Coach Leslie LaFronz enters her fifth year as head coach of the Ramapo College field hockey team. She brings a wealth of field hockey experience to the program after beginning her playing career in high school in 1977 and starting her career as a coach in 1987. For her coaching efforts in 2004, Coach LaFronz was named Ramapo College Coach of the Year after posting a 9-7 overall record.
Coach LaFronz attended Northwestern University on a field hockey scholarship and graduated in 1985 with a degree in sociology. With Northwestern, Coach LaFronz made four NCAA Division I appearances, one NCAA Final Four appearance, was a three-time Big Ten Champion, and was named to the First Team All-Big Ten Defensive Team. She was also a member of Northwestern’s nationally ranked (4) lacrosse team where she was selected as First Team All-Midwest (‘83-’85) and made three appearances in the NCAA Division I Tournament.
After graduation, she worked on Wall Street for just a few years before leaving to coach at Wayne Valley High School. With Wayne Valley, LaFronz spent 10 years bringing her team from the bare bottom, to the top. In 1996, she was named Conference Coach of the Year and her team conquered the County Championship for the first time. She was also named Passaic County (Star Ledger) Coach of the Year that same year. She received the identical Coach of the Year honor in 2000, 2001, and 2002. LaFronz was most recently named North Jersey Coach of the Year (Bergen Record) in 2002 and won the County Championship for the second time in the school’s history.
Coach LaFronz was a United States Olympic Development Futures Coach and is the owner of Rapid Fire, L.L.C., a field hockey business that caters to the development of youth field hockey players. She also has experience coaching in the National Field Hockey Festival and the National Indoor Tournament, as well as internationally. In 2004, her U19 team won their division at the National Hockey Festival in Palm Beach, Florida. In the summer of 2005, Coach LaFronz coached in Holland and England with the Sport Euro Tour Athletes and in May of 2006, the Ramapo College field hockey team toured and trained in Holland as well. She served as president of the Board of Directors for the North Jersey Masters Track and Field Club, was a member of the Haworth Recreation Commission, and is an active player in the Eagles Field Hockey Club. She has also run in, and finished, the New York City Marathon five times and has completed the Boston and Honolulu Marathons.
Coach LaFronz currently resides in Ramsey, New Jersey.
