Dave Huntley (1957 – December 18, 2017) was a Canadian

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

player and head coach and general manager with the Philadelphia Wings of the

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United Stat ...

. Huntley played collegiate lacrosse at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

where he helped his team win two

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

. In 1979, Huntley was honored with the

McLaughlin Award The Lt. Donald MacLaughlin Jr. Award — also known as the "Don MacLaughlin Award" — has been given annually since 1973 by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) to the NCAA's most outstanding college lacrosse midfielder. ...

, which is presented annually to the nation's most outstanding

college lacrosse College lacrosse is played by student-athletes at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. In both countries, men's field lacrosse and women's lacrosse are played at both the varsity and club levels. College lacrosse in Canada is ...

midfielder. His son, Kevin Huntley, was also an All-American at Johns Hopkins. Huntley was also the first ever head coach for the Toronto Nationals. David Huntley died December 18, 2017 after suffering a heart attack while attending a box lacrosse game in Delray Beach, Florida.

Playing career

Huntley grew up in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

playing

box lacrosse Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in Canada in the 1930s, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's official ...

, an indoor version of the game which is played most commonly in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Huntley was recruited to play

field lacrosse Field lacrosse is a full contact sport, full contact outdoor men's sport played with ten players on each team. The sport originated among indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native Americans, and the modern rules of field lacrosse were initiall ...

for the

Johns Hopkins Blue Jays The Johns Hopkins Blue Jays are the 24 intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Johns Hopkins University, located in Baltimore, Maryland. They compete in the NCAA Division III, except for their lacrosse teams, which compete in Division I. T ...

, playing from 1976 to 1979, and helping the team win two consecutive national championships, in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

and

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. While playing with the Blue Jays he was named a three time All-American, was awarded as the nation's most outstanding midfielder in 1979 when he was presented with the

, and played on three straight NCAA finals teams. He finished his college career as the leading goal scorer at Johns Hopkins among midfielders. Huntley also played internationally and was a member of Team Canada’s gold medal winning 1978

World Lacrosse Championship The World Lacrosse Championship (WLC) is the international men's field lacrosse championship organized by World Lacrosse that occurs every four years. The WLC began before any international lacrosse organization had been formed. It started as a ...

team. Huntley and his son Kevin Huntley, also a former All-American at Johns Hopkins, are the only father–son duo to win two national championships, and are only the second pairing to score 100 or more goals each in their respective Division I lacrosse careers.

Coaching career

Huntley's career in professional lacrosse began in the inaugural season of the ''Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League'' (a predecessor of the

) in 1987 when he served as the Philadelphia Wings general manager and coach. As general manager, he recruited lacrosse stars Mike French, John Tucker, and John Grant, Sr. to play for his team. During the season, due to team injuries, Huntley stepped down from his coaching position and joined the team as a player. In two games, Huntley scored three goals. In subsequent seasons, Huntley worked in various capacities for the

Baltimore Thunder The Baltimore Thunder were a member of the National Lacrosse League from 1987 until 1999. They were based in Baltimore, Maryland, and won the first Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League (later the National Lacrosse League) championship in 1987. After th ...

Pittsburgh Crossefire The Pittsburgh CrosseFire were a member of the National Lacrosse League during the 2000 NLL season. They were based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The franchise started out as the Baltimore Thunder before moving to Pittsburgh. After a single season ...

Washington Power The Washington Power were a member of the National Lacrosse League during the 2001 and 2002 seasons. After the inaugural championship in 1987 in Baltimore (as the Thunder) through 1999 and an unsuccessful stint in Pittsburgh (as the CrosseFire), ...

and

Colorado Mammoth The Colorado Mammoth are a box lacrosse team playing in the National Lacrosse League. The Mammoth have played at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, since the 2003 season. They are owned by Stan Kroenke, who is also the owner of the Colorado Avalanch ...

. Huntley has been an assistant coach, at times, for

Loyola College in Maryland Loyola University Maryland is a private Jesuit university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established as Loyola College in Maryland by John Early and eight other members of the Society of Jesus in 1852, it is the ninth-oldest Jesuit college in the U ...

, the

Baltimore Bayhawks The Chesapeake Bayhawks were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Annapolis, Maryland since 2010. They played in the greater Baltimore metro area beginning with the MLL's inaugural 2001 season, as the Balti ...

Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This was followed by a four-team playoff f ...

, and four times for Team Canada in

competitions. Huntley served as Assistant Coach for the

2006 World Lacrosse Championship 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

gold medal winning Canadian team. In 2008, Huntley returned to Philadelphia to be Head Coach of the Wings. The 2008 Philadelphia Wings season marked the first season in five years that the Wings made the playoffs, ending the longest playoff drought in the history of the franchise. Following the 2010 season, Huntley was also named General Manager of the Wings, following Lindsay Sanderson's firing. Prior to the

2009 MLL season The 2009 Major League Lacrosse season was the ninth season of the league. The season began on May 15, 2009 and concluded with the championship game on August 23, 2009. Milestones & events Rule changes Major League Lacrosse announced some major ...

, Huntley was named the head coach of the expansion Toronto Nationals in

. He and the Nationals went on to win the 2009 MLL Championship with a 10-9 win over the

Denver Outlaws The Denver Outlaws were a Major League Lacrosse professional men's field lacrosse team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They began playing in the MLL in 2006 as an expansion team. Since joining the league, the Outlaws have played in the ...

. The following season, the Nationals went 3-9 and missed the playoffs. On January 12, 2011, Huntley resigned as head coach of the Nationals. He served as an offensive coordinator at Calvert Hall. He coached the

Atlanta Blaze The Atlanta Blaze were a professional men's field lacrosse team in Major League Lacrosse (MLL). The Blaze became the ninth team in MLL as an expansion team for the 2016 Major League Lacrosse season, 2016 season and played its home games at Atlanta ...

for one and a half seasons in late 2016 and 2017 before his death.

Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huntley, David 1957 births 2017 deaths Canadian lacrosse players Johns Hopkins Blue Jays men's lacrosse players Lacrosse people from Ontario Major League Lacrosse coaches National Lacrosse League coaches Philadelphia Wings players Sportspeople from Toronto Atlanta Blaze coaches Loyola Greyhounds men's lacrosse coaches Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Chesapeake Bayhawks coaches

Playing career

Coaching career

Awards

See also

References