistant coach for the Six Nations Arrows In 2009 and 2010. In 2012, Johnson will serve as one of the assistant coaches for the Iroquois Nationals U19 team at the 2012 World Championships in Turku, Finland.

As a player, Johnson spent his entire career in the Six Nations lacrosse system, working his way through minor, Junior “B”, Junior “A”, Senior “A” and the Cam-Am ranks. He was a teammate of Cam Bomberry on the 1992 Minto and 1994 Mann Cup championship teams.

In his junior career, he notched 53 goals and 70 assists in 59 games. In his senior career, he recorded 27 goals and 36 assists in 68 games. He also collected 27 goals and 30 assists in 36 postseason contests. Johnson was drafted in the third round of the National Lacrosse League Entry Draft by the Syracuse Smash.

Brian Hobart

Assistant Coach

Brian Hobart enters his first season with the Nationals organization. The Penn Yan, NY, native has worked as a professional scout for the past three seasons with the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League.

The 41 years old has also served as the head lacrosse coach at Penn Yan Academy and has held that position since 2004. He was an assistant at Penn Yan from 1992 to 2003 and coached Nationals star goalie Brett Queener in high school. Hobart has coached 17 High School All-Americans and fourth professional players during his tenure.

His coaching accomplishments also include serving as the head coach of the Western Region Empire State Games from 2005-06. Hobart also was a featured speaker at U.S. lacrosse national convention in 2010 with Queener on goalie play.

Hobart played lacrosse for the Onondaga Redhawks of the Iroquois Lacrosse Association from 1998-2003. He spent his college playing career on the gridiron with the Canisius College football team. He played college ball for four seasons and was the team captain his senior season.

Brian currently lives in Penn Yan with son, Bowen. He works as a Youth Counselor at Penn Yan Elementary and will become Dean of Students at Penn Yan Middle School in September 2011.

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