SUNY Potsdam Athletics

Alisha Schaad-Waite was possibly the most talented women's lacrosse player to ever wear a Bears jersey. She was a constant threat on the field and rewrote the program's record book in just three years before graduating early in 2008.
 
Some paths seem certain from the outset, but Schaad's coming to Potsdam or even becoming a lacrosse standout were not as sure early on. The Central Square, N.Y. native grew up playing basketball and it wasn't until she attended a clinic in Oswego during eighth grade that she started playing lacrosse.
 
"It just kind of clicked," said Schaad. "It was my best sport athletically, but coming from Central Square and being in Section III, we were not a good team. We went up against West Genny, Fayetteville-Manlius and Baldwinsville. So it was really hard for us to compete with those types of schools."
 
Paul V. Moore High School's girls basketball team, that Alisha and her twin sister Ashley played for, was more competitive. So while Ashley drew attention from the Bears women's basketball staff, Alisha flew under the radar on the lacrosse field.
 
"I actually wasn't looking at Potsdam," Schaad said. "My twin sister was. She wanted to go for teaching. My parents made us go everywhere together. When we were up here she was talking to the basketball coach and I got ahold of Coach Bruce. And out of all the college coaches I talked to, she seemed the most interested in me."
 
At the time, Bears women's lacrosse coach Lauren Bruce was entering her second year. Potsdam's lacrosse program, which began in 1995, started to grow in the late 1990's, but a series of coaching changes had set it back into a rebuilding phase. So Bruce eagerly met with potential recruits that reached out to her.
 
"I went and saw her during the winter of her senior year at an indoor lacrosse scrimmage," said Bruce. "I met her and watched her play for the first time and she was phenomenal. Honestly, within 15 seconds you could see her athleticism. She stole the ball, carried it up and scored. She could do it all. I was excited and felt like she was a rare find. She was from a high school that was struggling to win at that time, but she was still scoring four to six goals a game. She was standing out. I felt really lucky that she was showing interest in Potsdam. It was the first time I felt really excited about one of my top recruits."
 
In addition to the strong interest from a college coach, Potsdam also had the criminal justice major that Schaad was looking for. The only real obstacle was that the two identical twin sisters didn't necessarily want to attend the same college.
 
"I tried to convince her, that yes it's a small enough school that you'll see each other a lot, but it's big enough area that you can have your own life," Bruce said. "In the end, Ashley came out to play lacrosse and Alisha played basketball for a year. So they ended up playing each other's sports. Both were really thankful for the experience to be on the same teams together because that strengthened their relationship as sisters. They were so competitive growing up that they had finally reached the point where they could respect each others strengths and really celebrate each other."
 
When Schaad arrived on campus in the Fall of 2005, she confirmed Bruce's first impressions.
 
"She is ultra competitive," Bruce said. "Probably the most competitive player I've ever had. She's a perfectionist so her expectations for her fitness level and the amount of extra time she put in for shooting and stick work went above and beyond many athletes. She's probably one of the top two hardest working athletes I've ever had. She raised expectations for everybody else, which I think helped the big picture."
 
Schaad's freshman year was a bit different than the other two as she joined Ashley on the basketball team to begin her college career as a two-sport athlete. She came off the bench in 15 games for the Bears that season but was excited for lacrosse season when it arrived.
 
"I liked playing two sports,"said Schaad. "I knew how long basketball season was, but I guess I didn't realize how much of lacrosse season it took up. I missed so much of lacrosse and I felt like that should have been my priority. It was a long basketball season, so I was ready to play lacrosse. I felt growing up, you think of that one season being done and you're ready to transition to the next sport season."
 
Schaad's coach was just as anxious, if not more, for her to finally hit the turf.
 
"Her work ethic and drive to be the best was contagious. I was so excited for that spring because I knew she was just going to be unstoppable," said Bruce. "Teams didn't really know how to handle her."
 
Schaad made her Bears lacrosse debut on March 13, 2006 with two goals as Potsdam was edged by Roger Williams 9-8 in West Palm Beach. She helped the Bears bounce back with five goals the very next day in a 7-6 win over Mt. St. Vincent. She just got better and better from there. By the time the season was over she had compiled 34 goals and four assists to lead the team with 38 points as a freshman. Her quick success didn't go unnoticed. Schaad earned second team All-SUNYAC honors and became the first conference rookie of the year in program history.
 
"I was really shocked when I was voted rookie of the year, because I missed most of my preseason," Schaad said. "I felt like I could have been more prepared. I knew I had a really good season, but I didn't realize that the conference thought I was that good. I just thought I could have been better."
 
While Schaad certainly deserved the honor, it was cemented during the voting at the postseason coaches meeting.
 
"At the time the women's lacrosse coaches would sit down together and advocate for their players," said Bruce. "It's pretty rare when another coach would advocate for someone else's players. You talk about your own and then vote. At the time, Cortland's Coach Cynthia Wetmore, who was a national champion coach for field hockey as well as a successful coach for lacrosse, advocated for Alisha. She spoke up and said 'I don't know how I missed her. You're lucky'. I think that is the comment that got everyone to vote for her. I think her numbers spoke for themselves, but I remember feeling that the Cortland coach was jealous of someone playing for me."
 
Schaad entered her sophomore season more confident and even more prepared after having a full preseason.
 
"Her sophomore year, she was sort of a marked player," Bruce said. "She recognized that toward the end of her freshman year. 'Now I'm getting doubled faster and I have the best defenders on me.' So she knew she was going to be challenged more. I think she loves those types of challenges and rises to the occasion. So she knew she had to put in extra work."
 
Schaad opened 2007 with a seven-point performance (3g, 4a) in an 18-3 victory over Cazenovia and continued to roll from there. When the season ended, the then sophomore had scored 43 goals and assisted on 11 others for a 54-point campaign. The effort earned Schaad her a spot on the All-SUNYAC second team for the second straight year.
 
The following summer, Schaad joined teammate Liz Clohessy on a trip to Prague, Czech Republic to represent Team USA in a tournament organized American International Sports Tours.
 
"We went over there and we lost to Czech Republic within seconds of winning the gold," said Schaad. "We had a really good team. It was a great experience, playing with other girls from all over and all different levels."
 
Bruce felt the trip made Schaad an even better player.
 
"Playing with other standout players gave her more confidence on the field," Bruce said. "So she felt more comfortable taking on more responsibility. She never shied away from being the leading scorer. She took her role seriously and knew she was the finisher as well as draw control player."
 
In addition to her personal success on the field, Schaad was enjoying her entire Bears experience.
 
"We were always laughing in the locker room and on the bus," Schaad said. "We had a really great group of girls. The camaraderie was really great. They were all very welcoming. They were all very hard working. I really enjoyed playing at Potsdam."
 
Before her final season, Schaad added an important ally and resource in Director of Fitness and Human Performance Tanya Hewitt. Schaad sought out Hewitt, who had come to Potsdam in December of 2006, to help her improve her fitness.
 
"She was one of the pioneering lacrosse team members that kind of brought that fitness/conditioning focus to Bruce's team," said Hewitt. "Women's lacrosse has been very focused on that and I would say it started with that group and specifically with Alisha."
 
Prior to Potsdam, Hewitt's background had been working with armed service members.
 
"They have to be fit," said Hewitt. "But when we get to our athletes, it's a choice. So for me there was a learning curve too. 'What's the best way to approach this with a female athlete?' Alisha taught me a lot, in terms of what I could expect from a Division III athlete. She really taught me the athlete's perspective, their commitment level. I experimented a lot on her."
 
Schaad took in everything Hewitt taught her and made the most of her expertise.
 
"She consistently tried to improve her game and would do it anyway that she could," Hewitt said. "We had one-on-one sessions during the summer. We were out on the turf when it was 90 degrees outside. She just strived to be better."
 
Hewitt made a strong impression on Schaad, which resulted in her developing a passion for physical fitness. Schaad's personality also impressed Hewitt who hired her to work in the Shane T. Shaul Fitness Center.
 
"She had a tremendous amount of commitment," said Hewitt. "When she sets her sight on something, that's what she goes for. She's very focused and very personable. People liked her. People responded to her. I love having people working for me that are like this. My regulars knew her face and I could always count on her being Alisha. Positive and motivated. I could tell that she would excel at everything she chose to do."   
 
Heading into her third and final season with the combination of playing experience and in even better shape, Schaad was ready to top everything she had accomplished before and a position change helped ensure that happened.
 
"That year, Bruce switched me from midfield to attack, so I think that helped," Schaad said. "Obviously I was more focused on scoring."
 
On March 19, 2008, Cazenovia played the unwilling victim again as the junior broke out for an NCAA season-best 10 goals in 23-3 blowout of the Wildcats. Schaad doesn't remember much about the game.
 
"When I played, I didn't keep track of my goals," said Schaad. "I want to win. I play to win. I'm extremely competitive. I just tried to do whatever I could to get the W on the board for our team."
 
That's exactly the player that Bruce saw in the field.
 
"She was never counting her stats during the game or making sure she got credit for another ground ball," said Bruce. "She was always in the zone. I'm not surprised she doesn't remember the (10-goal) game. Sometimes she would have to be shown on video, because she didn't know how difficult it looked from the sideline or how difficult it actually was."
 
After a cold North Country and Central New York start to season, the Bears headed to the Pacific Northwest for three contests. Schaad helped her team to a 2-1 record with 19 goals and two assists, including nine in a 17-11 win at Linfield. She enjoyed much more than just the victories.
 
"Going up to Oregon was awesome," Schaad said. "And playing up in Washington (against Puget Sound) we had every single season in one game up there. It was pouring, then snowing, sleeting and then 70 degrees. It was insane. That was a really fun time. We got to hike some cool trails that led up to waterfalls. I really like the extra curricular stuff we did on our trips. I think we all got a lot of time together and that really helped with team building. It was also nice to play against teams you don't play against every single year."
 
After heading back east, Schaad continued to put up big numbers. Her playing career ended on April 27, 2008 with a six-goal, three-assist performance in a 14-10 win over Clarkson University. Despite missing a game, Schaad finished the spring with a program record 71 points on 62 goals and nine assists. Her average of 4.77 goals-per-game was the best in the nation that season and helped her earn second team all-conference honors for the third time. When the dust settled, Schaad had amassed 139 goals and 34 assists for a then program record 163 points.
 
Graduating magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Sociology after just three years and proving herself to be an elite college athlete weren't the only accomplishments she left Potsdam with. She also met her future husband in former Bear hockey player Trevor Waite '07. The two were married in May 2009.
 
After graduation, Schaad used the physical fitness experience she accumulated under Hewitt's tutelage to become a personal trainer. Despite her interest in that field, she always knew her true calling lay in criminal justice.
 
Schaad and her husband moved to Illinois in March 2010. There she served as a domestic violence advocate for several months before becoming a probation officer with the DeWitt County Probation Department.
 
"I've always been geared towards becoming a police officer," said Schaad. "But the more I learned about the criminal justice system, the more beneficial I thought I could be in the probation system. It was more about keeping offenders accountable, but also trying to help them change so they could become productive citizens in the community. It's also about protecting the community as well. So there's a lot to that and I like preparing reports for the court to develop a good picture for the judge and the attorneys."
 
While she worked in probation from 2011-2014, she completed her master's in human services at the University of Illinois at Springfield. In July 2014, she became a qualified intellectual disabilities professional with the Hope Institute in Springfield. At Hope, Schaad works with social workers to create programs for individuals with behavioral or psychological disabilities. She finds the work rewarding and it allows her a flexible schedule to take care of daughter Tierney who was born in Oct. 2014. However, Schaad hopes to get back into probation in the near future.
 
"I would like to become a probation officer on a federal level," Schaad said. "So I'm working on that."
 
She is currently looking into federal positions along with Trevor, who is an officer in U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
 
Schaad has always seemingly had a plan from an early age, whether playing sports, being a student or a professional. Along with her personal drive, Potsdam helped her achieve those goals.
 
"I really enjoyed my time there," said Schaad. "Academically I had some really great professors that helped me figure out a lot about what I wanted out of a career. I just had a great experience. Being an athlete and being in Maxcy, everyone there was so great and helpful. I would definitely recommend Potsdam. I really liked the fact that it was in a small town, small classroom sizes, more hands on. I know that's how I learn better. Overall it's a diverse area. It's great for a four-year student to grow up and mature in that kind of atmosphere."
 
 Schaad left her mark at Potsdam, on and off the field, as well as many friends and fans.
 
"I'm really proud of her, Hewitt said. "To be driven and always have a plan are qualities of a winner. I'm really excited to see her inducted."
 

L-R: Alisha Schaad-Waite and Head Athletic Trainer Lisa Brown.