Although he is only in his second season as the UVM men’s lacrosse head coach, Ryan Curtis certainly doesn’t lack experience.Following a brilliant collegiate lacrosse career in which he won a national championship, NCAA Defenseman ofthe Year, and was named an All- American twice, Curtis joined the Boston Cannons of Major League Lacrosse.Curtis is a fivetime MLL All-Star. In 2003, he was named MLL Defensive Player of the Year. Curtis was also named the Cannons’ team- MVP three times along with being captain.After six years with the Cannons, Curtis joined the Washington Bayhawks along with being named the UVM head coach.One would think that handling these dual responsibilities would be tough, but Curtis pulled it off well.”Coaching and playing ended up working out better than I thought,” Curtis said. “It was definitely a lot of travel, but my games brought me to where I would’ve already been on recruiting trips anyway.”After one professional season in his hometown of Washington D.C., in which Curtis played in eight games, Curtis said he is returning to his true lacrosse home, Boston, for the upcoming MLL season.With re-joining the Cannons, Curtis will also be on the same roster as his assistant coach at UVM, Joe Kostolansky. As for the benefits of being a professional lacrosse player along with a collegiate coach,Curtis said he sees many. “I hope to bring real-life experience in the game to my guys,” Curtis said.””The pro game is played a lot differently than it is at the college level, and I try to get my players to play more of apro style.”I think you can see the influence in our style of play.” Curtis has also seen one former Catamount, Peter Hein, get drafted by the Denver Outlaws of the MLL, and he hopes to see more players follow that path, although it is becoming tougher.”It’s really a bottleneck getting into the league now. The pool of players not on MLL rosters grows bigger every year,” Curtis said.Although the MLL and UVM regular seasons don’t overlap, if Curtis was forced to choose, his allegiance is right here in Burlington.”If we were to make the Final Four, the games would overlap, but my responsibility would obviously be with my team here,” Curtis said.With UVM’s season in full bloom and the Cannons’ set to start in May, the loyal and experienced UVM coaching staff will look to lead the Catamounts and the Cannons to the most successful seasons they possibly can.