WENDY PINTA returns as the head coach after three years as the head coach of Hastings Middle School in Upper Arlington, Ohio. While at Hastings, she grew the program from 18 to 52 players. Coach Pinta has been involved in coaching and playing high school lacrosse for over 30 years. Coach Pinta starting playing lacrosse in 1983 as a defender on Thomas Worthington High School's team. In 1985 she helped Worthington to a title when they won the Midwest Schoolgirl's Lacrosse Association Championship. She continued to play lacrosse at The Ohio State University from 1987-1992. While there, she was selected to the Collegiate Midwest Team #1 that competed at the National Tournament in 1989. Between 1987 and 1990 she coached the junior varsity team at Thomas Worthington under the direction of John Galipault.

In 1991 Coach Pinta began her coaching career at Upper Arlington High School at the junior varsity level. In 1992 she assumed the head coaching position. Under her direction, the varsity squad made eight appearances in the Midwest Tournament. The Golden Bears went on to win state titles in 2002, 2004, and 2005 and were ranked nationally by US Lacrosse for the same years under Coach Pinta's leadership. She ended her high school coaching career with a record of 213-78-12 having earned the first-ever OCC Coach of the Year Award in lacrosse for the 2007 season. That same year she was also honored by the Ohio Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association for her 16+ years of service. During her tenure as head coach she served on the National Scholastic All-American and Academic All-American Selection Committees and was a board member of the Ohio Schoolgirl's Lacrosse Association. In 2009 Coach Pinta was inducted into US Lacrosse's "Century Club" which was established to recognize high school coaches of girls' lacrosse who have achieved significant levels of varsity wins in their coaching careers. In the same year, she was also inducted into the Ohio Lacrosse Hall of Fame for her many contributions to the game.

In addition to her high school coaching, Coach Pinta also was instrumental in founding and organizing both the Jones and Hastings middle school lacrosse programs as well as the Upper Arlington Lacrosse Association, which provides youth lacrosse programs and clinics for elementary students. She also co-founded the Ohio Middle School Girls' Lacrosse Association with Laurie Johnson in 1994. More recently, Coach Pinta was the founder and head coach of the Midwestern Force Lacrosse Club, a position she resigned from in June, 2011. During her five years as head coach of MFL helped transition over 200 players to the collegiate ranks. She currently is the director of the Lady Bears Lacrosse Camp which provides instruction to kindergarten-high school players during the summer. This spring Coach Pinta will also coach her daughter's UALA youth team where she hopes to instill a passion of the game to budding, new lacrosse players!

Coach Pinta teaches physical science and honors science research at Upper Arlington High School. She is the mother to two children: David (age 10) and Clara (age 8).

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Before coming to Upper Arlington, Sue Stimmel spent 21 years coaching at the collegiate level, finishing her career with a 198-130 record. Most recently, Coach Stimmel was the Head Women's Lacrosse Coach at the Ohio State University. She was Buckeye's first coach, starting the program in 1996. During her 15 year leadership, the Buckeyes became a Top 20 team, playing in one of the toughest conferences in the country. Ohio State made back-to-back NCAA appearances in 2002 and 2003. The 2003 team won the ALC Championships and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals. Stimmel was named the ALC Coach of the Year and was also honored as the IWLCA Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year. During her tenure, eight Buckeyes were named All-Americans and three went on to play in World Cup competitions.

Before Ohio State, Coach Stimmel coached for six years at Denison University, where she guided the Big Red to a 76-18 record. Denison won five NCAC Championships and made five NCAA appearances. Two of Stimmel's student-athletes won National Player of the Year honors. She was named the IWLCA Regional Coach of the Year in 1991, 1992, and 1994 and NCAC Coach of the Year in 1990, 1992, and 1993. In 1995 she coached the North Team in the annual Division III North/South game. Her coaching career began in 1984 when she was named an assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts.

A native of Boyertown, PA, Stimmel is a 1984 graduate of Temple University, where she received a degree in mathematics. A four-year varsity starter and member of Temple's national championship teams in 1982 and 1984, she was named a Regional All-American in 1984 and was invited to the U.S. team tryouts. Her championship teams were inducted into the Temple University Hall of Fame in 2011. Stimmel was inducted into the Ohio Lacrosse Foundation Hall of Fame in 2000.

In addition to her coaching, Coach Stimmel has been involved with numerous lacrosse committees and organizations. She was the president of the Midwest Lacrosse Association and served as a member of the executive board for the USWLA. She was also the chair of the IWLCA Ethics Committee, chair of the Mid-Atlantic NCAA Regional Advisory Committee, and the Division I Vice-President for the IWLCA. She served on the Tewaaraton Selection Committee and the IWLCA Regional All-American Selection Committee.

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