SUNY Cortland Athletics

Over the past four decades, Fred Acee ’63 has impacted collegiate lacrosse as a highly successful coach, role model and one of the founders of the Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IMLCA). Between 1966-97, Acee guided the Farmingdale Community College men’s lacrosse program to an amazing 312-119-1 overall record, 25 final four appearances in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) championships, and national championship titles in 1977, 1981 and 1987. He was voted the national junior college Coach of the Year in each of those three seasons.

Acee, who holds a career record of 350-223-1, was the U.S. Air Force Academy head lacrosse coach from 1998-2008. He served in an administrative capacity during his final year with the Falcons before retiring in 2009. He returned as a volunteer assistant in the 2010 season.

In 1994, he was the defensive coach of the USA Lacrosse Team that captured the world championship. Four years later, he served on the executive board for the USA Team. In 2002, he coached the South team in the North-South Division I lacrosse game.

In 2001, the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) presented Acee with its prestigious Howdy Meyers Man of the Year Award for his extraordinary contributions and unselfish and untiring devotion to the game of lacrosse. He served on the USILA Rules Advisory Committee.

He received the USILA’s Joseph R. “Frenchy” Julien Award in 2007 for outstanding and continuous service to the sport. The same year, IMLCA gave Acee its Creators Award. In 1992, he was inducted into the Long Island Metropolitan Lacrosse Sports Hall of Fame. A past president of NJCAA, Acee was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2005.

Acee serves on the board of directors of the IMLCA, an organization of college coaches devoted to growing the sport, providing coaching development and monitoring the integrity of lacrosse.

A native of Clinton, N.Y., Acee was a standout in football, basketball and baseball at Clinton Central High School, where he is a 2005 Hall of Fame inductee.

Acee majored in physical education at SUNY Cortland, where he played quarterback on the football squad and competed all four years as a midfielder on the lacrosse unit. He earned the Red Letter and was an All-Morrill Division selection as a senior. He was a member of Beta Phi Epsilon fraternity and performed with Bess Koval’s Folk Dance group.

He graduated from Cortland in 1963 and earned a master’s degree from Ithaca College in 1966. He taught physical education and coached boys and girls sports at Leonardsville (N.Y.) Central School from 1963-65 and was an elementary physical education instructor in the Ithaca (N.Y.) City Schools the following year.

At Farmingdale Community College, Acee chaired the Physical Education Department from 1975-97, was head soccer coach from 1966-76, directed intramurals from 1972-76 and was head women’s tennis coach from 1992-96.

Acee, who has been active recently with the Starlight Children’s Foundation in Colorado Springs, Colo., has three children, Andreana, Michael and Paulette.

UPDATE- March, 2015: Acee, retired from USAFA in August of 2009 as the Head Lacrosse Coach. He continues to stay involved by volunteering as a coach for the USAFA since 2009. In addition to coaching a youth Lacrosse team for 3d Lacrosse.