Ryan Degerdon Assumes Head Coach Role with the Whitby Steelhawks in the Arena Lacrosse League

 By Mark Stehlin

With the start of the 2024-25 Arena Lacrosse League (ALL), the defending champion Whitby Steelhawks have announced Ryan Degerdon as their new Head Coach. He makes the move from his Assistant Coach spot last year.

Steelhawks General Manager, Will Petschenig, reported that 2023-24 ALL East Coach of the Year, Joel Johnson stepped aside for personal reasons. Petschenig said “Joel has such a passion for the game of lacrosse. Seeing him win the ALL Championship last season was something very special and something that I believe he will always hold close to his heart after his father Barry was one of the original founders on the Steelhawks in the 1990s. Joel is the reigning ALL coach of the year and had tremendous success with the Steelhawks organization. “

Petschenig said of Degerdon, “with big shoes to fill, Ryan (Degerdon) is ready to guide this team to another championship. Ryan shares the same passion for lacrosse as Joel, I have no doubt he will do an incredible job with the organization. He is surrounded by an incredible group of players and assistant coach Brad Reed. “

Ryan Degerdon said, “this is my second year on the bench with the club coming off our championship season last year.” Degerdon said, “moving into the head coach role is a natural progression for me and I have the same goal to have a championship environment that Joel helped to build here.”  

Degerdon added, “it’s good having Brad continue as the D coach and the link to the Brooklin Lacrosse Club and the Brooklin Merchants is clear. This gives us a chance to building up that winning culture year-round.”

Petschenig concluded by saying, “we have a young and very talented team led by our captain Liam Osborne and some other key veterans including Lukas Coote in net and Devin Pipher up front. The team is poised for another opportunity at an ALL Championship and to try to be the first team to win back to back ALL Championships.”

On the equipment front, Greg Linton has also moved on. Greg is now the assistant equipment manager with the Ottawa Black Bears of the National Lacrosse League. 

The Steelhawks started off the 2024-25 campaign with a 16-12 win over the Toronto Monarchs on Saturday December 7, 2024 at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre. Scoring for the Steelhawks – Hamley (1,0) Orpana (2,1) Goodchild (0,1) Sinfield (2,0) Hyland (0,1) York (0,2) D Pipher (1,7) Wheller (0,2) Osborne (1,2)  Boissonneault (1,1) Aston (1,1) Woods (1,2) McGregor (1,0) B Kearnan (5,3) Morgan (0,1) – Lukas Coote was in net for the win.

They play on Sunday December 15 and Sunday December 29 on the road. Their first home game is on Saturday January 4, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. when they host the Brampton Express at Children’s Arena in Oshawa, ON.