STEVENS POINT, Wis. – UW-Stevens Point athletics has named Christian Diaz head coach of the women's lacrosse program. Diaz becomes the first head coach in program history as the sport heads toward an inaugural season in 2023-24.
 
"I am incredibly excited to be joining the athletic department of UWSP," said Diaz. "The administration has done an amazing job in preparing for the addition of women's lacrosse. To be given the opportunity to both build within the university setting and add to an already established history of athletic success is something that I'm eager to be a part of. I'm very much looking forward to putting a team together that not only represents the university at a high level but the city of Stevens Point as a whole."
 
Diaz (pronounced DEE-az) brings an array of playing a coaching experience to UWSP for the programs inaugural season. He comes to UWSP from the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis where he was the head men's lacrosse and was assistant women's lacrosse coach. He has also served as the head girl's box lacrosse coach for the Lou Fusz Lacrosse Club, with two of his players currently representing Team USBOXLA.
 
"I couldn't be more excited for the future of our new lacrosse program," stated UWSP Director of Athletics Brad Duckworth. "Christian really brought an enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit to start a program from scratch. Throughout the process, it was very clear he was so excited to be part of the Pointer family and we can't wait to get him started. We are very much looking forward to next year and seeing our new program get started."
 
Other collegiate coaching stops for Diaz included a season as head men's and head women's lacrosse at Clarke University in Iowa. There, he was the only head coach in the country across all levels to head up both programs without an assistant coach.
 
Prior to that, he spent a season as an assistant coach for the Augustana College (Ill.) men's lacrosse program. He had head coaching stops at Westminster (Mo.), Robert Morris (Ill.) and Quincy University (Ill.). He started his collegiate coaching career as an assistant coach at Missouri Baptist University.
 
Diaz has playing experience at the college level at the University of Illinois and Columbia College. He has played for semi pro teams St. Louis Centurions, River City BlueCats and the Missouri Mastadons. Diaz was even named to the Mexican National Lacrosse Team.
 
Diaz holds a bachelor's degree from Northeastern Illinois University and a master's degree from DePaul University. He is also pursuing an MBA from Missouri Baptist University.