National lacrosse association names Bulldogs coach Jeff Brzoska ‘Man of the Year’

Friday, Nov. 14, 2025

SALT LAKE CITY — Jeff Brzoska, Judge Memorial Catholic High School’s head lacrosse coach, has been named Man of the Year by the National Interscholastic Lacrosse Coaches Association. 

The award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to high school lacrosse through coaching, local or state coaches associations, and youth programs. 

“It’s awesome to be recognized for what’s going on in Utah,” Brzoska said. “I didn’t accept it personally because there’s so many people that have been working so hard before I’ve even been in this state.”

Four years ago, Judge Memorial CHS couldn’t field a lacrosse team because there was little interest among the students for the sport. Brzoska learned about the program’s struggles while listening to a Utah Lacrosse Report podcast featuring Judge alum and former lacrosse player Matt Ducrazotti, who was deeply unhappy about the situation.

“It really hurt Matt’s heart to … see Judge not have a program,” said Brzoska, who called Ducrazotti and asked, “‘Hey, what do you think if I took over Judge?’” he recalled. “And he said, ‘If you do that, I will be your first assistant, and I’ll work for free.’ My second call was to Walker Bateman, one of my best friends. ... Walker was ‘Absolutely. I’m all in.’”

With that, Brzoska took over the Bulldogs lacrosse team and that first year took an all-freshman team to the state tournament.

“We got to the state semifinals. ... But we got to a spot that no one thought was possible with a bunch of freshmen,” Brzoska said.

That initial success was followed by back-to-back state titles and now, even though Judge lacrosse has moved up into 5A competition, Brzoska fully intends to extend the Bulldogs’ winning streak next spring, he said.

Brzoska’s own lacrosse journey started when he began playing the sport in the first grade in Norwalk, Conn. He went on to play for Norwalk High School and Western Connecticut State University before transferring to the University of South Florida. There, he helped build a club team that eventually became the university’s Men’s Lacrosse Club, which competes in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association.

He came to Utah in 2008 for a ski trip and ended up staying. Two years later, he attended the 2010 state lacrosse championship, one of his first Utah lacrosse games. 

“I went away from that game thinking, ‘God, this is the worst lacrosse I’ve ever seen. The best team in Utah couldn’t beat the worst team in Connecticut,’” he recalled. “I wanted to get involved and help.”

That desire led to a decade of coaching in the Park City youth and high school programs, where he contributed to three state titles. Prior to his position at Judge, he also coached at Corner Canyon High School for three years.

Along with his high school accomplishments, Brzoska has co-founded several Lacrosse club programs, including the Utah Blackhawks, Utah Elite, Utah Prime LC, Utah LC and Utah Summit.

Despite the accolades and interest from other programs, Brzoska has no plans to leave Judge, where his experience has been overwhelmingly positive, he said.

“I love everything about Judge, honestly, everybody from the administration all the way down to the parents and the kids has been an absolute pleasure,” he said. “The fit was right. And it was so much easier [than before] because the administration was so great and the families were unbelievable. … I have zero desire to go anywhere. And I’m exactly where I want to be.”