Panther City Lacrosse Club Announces Multi-Year Extension for Head Coach Tracey Kelusky

FORT WORTH, TX (June 29, 2023) – The Panther City Lacrosse Club has agreed to a multi-year extension with Head Coach Tracey Kelusky, the team announced today.

“Today marks another great day in Panther City Lacrosse Club’s short history,” Panther City Lacrosse Club General Manager Bob Hamley said.  “I’m thrilled to have Tracey continuing to lead our group for years to come. The leadership he provides made this extension our utmost priority this off season. He has instilled a one-of-a-kind culture that we all are very proud of and we know our club’s best days are ahead of us with TK leading the way.”

Kelusky has been at the helm of Panther City Lacrosse Club since the team joined the NLL as an expansion franchise in 2021-22. In the team’s second season, Kelusky led the team to their first double-digit win campaign, tallying a 10-8 record and qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history by finishing as the third seed in the Western Conference. As a team, Kelusky oversaw a power-play unit that finished fourth in the NLL and recorded the second-most power play goals (44).

Kelusky was instrumental in the development of Panther City’s young duo of Jonathan Donville and Will Malcom. Donville won the 2023 NLL Rookie of the Year Award, after finishing his rookie campaign leading all rookies in points (90) and assists (67), while leading the NLL with 29 power play assists. Will Malcom finished the season with 96 points (35G/61A) and became the first player in Panther City Lacrosse Club history to record a 90+ point season.

For his efforts in the 2021-22 NLL season, Panther City’s inaugural year, Kelusky was named the 2022 Les Bartley NLL Head Coach of the Year. The Peterborough, Ontario native led Panther City to more wins than the previous two NLL expansion clubs’ first seasons combined, as Panther City won seven games in their inaugural season, including a five-game winning streak. Kelusky was the first head coach of an expansion team to win Coach of the Year honors in the team’s first season since Derek Keenan won the award for the Portland Lumberjax in 2006.

“I am extremely grateful to continue along this journey with our group of players and the Panther City staff,” Head Coach Tracey Kelusky said. “I have been fortunate to be surrounded by people in our club who bring out the best in me, including all the men and women involved with our team, management, player personnel and the front office. They all have played a massive part in setting the highest standard, while continuing to raise the bar on the daily.  We are looking forward to raising the bar yet again and to taking another step in our goal of winning an NLL Championship.”