HIGH ACHIEVERS: Callum Crawford retires from National Lacrosse League, becomes national head coach at IMG Academy

By Martin Cleary

During his almost two-decade career as an accomplished professional lacrosse player, Ottawa’s Callum Crawford went by the nickname ‘Showtime.’

His ability to score goals and serve as a playmaker for his peers in an efficient and entertaining manner certainly justified that sporting tag.

But if you were to summarize his presence in Canada’s national summer sport in a short phrase, it would probably go like this: “a professional professional.”

Crawford played 19 seasons connected to 13 franchises in the National Lacrosse League, after being drafted in 2005 by the Calgary Roughnecks. He approached his craft, whether it was a practice or a game, with a true professional attitude. He was dead serious about improving his game every day with hopes that would help move his team forward.

“I was one of the few who genuinely bought into the professional part of being a pro athlete,” Crawford stated in a phone interview this week.

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Lacrosse was a 9-5 obsession for him plus overtime. His daily workouts were two hours of conditioning and strength exercises followed by two hours of on-field, sport-related drills. Whatever was needed to make Crawford a better player, he latched onto.

“There’s nothing more important than getting better every day. You have to have your body ready,” added Crawford, who also coached high school lacrosse and ran a youth sport development company as well, when he lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

One of the oldest players in the NLL, Crawford, 40, will carry that philosophy as well as his high-level experience and vision into the job of national head coach for lacrosse at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

Crawford recently announced his retirement from professional lacrosse and the NLL, where he was a four-time first- or second-team All-Pro, a career top-10 player in goals, assists and points and a finalist for the league’s MVP award in 2019-20.

When Crawford and his wife and two boys were based in Tulsa, he was the head coach at Cascia Hall and directed them as head coach to two state championship tournaments, winning one title. He also had an identical result with Tulsa Alliance.

Crawford, who started the Ottawa Capitals lacrosse club when he lived in Ottawa, also founded Impulse Lacrosse, which is now ADVNC Oklahoma, to develop youth into national-level players. He has helped more than 200 student-athletes graduate to the NCAA lacrosse level.

Deciding to retire from the NLL wasn’t an easy decision, but there were certain elements that made it logical. While his eight- and 11-year-old sons wanted him to continue playing, it was time to put a high priority on family. And having an opportunity to be the national head coach at IMG Academy, a renowned prep school, was too good to turn down.

“It’s an incredible high school prep school,” Crawford said. “When I was running the Ottawa Capitals, I would run athletes to IMG. Coming in to be the head coach is humbling. It’s the right stage of life for me to commit.”

Crawford’s journey through the NLL has been somewhat of an A to Z story. He has experienced all the roles and handled them with class.

“I’ve gone through every place – questionable as a draft pick, a journeyman in my first years, established myself as one of the best in the league and then transitioned to one of the older members,” Crawford summarized.

“It has been a journey. I’m incredibly grateful for what I have done. I’m blessed to have had the opportunity to play in this league.”

It took Crawford his first four seasons with Calgary, San Jose Stealth, Chicago Shamrox and Edmonton Rush to establish himself as a quality player. He averaged almost 11 games a year, which was about two-thirds of a season, but his goals and assists production improved every year.

His five-year stint with the Minnesota Swarm and the following two seasons with Colorado Mammoth were the heart of his career. On four occasions, two with each team, he scored more than 95 points in a full season.

His most productive season was with Colorado in 2016, when he collected a career-best 83 assists and added 32 goals for a lifetime-high 115 points in 18 games. His only other century-point season was in 2019 with the New England Black Wolves with a career-best 43 goals and 109 points in 16 games.

His final three seasons were pointing in the direction of retirement. He spent the 2023 campaign with the New York Riptide and Panther City Lacrosse Club, playing a combined 13 games and producing a total of 25 goals and 31 assists for 56 points.

He signed with the Philadelphia Wings in late 2024, but managed only one game, recording one goal and four assists. During the Panther City dispersal draft, he was selected by the San Diego Seals, but never played a game for them. As an unrestricted free agent, he signed with the Albany FireWolves, where he scored his final goal in his final game in 2025.

During his 19-year NLL run (2006-25), Crawford also wore the jersey of the Buffalo Bandits in 2018. He registered 18 goals and 22 assists for 40 points in nine games for the Bandits before being shifted to the New England Black Wolves, where he counted 15 goals and 20 assists in nine games.

Crawford stepped away from the NLL as one of its greatest offensive athletes. In the NLL’s all-time career stats columns, he is ranked seventh in assists at 795, eighth for points at 1,293 and ninth in goals at 498 for regular-season games. He only played 15 playoff games in 11 seasons in his career, but tabulated 21 goals and 37 assists for 58 points.

At six feet, two inches and 205 pounds, Crawford had the proper build for lacrosse as well as a high level of athletic ability.

“I never thought I was good enough. I watched and emulated other players. I was continuously evolving as the game was evolving. I had a willingness to change, adapt and learn. That allowed me to have a lengthy career,” Crawford said.

He split his junior lacrosse career between the Gloucester Griffins and the Nepean Knights junior B teams, as well as the Ottawa Titans junior A team and Six Nations. Crawford also spent many summers playing for the Kahnawake Mohawks senior B team.