Dave Urick, head coach of the men’s lacrosse team, was awarded the 2008 Peter Kohn Award at the annual Fellowship of Christian Athletes breakfast Saturday in Philadelphia. The award, named for Peter Kohn, a friend of Urick’s, and the only team manager ever to be inducted into the Lacrosse Hall of Fame, is granted every year to a member of the lacrosse community who best exemplifies the passage from the Gospel of John: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Urick has amassed a 172-67 record in his 17 years at Georgetown and has taken the team to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 10 years. His team has won the Eastern College Athletic Conference championship six times since the league was formed in 2000. Tell me about the Peter Kohn Award. Well, the FCA . created this award a few years ago, I think, to recognize Peter, and it’s really kind of a neat thing. He’s there every year. He’s challenged a little bit – his hearing isn’t quite what it should be, and as a result his voice tends to escalate, but he’s got a heart of gold. Do you know Kohn personally? Yeah. The gentleman I started coaching with [at Hobart College] was a guy named Jerry Schmidt. Jerry was the gentleman who was largely responsible for getting Peter Kohn involved in the sport of lacrosse. He started a club lacrosse team called University Club, and Peter became their manager. That started what has developed into a tremendous relationship that Peter has been able to nurture over a long period of time with the sport of lacrosse. Peter adopted the game of lacrosse years ago, and lacrosse has been better for it. He would go to camps during the summer, and he would work the camp and he’d be the manager … He’s one of these guys that just has a heart of gold. He would go to a camp and by the end of the week one of the kids would adopt him and take him home. … It was very common. He truly is a unique guy, and for a number of years, there were a few of us that were very interested in getting Peter inducted into the Lacrosse Hall of Fame because he’s had such an impact, but Peter really didn’t fit any of the requirements for the Lacrosse Hall of Fame. You either had to be a great player or a great coach or a great contributor to the game, but some how a number of us kept being as persistent as we could be, and eventually it did happen for Peter. His acceptance speech was tremendous. Anything Peter says is from the heart. He’s a guy, if you meet him, you’re better off for it. He really is a unique kind of person. It’s a little hard to describe him. How was that for you, receiving an award named for such a good friend and someone whom you seem to respect so much? Yeah, well, you know, it’s funny because, I’m pretty sure, you know I didn’t take attendance when I was at [the FCA breakfast and awards ceremony], I’ve probably known Peter as long, or longer than most people, cause I’m old [laughs]. There was a whole cycle of kids that grew up knowing Peter Kohn pretty well ’cause if you went to a lacrosse camp that Peter was at, by the end of the week, you knew and appreciated who this guy was. When you first meet Peter you really don’t know what to think or how to react because he is different, he does have a lot of different mannerisms about him, his voice is somewhat loud at times and crackly cause he doesn’t hear it well. When you have a chance to get to know him a little bit, you get to realize what a wonderful and warm person he is and a god-fearing guy. [The FCA awards ceremony] is a 7 a.m. breakfast now, so a lot of coaches that go to these coaches clinics, they’re coming in at 7 a.m., you know? [laughs] I’ve got that a little behind me now, that’s not my deal anymore. I go to listen to the guys and who they’re going to present the award to, and I’ve known almost all of them who’ve gotten it. It’s kind of a neat thing. So, you were involved with Team USA in 1982 and 1986? Yeah, I was the assistant coach in ’82, and the head coach in ’86, and Peter was with us both times. In ’82, the games were played in Baltimore, which is Peter’s hometown, and in ’86 we were in Toronto … and the players were truly enjoying have him around and he was there for all their needs. … Whatever they needed, Peter always had it. There’s a lot of interesting Peter Kohn stories. Now, Peter’s as innocent as the day is long, you know, but just to give you an example of what Peter’s all about. We’re at the 1986 USA games; I’m the head coach that year and Peter’s with us and we’re in Toronto, the games are in Toronto. It’s the opening ceremonies, and all the teams are out on the field. And at that time it’s just the United States, Australia, Canada and England – it’s expanded a little bit since then. And they have Ms. Toronto, she’s there as the Master of Ceremonies, I don’t know, and she has a skirt on that … there’s not a lot of material there. I mean, it’s a pretty short skirt, and she’s standing right in front of us, and Peter’s there with his camera ’cause he’s always taking pictures. Somehow or another, we’re all standing there and we’ve got our blazers on, and we’re ready to sing the national anthem and Peter’s down on the ground and he’s taking a picture up … [Ms. Toronto’s skirt] and our guys are like, “You know, Pete, I’ll take one of those 8 by 10s.” How long have you been coaching here at Georgetown? [laughs] Let’s say too long. How did you end up at Georgetown? A: Frank Rienzo, then the athletic director, offered [me] a job here at Georgetown many years ago. I never thought I was going to leave Geneva, you know Hobart was where I was coaching. Our kids were born and raised in Geneva. And, you know, I’m from upstate New York, but Frank has a unique, persuasive talent. He made it perfectly clear to me that Georgetown wanted to take their lacrosse program to a much higher level and compete at what they call the national level. But, honestly, the only thing I knew about Georgetown ’cause I’m from upstate New York, not that far from Syracuse, was that, well, I knew that Georgetown was a really fine academic institution, and I knew they had a great rivalry with Syracuse in basketball [laughs].