Shannon Aikens joins River Bluff as their new head coach following a successful career as a player and assistant coach.

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Shannon Aikens joins River Bluff as their new head coach following a successful career as a player and assistant coach.

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Shannon Aikens planned on moving to Lexington for her position as a speech language pathologist. Even though she was recently an assistant coach at Yorktown High School in Arlington, Va., where the offense she oversaw won the 2022 state championship, she wasn’t initially drawn to Lexington to coach lacrosse.

If not for a casual allusion to her days as a college lacrosse player to a recruiter, she might’ve never gotten involved with River Bluff High School and the Gators would still be searching for a new head coach. But the discussion was had, and one conversation led to another that ultimately resulted in Aikens being the newest head coach at River Bluff High School.

“I was speaking with my recruiter for my new position and it came up that I was a student athlete in college and played lacrosse,” Aikens told the Chronicle. “She passed the information on to Crystal Smith, who is the wife of principal Jacob Smith. And you know, I got contacted about them looking for a head coach and with my background in lacrosse, would I be willing to look into the position. From there, it was just great conversation after great conversation and it felt like something I really wanted to be a part of.”

Aikens played her high school lacrosse at Mercy High School and excelled well enough to earn a scholarship and play four years at Loyola Maryland.
Loyola has traditionally excelled at girls lacrosse and while Aikens was there, her teams went 57-26 and dominated the Patriot League with a four-year record of 32-2. In her last three seasons at Loyola, they won all 25 of her conference games.

Aikens got her coaching start at PRIDE Lacrosse Club, one of the largest girls travel lacrosse programs in the nation located in Virginia. From there, she went to Yorktown High School and coordinated their offensive attack during their 2022 Virginia state championship run.

Even though this is her first gig as a head coach, Aikens has a plan on how she wants to energetically direct her teams on the field.

“My coaching style is based in energy and positivity,” Aikens said. “Being a speech therapist, I really utilize that “words matter” kind of mentality for coaching. I bring a lot of energy to the sideline. I really like to think creatively for the field more in like a strategy based mentality. So, I think that’s going to translate really well to a program that already has such a great foundation. I know that they have had some success in the past and they’ve had a great foundation for a coaching staff and you know, being able to step into girls who are really interested in learning and growing and working hard is just going to be a great match.”

Aikens will take over a team that is coming off a 7-10 season with a first round playoff exit against Wando.