Washington Stealth President David Takata was named the National Lacrosse League Executive of the Year this morning.
Takata, who also serves as the Chairman of the League Governance Committee, earned the award after a vote of league executives, general managers and head coaches.
“I’m stunned. I appreciate my colleagues voting for me,” Takata said in a release from the league. “The game is growing here in Washington, I think it’s a real stable fan base. The fans are starting to understand the game and are starting to bond with the players. They have their local heroes and local favorites. If we traded the team away tomorrow, we would have a bunch of upset people, which is exactly what you want.”
Takata has been part of a franchise that moved to Everett in June from San Jose, Calif., and developed a championship caliber team through shrewd front office moves and draft picks.
“Dave has been a great leader on the NLL Board of Governors and has executed a monumental undertaking in relocating an NLL franchise,” NLL Commissioner George Daniel said in the release. “Under his leadership, the Stealth are quickly becoming a must-see in the Pacific Northwest sports scene, as evidence by last week’s thrilling overtime Western Divisional Final and hosting this week’s Championship Game.”
Washington hosts the Toronto Rock in the NLL Champion’s Cup Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Comcast Arena.
Also winning awards Monday were Rochester Knighthawks forward Shawn Williams (Sportsmanship Award) and NLL Insider.com writer Paul Tutka (Tom Borelli Award for Sportswriter of the Year).
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