The Messiah Men's Lacrosse Team has announced the hiring of Nate Bates as an assistant coach. Bates will be joining the Falcons as an offensive coach for the 2008 season. Nate has been the head boy's lacrosse coach since 2006 and assistant athletic director at Heritage Christian High School in Indianapolis Indiana since 2005.

Nate grew up in Cincinnatus, NY and attended Skaneateles High School where he played lacrosse and football for the Lakers and graduated in 1995. Bates then went to Taylor University in Upland, IN where he played football and was a founder, player, and coach for Taylor's club lacrosse program. During his career at Taylor, he earned USILA All-American honors at attack and is currently ranked as the 2nd all-time leading scorer and career assists leader. After graduating from Taylor with a degree in sports management he was hired by Heritage Christian to help with their lacrosse program.

The Heritage Christian Eagles have quickly become a powerhouse under Bates as they are currently ranked 4th in the state after finishing 11-6 in 2007 and placed 7 athletes on the 2007 Indiana Allstate Team, and 1 All-American. Bates was able to put together a strong program boasting a 23-11 (.676%) career record in just 2 years. Nate was awarded coach of the year honors in 2007 by the Indiana High School Lacrosse Association. In addition, Nate has been the Vice President of the Indiana Youth Lacrosse Association since 2006 and a huddle leader with FCA Lacrosse and Football for 10 years.

The Falcons look forward to Bates bringing his years of lacrosse experience and fresh perspective to the offensive side of Messiah's game. In addition, Bates will help out with recruiting future Falcons.

2007-11-17