We hope you’ve all had a chance to read the open letter Ryan Harrington of True Temper wrote to you guys last week. There’s been some great back-and-forth in the comments section, and all of you have really surprised us at how interested you are in the technical details of shaft technology. If you found that a worthwhile experience, we’ve got some more great things in store for you. Read this whole thing, because it’s good stuff…it’s about time you met the people who design and manufacture your lacrosse shafts for you.
Ryan mentioned that True Temper was built in part upon its employees. Let’s take a closer look at the people behind the shafts at True Temper. These guys all work together every day to ensure that True Temper puts out a product that is strong, light and the leader in its class.
The first person to know at True Temper besides Ryan is Neal Haas, the Director of Composites Engineering. Neal comes to True Temper with top-level experience in missile and space shuttle engineering. Neal is a lax nut, as his son played at Rancho Bernardo in CA, and has done some amazing things with composites. Bottom line: if he can engineer a tin can to be launched into orbit or a missile to fly around the world, he can definitely make sure that your lax shaft doesn’t break or bend in your little, girly arms.
The next person you need to know is Max Thouin, the Lead Lacrosse Design Engineer. He’s in China for a year making sure that every shaft made over there is up to True Temper’s absurdly high quality standards. Max meets with the customer (lax brands) to talk about their needs and oversees the entire process, from initial design to final production. Max created the lightest and stiffest bicycle stem on the market while in school and was asked to present the product at a global cycling convention. In his free time, Max enjoys beach volleyball and skiing.
Joe is nicknamed the “silent assassin” around the office because executes with precision but doesn’t make a flashy show of it. He’s the head of the lacrosse program’s engineering and spends most of his time working on the CAD (computer-aided design) for composite and alloy products. If you’ve played lacrosse in the past 10 years, chances are you’ve used a shaft that Joe designed.
As Director of Alloy Engineering, you can pretty much imagine what Greg Cavill spends his days doing. Greg is a guru when it comes to engineering anything tubular out of steel. He has experience manufacturing everything from cycling and automotive parts to large-scale antenna construction for national defense. He has been with True Temper since 2004, and he has made it his mission to make sure that any metal True Temper shafts you play with will exceed all of your expectations.
Armado Herrera is known as the handsomest guy in the entire office. In his time off from being so good-looking, he is a full-time graphic designer at True Temper. He has 17 years of experience doing this stuff, and is the one who makes sure your shafts look cool and that the graphics don’t chip off prematurely. He prides himself on his paint and decal application—yes, there is someone at True Temper dedicated to making sure your shafts look legit. Seems like True Temper truly has every base covered, huh?
The guy who makes sure everything runs smoothly is a former baseball player named Nathan Hill. He played college ball at Ole Miss and Memphis. Seeing the folly in his ways, he turned down a career in the MLB (not really) to be in charge of the lacrosse division’s logistics. He’s tasked with making sure that the shafts are produced in the right places at the right times, and also that they’re delivered on time and to the right people. This is a huge task, but he’s why you’ll never have trouble getting your hands on some True Temper technology.
True Temper has shaft design and production down to a science. This is due largely to the incredibly experienced employees over there. Every single person mentioned in this article was at the top of their game when they came to True Temper—combine all of these forces together and you have some scary potential for producing the best shafts out there. The roles are clearly defined—composites director, alloys director, general director, graphics and logistics, and True Temper has gone above and beyond in hiring this much manpower. In other manufacturing companies, you may find that all of these roles are assumed by only two to three people.
These are a few of the key individuals at True Temper who make sure the lacrosse division runs smoothly. In total, they have 92 full-time employees
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[…] exclusive interview with Program Director Ryan Harrington HERE. Also, while you are at it meet the STAFF that makes it all possible. #dd_ajax_float{ background:none repeat scroll 0 0 #FFFFFF; border:1px […]
[…] that we’ve taken a look at some of the faces behind True Temper Lacrosse, let’s now find out what they’re all about. Lacrosse Playground got the chance to sit […]
[…] that we’ve taken a look at some of the faces behind True Temper Lacrosse, let’s now find out what they’re all about. Lacrosse Playground got the chance to sit […]
Me and a couple of my friends got our hands on some true temper prototypes for the season this year. Great stuff, and its cool playing with something nobody else has
One more thing that I didn’t see mentioned in the last post was shaft length.
Since sticks can be between 40-42 inches. Since the standard head adds about 10″ I always cut my shafts down to 30″ from the standard size of 31″. It would be nice if I could buy a shaft in 30″ and not have to void my warranty.
One more thing that I didn’t see mentioned in the last post was shaft length.
Since sticks can be between 40-42 inches. Since the standard head adds about 10″ I always cut my shafts down to 30″ from the standard size of 31″. It would be nice if I could buy a shaft in 30″ and not have to void my warranty.
One more thing that I didn’t see mentioned in the last post was shaft length.
Since sticks can be between 40-42 inches. Since the standard head adds about 10″ I always cut my shafts down to 30″ from the standard size of 31″. It would be nice if I could buy a shaft in 30″ and not have to void my warranty.
One more thing that I didn’t see mentioned in the last post was shaft length.
Since sticks can be between 40-42 inches. Since the standard head adds about 10″ I always cut my shafts down to 30″ from the standard size of 31″. It would be nice if I could buy a shaft in 30″ and not have to void my warranty.
This is awesome. I love to see the faces behind all of the products. You have players use the gear but it is cool to see the actual people who design it. I’ve always been interested in engineering.
I remember that the TV show “How It’s Made” had lacrosse sticks on it one time and I was disappointed to see that it was a wooden lacrosse stick and not an actual metal shaft.
I’ve always wondered about the manufacturing process and think it would be cool to see some sort of behind the scenes pics or video on how it happens.
I just wish D-Poles weren’t so expensive. I coach at a very low income school so most of our kids are using aluminum d-poles and they just snap all the time. I usually spend my weekends going around different Play-It-Again Sports trying to find used D-Poles. We picked up a couple old Brine F22’s that have dented but haven’t completely bent out of shape yet.
Keep of the great work guys!
-Tim
Tim – thanks for the kind words, you’ll be seeing a lot more of these guys. These guys are the ones that make it all happen.
Good call on the “How It’s Made” idea. I’ve been here 17 months and still amazed at what these guys do and how they do it. I’m definitely going to push this forward and see what we can come up with …
Tim – thanks for the kind words, you’ll be seeing a lot more of these guys. These guys are the ones that make it all happen.
Good call on the “How It’s Made” idea. I’ve been here 17 months and still amazed at what these guys do and how they do it. I’m definitely going to push this forward and see what we can come up with …
Tim – thanks for the kind words, you’ll be seeing a lot more of these guys. These guys are the ones that make it all happen.
Good call on the “How It’s Made” idea. I’ve been here 17 months and still amazed at what these guys do and how they do it. I’m definitely going to push this forward and see what we can come up with …
Tim – thanks for the kind words, you’ll be seeing a lot more of these guys. These guys are the ones that make it all happen.
Good call on the “How It’s Made” idea. I’ve been here 17 months and still amazed at what these guys do and how they do it. I’m definitely going to push this forward and see what we can come up with …
Tim – thanks for the kind words, you’ll be seeing a lot more of these guys. These guys are the ones that make it all happen.
Good call on the “How It’s Made” idea. I’ve been here 17 months and still amazed at what these guys do and how they do it. I’m definitely going to push this forward and see what we can come up with …
Tim – thanks for the kind words, you’ll be seeing a lot more of these guys. These guys are the ones that make it all happen.
Good call on the “How It’s Made” idea. I’ve been here 17 months and still amazed at what these guys do and how they do it. I’m definitely going to push this forward and see what we can come up with …
Tim – thanks for the kind words, you’ll be seeing a lot more of these guys. These guys are the ones that make it all happen.
Good call on the “How It’s Made” idea. I’ve been here 17 months and still amazed at what these guys do and how they do it. I’m definitely going to push this forward and see what we can come up with …
Tim – thanks for the kind words, you’ll be seeing a lot more of these guys. These guys are the ones that make it all happen.
Good call on the “How It’s Made” idea. I’ve been here 17 months and still amazed at what these guys do and how they do it. I’m definitely going to push this forward and see what we can come up with …
Tim – thanks for the kind words, you’ll be seeing a lot more of these guys. These guys are the ones that make it all happen.
Good call on the “How It’s Made” idea. I’ve been here 17 months and still amazed at what these guys do and how they do it. I’m definitely going to push this forward and see what we can come up with …
This is awesome. I love to see the faces behind all of the products. You have players use the gear but it is cool to see the actual people who design it. I’ve always been interested in engineering.
I remember that the TV show “How It’s Made” had lacrosse sticks on it one time and I was disappointed to see that it was a wooden lacrosse stick and not an actual metal shaft.
I’ve always wondered about the manufacturing process and think it would be cool to see some sort of behind the scenes pics or video on how it happens.
I just wish D-Poles weren’t so expensive. I coach at a very low income school so most of our kids are using aluminum d-poles and they just snap all the time. I usually spend my weekends going around different Play-It-Again Sports trying to find used D-Poles. We picked up a couple old Brine F22’s that have dented but haven’t completely bent out of shape yet.
Keep of the great work guys!
-Tim
Really great to see the faces behind the hard work. Looks like a solid group of bros!
Thanks, Jack.