Nicholas Armstrong said he wanted to go into teaching because of the connection he had with his coaches. Now, he has the opportunity to lead a varsity high school lacrosse team for the first time in his career.
Armstrong will coach Manhasset High School’s men’s varsity lacrosse team this coming spring, a team that he has helped reach two state championships during his time as an assistant coach.
Armstrong has been an eighth-grade social studies teacher in the Manhasset School District for 12 years, which is also when his coaching career began.
He spent his first season coaching middle school lacrosse before being asked to join the high school’s varsity coaching staff as its defensive coordinator.
Nassau County High School Athletics Hall of Fame coach Bill Cherry brought Armstrong onto the staff. He said he was thankful that Keith Cromwell kept him on the staff when he took over as the program’s head coach in 2017.
Then it became Armstrong’s turn after Cromwell decided to go coach at St. Dominic.
“When the job opened, I thought about it for about a day or two, spoke with the other coaches within the program and some people in the school and my family, and they were all telling me to go for it,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong said he would have been satisfied continuing to be an assistant coach, but that the opportunity fell into his hands.
Armstrong said when he was an assistant coach, he was the only district employee on the staff. He said that he dealt with a lot of the team’s paperwork in the past and that he would frequently see players throughout the school building and be a recognizable face for athletes.
Armstrong said that Cherry was a more offense-oriented mind, so he had been in charge of calling defensive plays and “giving us the best chance to go out and beat our opponents.”
During his time on the sidelines, Armstrong assisted the team to two state championships in 2022 and 2023. The team has fallen in the county championship game in each of the past two seasons.
The new coach said he has deep respect for Cromwell and Cherry and wants to continue the program’s legacy.
“We just kind of try and keep the ball rolling in the same direction and hold on to the same traditions and values,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong comes from a background laden with athletics and academics.
Armstrong said he grew up playing lacrosse in Kings Point, where he also played football. He played NCAA Division I lacrosse at Marist University, where he was a multi-year starter and two-time captain.
Armstrong was a multi-year MAAC All-Academic selection and made the All-MAAC Second Team during his senior year. That year, he led the team with 24 caused turnovers, a total that ranked him fourth in the conference and 26th in the NCAA.
Armstrong was also invited to the Denver Outlaws of Major League Lacrosse’s training camp before the 2013 season.
While playing college lacrosse, Armstrong was also studying to become a teacher. He said that he fell in love with the idea of teaching after calling some of his favorite people growing up, his own teachers.
“One of the big reasons why I wanted to become a teacher was because my favorite teachers as a student when I was in high school were coaches, and there was something about them, the way that they were able to connect with me in the classroom and then on the field,” he said. “I really felt like they were able to get the best out of me and my friends.”
Armstrong said he loves both teaching and coaching, as he can help kids the way his teachers helped him.
Armstrong said his coaching experience stretches past the district as well. He and his wife have three children who are all involved in sports, with Armstrong saying that at least one of them is a coach for all of their kids’ teams.
The new head coach said that this year’s team features a strong group of players on both sides of the ball and an experienced and hungry senior class.
“The goal is for us to get back to that county championship game and be on the right side of it once it’s all said and done,” Armstrong said.
