YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – Young Harris College director of athletics Randy Dunn announced today the addition of Kirk Rogers as the director of lacrosse.
Rogers will be responsible for starting the Mountain Lions’ intercollegiate varsity men’s and women’s programs that will begin play in the spring of 2013.
The Mountain Lions were accepted into the NCAA Division II membership process in July 2011 and are now in Candidacy Year One. YHC, which became the 14th member of the Peach Belt Conference earlier this month, currently competes at the intercollegiate level in baseball, softball, and men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, soccer and tennis.
“I am very excited that Kirk has accepted our position for the director of lacrosse,” said Dunn. “His enthusiasm for the sport and commitment to develop a total student-athlete will be a perfect fit for YHC.”
Rogers comes to Young Harris after spending the past two seasons as an assistant coach for Shorter University’s men’s lacrosse program. With the Hawks, Rogers worked primarily with the offense while also coordinating recruiting and the academic success of Shorter’s lacrosse student-athletes.
“I am honored to accept the position of Director of Lacrosse at Young Harris College,” said Rogers. “The explosive growth and development of the college in recent years and the continued vision of President Cox and Coach Dunn is very impressive as they continue to make Young Harris College a premier athletics and academic institution. Young Harris is a great place to live, learn, and play lacrosse and I look forward to recruiting quality student-athletes to form the foundation for our programs.”
Rogers played collegiately at NCAA Division II Lees-McRae College where he was a four-year starting attackman. In his senior season, Rogers helped lead Lees-McRae to the program’s first-ever postseason victory and only appearance in the final four of its conference tournament.
He graduated magna cum laude from the Lees-McRae Honors Program, earning a Bachelor of Science degree with majors in mathematics and history.
In the summer of 2007, for his play as an underclassman, Rogers was invited to play in the Prague Lacrosse Cup, an international tournament that his AIST team would go on to win. For his athletic and academic achievements, Rogers was named an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District III At-Large first team member in 2008.
After graduation, Rogers spent one year in the United Kingdom as a Local Development Officer through the English Lacrosse Association. He worked for Bath Lacrosse Club raising awareness throughout the area while coaching numerous youth and adult teams, including a stint as a player-coach with the Bath Senior Team. He also served as head coach at the University of Bath.
Rogers is currently enrolled in the Shorter University Professional Studies Program, working toward a Master of Arts degree in Leadership.
About Young Harris College
Young Harris College is a private, baccalaureate degree-granting college located in the beautiful mountains of north Georgia. Founded in 1886 and historically affiliated with The United Methodist Church, Young Harris College educates, inspires and empowers students through the highest quality liberal arts education. Long known for nurturing students during the first two years of college, Young Harris College received accreditation in 2008 to grant bachelor’s degrees. The College currently has approximately 900 students across four divisions—Fine Arts, Humanities, Mathematics and Science, and Social and Behavioral Sciences—and plans to increase enrollment to 1,200 over the next few years. The historic campus in Young Harris, Ga., is currently undergoing major campus improvements to accommodate the College’s growth, including recent completion of a 200-bed, LEED Silver-certified residence hall, Georgia’s first higher education facility north of Atlanta to achieve this certification, a 57,000-square-foot, LEED-certified recreation center, the second higher educational recreation facility in Georgia to achieve this certification, and a 148-bed, apartment-style residential village. In 2011, the College was granted candidacy for NCAA Division II athletics. For more information, visit www.yhc.edu.