Foundation Academy starting swimming, lacrosse programs

The task at hand for Chad Sundemyer, Jen O’Neil and Victor Rodriquez is huge, though expected.

A few months after Foundation Academy Athletic Director Lisa Eaves announced a handful of new sports would kick off in the upcoming school year, the search for new coaches began.

Building a program from scratch is no easy feat, but the trio of coaches will look to do just that, as Sundemyer and O’Neil take over the swim program while Rodriquez takes charge on leading the lacrosse program.

“I’m excited — it’s a great challenge,” Rodriquez said. “It’s really up my alley. … I’m a church planter and a pastor, so starting up ministries is what I do anyway. I like being able to come in from the ground level and build something up, especially with lacrosse — I love coaching it and I’ve played it ever since I was a little kid.”

The coaches are faced with a few challenges, like finding funding for equipment and a space to hold practices, but they aren’t worried about finding students to participate.

The biggest thing is getting possible swimmers to dedicate themselves to the sport, Sundemyer said.

“(In the) first year I’d just like to get as many of these student athletes to commit the next 12 or 14 weeks to trying something new,” said Sundemyer, a Missouri native who has four kids attending Foundation. “(We) just have to get some participants and build from there each and every day.”

While many of the athletes might be familiar with the sport, most of them — as Sundemyer said — will be taking on the sport with fresh eyes.

With that comes growing pains, but the trio of coaches aren’t deterred by that at all. In fact, it’s a welcomed feeling.

“It gives us a really big chance to develop not just swimmers from their freshman year, but also swimmers that are coming from middle school,” said O’Neil, who coached swim at Bishop Moore Catholic High School. 

“(In the) first year I’d just like to get as many of these student athletes to commit the next 12 or 14 weeks to trying something new. (We) just have to get some participants and build from there each and every day.”

— Chad Sundemyer

That same mentality reaches from the pool to the field, as Rodriquez looks to take advantage of starting up a new lacrosse program. 

“Especially when you’re dealing with sports, you’re able to teach all the best habits right from the beginning, and you’re able to set a program in motion the way you’d like to see it,” Rodriquez said. 

While both programs have a lot of similar obstacles to overcome, there’s one thing that the swim program will have to deal with on its own: not having a practice space on campus.

With Foundation not having a pool, the swim team will have to hold its practices at SouthWest Aquatics in Winter Garden, where they’ll practice from 5:15 a.m. to 6:45 a.m. Monday through Friday.

“It’s going to be a little tricky for the kids — they have to be at school by 7:30 a.m., but its a great pool and we are just very happy that SouthWest Aquatics gave us that chance,” O’Neil said.

Growing pains aside, those students who try out for their new sports will be taken care of.

O’Neil — a Puerto Rican native — has been in the sport since she was 5 years old, and swam on the national team, having participated in the Pan American Games. Meanwhile, Sundemyer also has a long history in swimming, which saw him become a four-year swimmer at the University of Tampa.

Out on the lacrosse field, the Long Island-born Rodriquez has spent the last few years coaching local clubs like the Ocoee Bulldogs and West Orange Outlaws.

“We’re all in — I’m looking to make it as exciting as possible,” Rodriquez said.