Rochester, NY ... Gary Gait ends one career today to focus on another, as one of the greatest players in the history of professional lacrosse leaves to concentrate his coaching career. The 43-year-old Gait departs after playing 18 seasons in the National Lacrosse League and three with the Rochester Knighthawks.
"The franchise has been great to me. They asked me to play and I did, and now it's time to focus on coaching the Syracuse Women and the Hamilton Nationals."
The 43-year-old Gait enters his fourth season as the head coach of the Syracuse University women's lacrosse team. In the past three seasons, he has led the Orange to a 47-15 record and two trips to the national semifinals (2008 and 2010). Gait was named the second head coach in the history of the Syracuse women's lacrosse program in August 2007. In his first season at the helm, he was named the Northeast Region Coach of the Year by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA).
This summer, he will team up with Regy Thorpe as an assistant coach with the Hamilton Nationals of Major League Lacrosse.
"I am excited to be coaching on the men's side again and being back in the MLL," said Gait, who will work alongside Thorpe who brought him out of retirement in 2005 to join the Rochester Knighthawks.
Gait was acquired on October 15, 2008 from the Colorado Mammoth for forward Andrew Potter and Rochester's first-round draft picks in 2009 and 2010. He signed with Rochester two weeks later and on January 11, 2009 he made his long anticipated return. It was worth the wait for Knighthawks fans, as Gait netted five goals, including the 600th of his career, on opening night.
"It was a very special moment to have Gary a part of the Knighthawks family for a couple of seasons," said Thorpe. "He touched the hearts of the Knighthawks fans. He was the best to ever play the game." | 
