Wooster native leads Poland lacrosse in pursuit of 2028 Olympics

The sport of lacrosse has taken Wooster native Kyle Plumly all over the USA and beyond, first as a player and then as a coach.

Plumly, 45, is working toward what he hopes will become his greatest lacrosse thrill: the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.

The 1998 Wooster High School and 2003 College of Wooster graduate is the head coach of the Polish national lacrosse team.

“Participating in the Olympics is something that every athlete anywhere in the world dreams of,” Plumly said. “Being in a position where I'm legitimately pushing for that (as a coach) is something that's really exciting.”

Plumly helped lead Wooster High to the 1998 lacrosse Division II state championship as a first-team All-Ohio midfielder and the team’s MVP. He then started all four years at The COW before becoming a coach for several years.

Plumly’s coaching stops in his 20s included time as an assistant at Wesley College (Dover, Delaware) and Providence College (Rhode Island). He got out of coaching after several years but missed the sport, and in 2012 he contacted former Wesley coach Christian Zwickert, who had become Poland’s first lacrosse head coach.

“I don’t have any Polish ancestry,” Plumly said. “I was out of coaching for about four years, but I really started to get the itch to get back into coaching. I reached out to (Zwickert), and he got me involved in 2013 in preparation for the 2014 World Championship. I've been involved with the Poland program since then and coached in three World Championships.”

Plumly was Poland’s head “field” lacrosse coach (10 on 10) from 2014-18 and then helped as an assistant. He was named “sixes” head coach in 2024 after it was approved as a medal sport. He travels to Poland at least once each year and will really start ramping things up soon for Olympic training.

Lacrosse will be an Olympic medal sport for the first time since 1908. It was a demonstration sport in 1928, 1932 and 1948. Teams are awaiting more information on a qualifying schedule.

“For high school teams here and men’s NCAA, they play field lacrosse. Its 10 on 10,” Plumly said. “There’s a goalie and nine other players.

“In sixes, they play five on five with a goalie, so that gives you the six. It’s extremely fast-paced. You're pushing fast breaks and cutting off them while trying to score in a little bit smaller space. It’s very similar to basketball.”

Poland will participate in several regional tournaments, starting in October when it competes in Canada in a field that will include five of the six top-ranked teams in the world. Many of the best professional players will be on rosters.

Plumly co-founded a nonprofit called the Polish Lacrosse Foundation to facilitate engagement of Polish Americans and Polish Canadians.

“We run a Polish heritage team, so we can expand the Polish lacrosse community and create a bridge between players in Poland and North America,” he said. “One of the best parts of that experience has been watching the relationships grow off the field."

Everywhere Plumly has traveled for lacrosse, he takes memories of playing under Wooster lacrosse club founder John Madden and Wooster teammates.

“One of the things that I've really leaned on is my experience from Wooster and the lacrosse club and how coach Madden built the program from first grade on up to varsity,” Plumly said. “The program that he created has been a big part of the blueprint that I have taken over to Poland to help create sustainable development.”

Plumly and his wife Jessica live in Charlotte and have four kids ranging in age from 7-11. He works in financial services.

Despite the distance from Wooster, Plumly has kept in close contact with family and friends who remained in Wayne County. He was thrilled to learn the 2025 Generals were the Div. II state runners-up.

If Plumly can reach his dream of stepping onto a lacrosse field for the L.A. Olympics, he will most certainly think back to his wonderful memories growing up in Wooster. He also played varsity basketball for the Generals.

Along with Madden, he praised his dad, Dan Plumly, as his biggest mentor while also greatly appreciating coaches Mark Alberts Sr. and Doug Davault. Although he didn’t play for retired COW basketball coach Steve Moore, the Hall of Famer also was a big influence.

Memorable teammates Plumly listed were Chris Pycraft, Chuck Neyhart, Scott Tucker, Juan Howard and Steve Reed, along with athletes behind them in school like Austin Taylor, Andrew Bender and brother Cameron Plumly. Additional teammates mentioned were Derek Bishop, Danny Riggle, Eric Middleton, Mike Iceman, Zach Kulow, Justin Hamilton, Pete Campbell and Aaron French.

"My thoughts go back to the legendary coaches and great guys I played with,” Plumly said. “It's all the work that we put in, growing up through the lacrosse club, pregame at Mauer Field and bus rides home after away victories.

“The relationships with those guys and the mentoring that I've had from the coaches, it's just all part of a great experience. The Wooster community was special then and still is.”

Those former coaches and teammates will certainly be rooting for the Polish lacrosse team. Plumly will achieve legendary status himself if he can lead Team Poland to Los Angeles.