He fits into his school schedule between 9 a.m. and about 2:30 p.m. and often shows up to his last class dressed in lacrosse gear. Then Curley, 22, gets in his car and heads to Hanover Park High School.
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The young coach is trying to rebuild the culture of Park’s men’s lacrosse team, a cooperative between Hanover Park and Whippany Park. The first thing he did after being hired for the top job in late October was institute lunches and dinners for the team, bringing together all the players regardless of their school of origin.
Curley estimated that about 25 of the 30 on the roster are from Hanover Park. The youth program, which includes boys and girls in preschool through eighth grade in Florham Park, East Hanover and Hanover Township, is closer to a 60-40 split.
“We’re going in a whole new direction,” said Curley, who grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, but played ice hockey and lacrosse at Lawrence Academy near Boston.
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“I haven’t called it a rebuilding year, but it is. We want to have a .500 record. We want to win a county game, and a state game if we can. For a lot of teams here in Morris County, that’s a pretty low ceiling. But for where we are, it’s a big step.”
Park finished 8-8 last spring. The program won the Klank in 2021 and the Kimber in 2022, but has not finished above .500 since 2021 and has posted double-digit wins only three times in 10 years. They have won three MCT prelims in the last decade (2018, 2021 and 2022), but no NJSIAA tournament games.
Further: 2026 Morris/Sussex Men’s Lacrosse Team-by-Team Preview Capsules
Although Park started 0-5 this spring, senior defenseman Caden Thomas insisted, “There’s a whole different vibe on the team.” Curley, a former assistant at both Park and Morristown, updated the co-op style, making the offense faster with plenty of off-ball movement. Practice focuses more on improving individual skills and everyone comes together as a team to do game-style drills at the end of each session.
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Curley, a former attacker, has few qualms about donning the pads and jumping, too. Although he said he has only filled in as a goalkeeper so far, as Park only has one on the varsity team.
“Our team wasn’t really excited before games or practice,” said Hanover Park senior attackman Chase Olszweski, the leading scorer as a sophomore and junior. “With a younger coach, he gets more involved. He understands that one player can impact the entire team and increase the energy. He is the main source of energy. Everyone surrounds him and it builds from there.”
Park Regional senior Chase Olszweski (21) runs with the ball as Verona junior Ryan Demars (41) defends during a game at Hanover Park High School, April 8, 2026, East Hanover, New Jersey, USA.
Curley has been able to relate to the players on a different level, as it hasn’t been more than four years for what they’re going through.
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Are you trying to figure out college recruiting? Curley has been there and done that. Balance two sports simultaneously? Curley also did the same in high school. Is juggling classes and practice a challenge? He is doing it right now, along with his players.
Curley, who will graduate from Drew in May, is even trying to determine his career path. He earned a substitute credential from New Jersey so he could train, but his long-term plan was to work on Wall Street, not be in a classroom.
“He’s still our coach, but he’s more like us than any coach we’ve ever had,” Thomas said. “It makes everyone want to play for him more… We want to win for him. That makes it a lot easier.”
This article originally appeared in the Morristown Daily Record: Young Park boys lacrosse coach rebuilds culture across district