Pat Merrill’s life in lacrosse has been a 28-year journey from Orangeville, Ontario, to San Diego, California, with many twists and turns along the way.

Merrill was born in Montreal and was 11 when his family moved to Orangeville. His parents were former athletes and encouraged him and his younger brother Brodie to participate in sports.

“I’d never heard of lacrosse,” Pat recalls. “It was hockey in the winter and soccer and baseball in the summer but all my hockey buddies were playing box lacrosse so I signed up. The first summer, I played all three sports.”

Box lacrosse became the summer sport the Merrill boys preferred once they were chosen to play on rep teams.

“I was really into hockey at the time and felt lacrosse was the best cross-over sport,” Pat said. “I loved it so much that’s all I played in the summer from then on. Us being new to town, it helped us meet new friends. Orangeville is such a hotbed of lacrosse. We immersed ourselves in that culture.”

Lindsay Sanderson was one of the first coaches to make a lasting impression with the Merrills. Sanderson also coached Pat at the summer indoor junior level. A Northmen teammate was playing NCAA field lacrosse player at Mercyhurst and talked up the school to Pat, who enrolled at Acadia University on Canada’s East Coast. He’d never played field lacrosse.

The summer after his first year at Acadia, his Mercyhurst pal convinced a coach there he had to scout Pat in a junior game. Done. An offer followed and Pat transferred to Mercyhurst. He refers to it as one of the best decisions he ever made. He spent three school years in Erie. Lifting weights and dryland training were things that had not been part of his involvement in lacrosse back home.

“Being able to focus on improving as a player, while balancing academics, that experience was the main reason I was able to play pro afterwards,” he said.

He played summer box as an adult in the city closest to Orangeville —Brampton — and won Canadian championships. His decision to leave the Excelsiors and join Toronto Rock players Colin Doyle, Glenn Clark, Pat Coyle and Kim Squire in playing for the Coquitlam Adanacs in British Columbia’s summer league caused another U-turn in Pat’s life in lacrosse. Those Rock players recommended him to Rock coach Les Bartley, who made Merrill the No. 1 pick in the 2002 NLL entry draft.

He helped the Rock win NLL titles in 2003 and 2005, and his father, Peter Merrill, founded The Hill Academy in 2006.

A change in Rock management led to roster upheaval and Pat’s exposure in an expansion draft. He wound up with the New York Titans in 2008. He and his brother had begun coaching at The Hill, an independent high school catering to student-athletes, in Toronto’s northern suburbs.

“I contemplated retirement from the NLL,” he said. “I was approaching 30 and had already won championships in Toronto. But I went to New York and it was a real crossroads in my career. In hindsight, it was one of the best things that happened to me. I had an amazing experience playing for coaches Adam Mueller and Ed Comeau. They were great mentors to me and great influences on my career.”

Matt Vinc, Rory Smith and Bill Greer were some of the Canadians commuting with Merrill to Titans games. Casey Powell and a crowd of other Americans who grew up playing field lacrosse were Titans, too. They made it to the indoor pro league championship game in one of their two seasons of existence in New York and a third in Orlando.

“We had a blast,” he said. “It rejuvenated me as a player. I was really disappointed when they broke that team up. Playing in Madison Square Garden was amazing. I had a leadership role there and I got recruited by Team Canada.”

The Merrill brothers won silver at the 2010 World Championship (field) in Manchester, England, and gold at the 2011 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship in Prague.

“Those were eye-opening experiences,” he said. “I was in my 30s and never expected to play for the national team. Getting to know and play with guys at that level was a dream come true. The pride of playing for my country … those experiences made me a better player and, moving forward, a better coach. Dave Huntley coached the team in Manchester and Ed Comeau and Derek Keenan were coaches in Prague. Dave was one of greatest field lacrosse minds to ever come out of Canada. I have so much respect for the type of coaches and people they are. As an older player you appreciate those things more.”

He wound up back with the Rock in 2011. Troy Cordingley and Terry Sanderson, who had coached him when he played summer ball for the Excelsiors, were running the Rock bench now and were quick to bring him back to Toronto. Pat earned his third NLL title with the Rock that year.

So now it’s 2014. Pat and Brodie are coaching lacrosse at The Hill. Brendan Bomberry is a student. His grandfather, Scott Smith, is president-GM of the Canadian Jr. A champions, the Six Nations Arrows, and they’re looking for coaches.  Bomberry suggests they talk to Pat, who has made such an impression on him at The Hill. Pat is hired. In the last three years, he’s been head coach for 2015 and 2017 Minto Cup triumphs.

“I owe a lot to them for giving me that opportunity,” Merrill said.

 He continued to play for the Rock, who made it to the NLL final in 2015. That success prompted him to return for 2016. He played four games before tearing the ACL in his left knee and missing the rest of the season. He tried a comeback in 2017. He got into two regular-season games. Setbacks kept him out of the lineup. He took on the role of veteran mentor to younger players off the floor. His last NLL game was the NLL East finale against Georgia. He said he contemplated trying to extend his playing career this season but had a revelation as a spectator at a Rock game early this season. The size and speed of the new generation of players had him in awe.

“I was happy not to be out there on the floor,” he said.

He had contacted Seals president Steve Govett when the new NLL team was announced, and four or five months of talking resulted in the announcement last week of Merrill’s new lacrosse adventure as GM-coach of the new Seals.

“I always wanted to continue in the sport as a coach,” he said. “I’m happy to be moving into that and leaving my playing career behind. I’ve admired Steve’s career in the NLL and I think I can learn a lot from him. Being able to put together the team from scratch appeals to me. It’s a dream job for me. And San Diego will be a unique and excellent market. It’s a hungry sports market, especially since the NFL’s San Diego Chargers left. It will be an appealing market for players, too.”

The first General Manager and Head Coach in San Diego Seals history. Welcome to San Diego, @PatrickMerrill9!  pic.twitter.com/MFVYWPYJUO

— San Diego Seals (@SanDiegoLax) April 3, 2018

The Hill continues to build winning teams. NLL players Kyle Jackson, Reilly O’Connor and Luc Magnan have joined Pat, Brodie and their sister Tory as coaches.

Pat will commute to Seals games for the 2018-2019 season while continuing recruiting and coaching at The Hill. A future in California beckons for his family. Pat, 39, and Robin, who is a teacher, have a five-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son.

“It’s going to be a challenging and busy time. I’m really excited about it all.”

It all started with the move to Orangeville and his introduction to a sport that has become such a big part of his life. More chapters remain to be written.