Jason Klimczak addresses his players at the spring Lacrosse banquet. photo courtesy of Jason Klimczak
Head Lacrosse coach accepts full time position at TJ.
TJ’s head lacrosse coach, Jason Klimczak, was born in Chicago and moved here when he was ten. He has officially joined the TJ community this year as the pass room monitor. However, next year he will be a full time social studies teacher, replacing Jon Poole who will be taking on a new role in the building. As a teacher, Klimczak will be able to expand interactions with students beyond just the pass room and the field.
Klimczak’s lacrosse journey began at Highlands Ranch High school, where he played and then eventually began coaching the JV team. He was able to coach his own teammates and even his own brothers, accumulating a decent amount of experience. Not long after that, he set out to Thomas Jefferson to build a lacrosse team from scratch. As the season came to an end, TJ lacrosse had a record of 10-4 with three different students in the top five league individual stats. Klimczak also began juggling a JV team for the first time. “It was an interesting year because it was our first year with the JV,” Klimczak explained, “Trying to manage all the players, and all the equipment and moving parts for both the teams was something I wasn’t totally used to. So the systems that worked this year, are the systems I’m going to use for next year.”
Klimczak applied for the job three years ago, and since then has been the head coach. However, Andrew Skari offered him a job as the passroom monitor as a way to get Klimczak more involved in the school. He was happy to accept, and since then has become a full-fledged member of the TJ community. With this new teaching position he will be able to make many more connections with both the faculty and the students.“I wear my TJ stuff everywhere.” Klimczak, “[The community] is awesome.” The students enjoy his presence as well. “He is a really good coach that gets along with the players really well,” said Jake Downing, “He made us a playoff contention team in less than three years.”
Besides lacrosse, Klimczak’s other passions include hanging out with his wife and family, playing video games, and of course, watching The Walking Dead every sunday night. He is also a Metallica fan and is anticipating their upcoming concert. The Spartan community looks forward to seeing more of Klimczak starting in the fall.
