He was new to private school, and the bullying was getting out of hand.
This time, nine-year-old Alex Cade decided to fight back – to stand up for himself, prompting a physical altercation between him and a classmate. When one of the teachers monitoring recess saw this, he pulled Cade into his office, who assumed he was in trouble.
Instead of a dreaded punishment, however, the teacher saw Alex’s toughness and potential. He asked the new kid to play on the school lacrosse team – an invitation that changed a boy’s life.
“His name was Temple Grassi and he was an All-American midfielder at University of North Carolina,” Cade said, sharing his story via email. “He mentored me and put me on a great path for success while in school. He came to my college games with my other high school coaches my entire time in college.”
Cade’s foray into lacrosse began at Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland, a private school for boys grades 3-12. Little did he know, it would lead to a successful collegiate, professional and coaching career – at Coronado High School – as well as the founding of a sports business that he runs today, Adrenaline Lacrosse, based in San Diego.
At Landon, Cade played goalkeeper under Robinson Bordley, who was inducted into the USA Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2020.
After high school, Cade played at the University of Notre Dame under head coach Kevin Corrigan, who remains in that position today for the Fighting Irish and was recently inducted into the Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association.
“I had some great coaches at every level that I learned a lot from and respected,” Cade said. “I wanted to follow in their footsteps.”
He found himself in Coronado after a group of Navy fathers recruited him to coach at the turn of the century. Now in his 25th season at the helm for Coronado High, Cade is third in California history in career victories, according to Lax Numbers. His Islander team won the CIF Championship in 2012, and Cade was named CIF coach of the year.
“I love and respect the community of Coronado,” Cade said. “All walks of life show up on our field. I love the fact that it’s a small school where we get the opportunity to develop and coach the kids … It’s meaningful to me that we are building great young men, teammates and citizens as our priority.”
Cade proceeded to play professional lacrosse after Notre Dame, primarily for the San Francisco Dragons, a now-defunct franchise that was once part of Major League Lacrosse. Cade played until he was 33, and since then has worked full-time as CEO of Adrenaline Lacrosse. His company manufactures equipment and apparel and also sponsors lacrosse events and teams such as the LaxDawgs, which Cade helps coach.
Despite not meeting directly through lacrosse, Cade’s wife, Jada, also was a Division I player at William and Mary. Jada has coached at the Coronado Lacrosse Club, a program that develops young girls in the sport, for over 20 years.
Cade said his coaching philosophy today is almost opposite of what it was as a player.
“I was young when I started and made many mistakes in the quest for winning a championship,” he explained. “Back then, I put that first. I had it all reversed. Perspective of time, empathy, humility as I got older taught me that each player is an individual with unique circumstances. The priority is taking each player in consideration, understanding their strengths, building upon them to create a collective will and atmosphere. Building them up as a cohesive team of great teammates and citizens … The result is championships.”
Cade added that success is a product of focus, work and tenacity.
“Prepare harder than anyone and trust your preparation on gameday so you can just compete,” he said. “Surround yourself with great people who raise you up and not bring you down, and be relentless in your pursuits.”
