Garden City Resident Pays Homage to Late Lax Coach

As a college student in Vermont, Garden City resident David Dillmeier was impressed with Saint Michael's College lacrosse coach Paul Schimoler, who led the team from 2004 to 2011, amassing the best record of any Saint Michael's lacrosse coach.

Dillmeier, who played lacrosse himself, graduated in 1991, along with his wife, Allyson (Bradley). When he learned that Paul Schimoler died in February following a short battle with cancer, he decided to honor the coach and his alma mater with an award and a contribution.

Dillmeier, president of Dillmeier Enterprises, has given Saint Michael's a gift to create the Coach Paul Schimoler Player of the Year Award, which will be given annually to the male lacrosse player best showing leadership and commitment, as exemplified, Dillmeier said, by Coach Schimoler.

"Paul Schimoler was a student of the game of lacrosse; he loved everything about the sport," Dillmeier said. "With his passion for teaching the game coupled with his lacrosse knowledge he was able to take the Saint Michael's lacrosse program to new heights. He did this by recruiting and coaching well rounded student athletes who worked hard in the classroom as well as on the lacrosse field. Paul brought the best out of the Saint Michael's athletes and for that we are truly grateful."

Paul Schimoler, who grew up in Upper Brookville, served as head lacrosse coach at Saint Michael's for eight years and ranks as the most successful coach in the program's history. He was named the NEILA Division II Coach of the year in 2011 and founded VTribe, a Vermont-based lacrosse school.

A 1989 graduate of Cornell University, Paul Schimoler was named Ivy League Player of the Year in 1988, and was inducted into the Cornell Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Long Island Metropolitan Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2004.

Patrick Ivory, a 2008 graduate of Saint Michael's who played under Paul Schimoler, currently serves as head coach following a national search.

"I was fortunate enough to be able to play for Coach Schimoler during my career at Saint Michael's College and to work with him as his assistant for the last three years of his tenure," Ivory said. "Coach Schimoler was the ultimate competitor, a truly inspirational figure who gave all he had to his team and his family. He was my coach, friend and mentor and I am honored for the opportunity to try and live up to the standard which he has set for the lacrosse team here. David Dillmeier's generous donation and award will honor Paul's memory for our student athletes for years to come."

The Coach Paul Schimoler Player of the Year Award will be presented to the first honoree in the fall of 2013 at the annual alumni lacrosse gathering at Saint Michael's.