The American Indoor Lacrosse Association announced that Charles Simmons, currently VP of marketing and strategy development for Thomas Scientific, has been appointed as its vice president of strategic business development.
“We are very excited to bring on-board Charles to share his wealth of strategic marketing and business operations knowledge,” said AILA President Johnny Mouradian. “His expertise and love for lacrosse will be a major driving force in our objective of developing well-rounded field players who can incorporate the intricacies and skill sets of indoor lacrosse to their field game.”
In his new role, Simmons will work with field lacrosse organizations at all levels throughout the United States to develop AILA Programs and Services in their market.
“We offer a unique indoor lacrosse turnkey solution for field lacrosse organizations,” explains Mouradian. “We have spent three years incubating at five AILA Training Centers in the Philadelphia and New Jersey markets and ready to take our platform to new markets. Charles has the expertise we need to make it successful.”
Simmons brings a diverse marketing and business operations background to the AILA, having served as the Vice President of North American Operations for VWR International (a $4.3 billion company) and the Director of Marketing and Category Management for Keystone Automotive Operations (a $700 million company).
Currently, Simmons works for Thomas Scientific, a $122 million laboratory scientific distribution company, as its Vice President of Marketing and Strategy Development while also sitting on the Board of Directors for the Laboratory Products Association (LPA).
Simmons is also a 1993 graduate of the Norwich University Military College of Vermont where played lacrosse and went on to proudly represent his country in the U.S. Army as a Captain serving with the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions. During his time in the service Charles was a member of the prestigious U.S. Army Rangers and was a graduate of the Special Forces Assessment and Selection course. He currently resides in Cherry Hill, N.J., with his wife Erica and children Mike, Jon and Sydni.
Simmons is also a big part of the lacrosse community in Cherry Hill. He currently is an Assistant Coach for the Cherry Hill High School East Varsity and JV teams and also coached the last 8 seasons at the youth level as a head coach for Cherry Hill’s U13 and U15 teams.
“I am extremely excited about my appointment as the Vice President of the American Indoor Lacrosse Association,” said Simmons. “The integration of Canadian style box lacrosse techniques into the field game is a natural progression in the training and evolution of field players. Our In/Crosse System will create the player of the future who will be armed with the perfect balance of field and box skills enabling them to play at the highest levels of the sport of lacrosse. That is our mission.”
