Kevin Brownell has been playing lacrosse since he was just three years old. A native of Burlington, Ontario, the 36-year-old grew up playing in the lacrosse hotbed of the GTA. When he was younger, Brownell played Jr. A lacrosse with the Burlington. Today, he has come full circle and coaches the Burlington Blaze. In 2023, Brownell and the Blaze won the Minto Cup. It was a moment Brownell will never forget.
“I get goosebumps just thinking about it,” recalls Brownell. “I’ve been very close many times to win championships as a player, and it’s obviously the pinnacle and what you’re striving towards. There was a minute left in the game, we were up by four or five goals, and Dan MacRae, the head coach, I’m giving him elbows, being like, ‘It’s going to happen, it’s going to happen.’ Even at that point, he’s telling me to stop. I think it’s just in our nature, you don’t ever want to get ahead of yourself.”
Coaching and playing lacrosse are two very different roles, but Brownell has used his job as a coach to help fine-tune his play. “It forces me to learn the game a whole lot differently,” he explains. “I’ve played defence, transition, my whole career. When I’m coaching, it’s offence.”
There’s also a new responsibility of leadership and guidance when he’s working as a coach. “If you drop a powerplay, it doesn’t work, the guys are coming back to the bench and all five are staring at you. You’ve got to be on your toes,” Brownell says. “But even relearning that side of the game has helped my defence. Just to understand more what offence is trying to do a little bit better.”
When asked if he could see himself coaching at the NLL level one day, Brownell wasn’t sure. He acknowledges that it’s a hard job to get, too. With only so many teams in the league, it would all depend on if there’s a coaching job available. “I do love coaching,” he admits. “It’s a big commitment. Anything I do, I’d want to be fully invested in it.”
One investment Brownell currently has is the chiropractic physio clinic he and his wife own. “It’s if I could balance that and eventually a family one day,” he explains. “I’ve been gone travelling on weekends for 12 years straight. Continuing that, it’s another conversation, so we’ll see.”
Brownell and his wife, Taryn, met during school. Now, they run their clinic together. Brownell takes care of the bookkeeping and finance, while Taryn specializes in the social media and networking. The most rewarding part for Brownell is working with his patients. “It’s rewarding just to be a part of people’s journeys and help them get back to what they want to do.”
Brownell is typically at the clinic five days a week, four days during the season. It was his own lacrosse journey that played a part in inspiring Brownell to pursue a path as a chiropractor. “Growing up, I had a chiropractor who treated all my injuries,” he recalls. “I always liked the health sciences, medicine, all that stuff. It’s cool because you can stay involved in sports and speaking the language makes it a lot easier to understand when a kid’s got a sprained ankle, and he doesn’t want to sit out two weeks.”
It’s a tale of balancing the things he loves. Between playing lacrosse, coaching lacrosse, and working at his clinic, there’s no shortage of doing the things he’s passionate about in Brownell’s life.
Fans won’t have to wait long to see Brownell play live, as the Black Bears’ inaugural home opener on November 29 is just six days away. Tickets to the big game are available HERE.
