Titans’ Burke building lacrosse hotbed in North County
Zack Burke recently was in the Poway High gymnasium when he took a minute to admire the CIF San Diego Section Open Division championship banner the boys lacrosse program produced last season.
“Hey, we made it in the gym,” he thought.
Then he turned around and his eye caught the plethora of section championship banners the powerhouse wrestling program has amassed over the last 40-plus years under the leadership of legendary coach Wayne Branstetter.
“I was in awe,” said Burke, who is in his fourth season as coach of the Titans. “They won the title almost every year from 1976 and on. I think they missed one year, but that year they were state champs.”
Yes, there is a long, long way to go before the lacrosse program can even enter the same universe of accomplishment the Poway wrestling program has been camping in for what seems like forever now. While Burke would love to live in that realm one day, he has other aspirations.
Ones that go beyond high school and involve the sport of lacrosse rising to the top in Southern California.
“When I came here, my goal was to make lacrosse important,” said Burke, who moved to the area from Baltimore, the nation’s mecca of lacrosse. “My plan is for Poway to be my last high school coaching job. I really want to start a college program here in Southern California. I can go and recruit. I know every hot spot in North America with Canada included.”
But Burke may not have to go very far to find stars due to what he is doing here. His job outside of coaching at Poway High is as the director of Southern California for 3D Lacrosse. He has helped boost feeder programs in the Poway, 4S Ranch and San Marcos areas. It is a huge reason for the Titans’ success and Burke expects Del Norte and San Marcos to reap the benefits soon.
“I was the head coach at a private school in Baltimore and we didn’t have feeder programs,” Burke said. “I couldn’t get my hands on kids until they got to my school, so when I moved to California I thought I would do it backwards. From the youth up.”
Several players on the Poway lacrosse team started working with Burke and 3D Lacrosse before their freshman year. Burke also had a huge helping hand from Scott O’Donnell, the former Poway lacrosse coach who coaches youth lacrosse in the area.
The result has been a handful of players earning college scholarships and the entire area quickly becoming known for its talented lacrosse athletes. Poway will send off at least five players to colleges next year and likely more.
“3D Lacrosse brings it all together,” Burke said. “We have the curriculum to teach other coaches how to coach. We have every drill for every age on a video … We kind of grow lacrosse players.”
Burke might be staying put at Poway for at least a little while longer. There are very few college lacrosse programs in Southern California. Whittier College is one of the most popular destinations for lacrosse stars in the area who want to stay local. Cal State San Marcos has a club team.
Burke hopes colleges will begin to start programs soon, especially because the talent is there for the taking.
“We are building a hot bed in Poway, San Marcos and Carlsbad,” he said. “If you just got the secondary players, you would have an instant line of studs here.”
Burke doesn’t mind waiting for the right opportunity. And in the meantime, the Titans are becoming one of the top programs in all of California. Poway entered this week with a 9-1 record and ranked No. 4 in the state and No. 12 in the nation by MaxPreps.
The Titans will face St. Ignatius in San Francisco on Friday at 3 p.m. in what is considered a huge matchup. The Wildcats are ranked No. 8 in the state.
“Inside Lacrosse has us ranked in the top 10 on the west, which is huge,” Burke said. “If we beat St. Ignatius, we are going to be on the national stage. I think we would get a little love from USA Today.”
And it would be another reason for people to take notice of lacrosse on the west coast, Burke’s No. 1 goal since the day he moved here.
“I know the plan that I have and at this point it is going in the right direction,” he said. “We just have to keep plugging away, one day and one month at a time. Just keeping bringing attention to lacrosse out here on the west coast. Just another step in the master plan to get lacrosse to be a big-time sport here in Southern California.”