As he enters Mars High Hall of Fame, lacrosse coach Bob Marcoux wants to share the praise
As his September induction into the Mars Athletic Hall of Fame looms, boys lacrosse coach Bob Marcoux is quick to deflect the attention to others.
“It’s a tribute to all the people who have had a hand in our success,” Marcoux said. “We’ve had very talented players, very knowledgeable assistant coaches and the community and parents have been very supportive.
“My induction is a sign of what lacrosse means to athletics at Mars.”
The Planets have claimed the WPIAL Class 2A title in each of Marcoux’s seven seasons of leading the program. They’ve played in the state final four years in a row and became the first team from western Pennsylvania to win a PIAA boys lacrosse crown in 2022.
He was an assistant at Mars when the Planets won their first district title in 2016.
“When I took over, our goal was to consistently compete for WPIAL championships, but as we got into it, we realized that competing for state titles was a realistic goal,” Marcoux said. “That said, we have exceeded my expectations.”
Marcoux was exposed to lacrosse at an early age.
“I grew up in Ithaca, N.Y., and Cornell University was winning NCAA championships in lacrosse in the 1970s,” he said. “I used to go to youth lacrosse camps at Cornell and played attack for Ithaca High School.”
Marcoux went on to play midfielder at Carnegie Mellon University and moved to the Mars area in 1999. When Vince Grieco spearheaded the launch of Mars youth lacrosse in 2009, Marcoux took notice.
“They were doing it the right way,” he said. “They built it from the ground up, started out with third- and fourth-graders and focused on the kids learning and forming a love of the game. I couldn’t have been more impressed.
“I had been out of the game for 20 years and missed it.”
Marcoux joined the coaching staff for the youth teams and later served as a varsity assistant under head coaches Justin Karam (2014) and Ed Monahan (2015-16). The Planets had already established themselves as a perennial playoff team, reaching the postseason in their first year of varsity competition in 2013. The 2016 team’s season ended with a WPIAL-title victory over Hampton. The Planets were a Division II team that season and only Division I teams went on to the state playoffs.
The next year, Marcoux’s first as head coach, Mars reached the Class 2A state semifinals, beginning the program’s current run of seven straight trips to the PIAA tournament.
While the program has accomplished much in its 11 years of existence, the 2022 team supplied the crown jewel with its 9-6 win over Marple Newtown in the state championship game. Following the season, Marcoux was named National Federation of State High School Associations Section 2 Lacrosse Coach of the Year.
“We were a very deep team that season, had 17 or 18 guys who regularly saw playing time. Four of them — Austin Cote, Quinn Fuller, Josh Seipp and Wesley Scurci — were seniors who signed to play at big-time Division I college programs,” Marcoux said. “That team was motivated after we lost to Allentown Central Catholic in the state final the previous year.
“We also brought in assistant coaches who were innovative with their schemes and were able to better take advantage of the talent we had. You need to surround yourself with smart people and let them do their job. I’m a huge advocate of practice, and we’ve always had a meticulous practice plan in place.”
His background and passion for lacrosse keep Marcoux coming back year after year.
“It combines the strategy of basketball with the physicality of football and hockey and you need the athleticism that you see in soccer,” he said.
Marcoux’s assistants this past season included Kyle Savage, Matt Grus, Stephen Latona and Will Scurci.
