Daler Alum Brings Lacrosse Down South

When it comes to superstar athletes from North Carolina, figures like Lawrence Taylor, Michael Jordan and Catfish Hunter come to mind.

But if Anthony Meley (Farmingdale High School Class of 1990) has his way, the next crop of sports stars from the Tarheel State will be carrying a lacrosse stick in their hands.

Meley, who put up numbers as a goalie at Greensboro College in North Carolina that have yet to be matched, is helping grow high school lacrosse in the area.

There's an influx of lacrosse talent heading down south that’s not limited to Farmingdale, of course -- the list of coaching assignments in North Carolina include plenty of guys from throughout Long Island, as well as upstate New York and Maryland.

But the Farmingdale area figures prominently in it, and has done so in part because of the reputation the school has had for college recruiters looking for high school lacrosse talent.

“Everyone comes knocking at Farmingdale, we're so good at that school,” he said. “I was offered scholarships a lot of places, but I didn't want to sit for two years, so I took Greensboro.“

Result? Meley was a four-year starter, four-year captain, and holds all the school records as goalie.

Following graduation, he joined the ranks of other Daler stickmen who have contributed to the growth of lacrosse in North Carolina. “Coach John Hayden at Apex High School was from Farmingdale, he graduated five years before me,” said Meley. And of course the Duke University lacrosse coaching staff -- John Danowski, Chris Gabriella, even Ron Caputo, who married a Daler grad -- are all from Farmingdale.

After serving as goalie coach at Greensboro for two years, he moved on to high school coaching, and is now head coach at Greensboro Day School. He’s helped put together a youth league in town, started the Greensboro Select lacrosse travel program for U11, U13, U15 and U19, and last year won coach of the year for the local division.

The Long Island transplant has settled nicely in Greensboro, though he occasionally gets an ache for a good pizza while building up the local lacrosse program.

“Lacrosse is growing tremendously. In 2000 there were only right high school teams in North Carolina,” he said. “Now there’s 87. We play teams ranging from Atlanta to Baltimore.”

Closer to home, he’s seen participation by Greensboro kids grow from 13 to over 250 individuals since the mid-90s. That includes several of his own - his son Michael, who plays on his U13 team, his son Tate on the U19 squad, his step daughter Peyton on a U15 Girls team and his step son Will on U11.

“My goal is, in eight years when these kids reached high school, I want them all going to D-1 school,” he said.