Inseparable as brothers and teammates, commencement signals changes
‘The competitive nature of lacrosse is certainly a plus for us. Sales is highly competitive. We want to establish reputations as leading sales people. We feel it’s quite similar to preparing ourselves to be strong lacrosse players.’– Matt Klimchak
As youngsters, fraternal twins Matt and Scott Klimchak of Clark were easy to spot. Besides their striking resemblance, they were inseparable: Two boys carrying their lacrosse sticks everywhere, dodging in and out of the principal’s office in elementary school.
“We’d bring our sticks to school and leave them in his office,” recalls Scott. “He loved our passion for lacrosse, and after school or during recess, he’d throw with us.”
Now 23 and about to graduate, Matt and Scott have just concluded their four-year collegiate lacrosse careers, a chapter in Rutgers lacrosse history that coach Brian Brecht says has been strongly influenced by their skills, leadership and knowledge of the game.
Scott, an attacker who ranks as the sixth highest goal scorer in Rutgers’ history, and Matt, a midfielder, helped this year’s team – occasionally ranked among the Top 25 in the nation – achieve the Scarlet Knights’ best record (8-8) since 2007 and earn a berth in the Big East post-season tournament, losing to no. 2-ranked Denver. “We’ve loved it,” says Scott of the Rutgers student-athlete experience. “It was a great decision to come here. Always something interesting going on, and the school spirit is awesome.”
The twins’ love of sports was inspired by their older brothers, Bryan and Michael, who are also fraternal twins. Matt and Scott became especially fascinated with lacrosse in kindergarten while watching Bryan play the sport.
The younger twins earned statewide recognition at A.L. Johnson High School, and then chose Rutgers, also their father’s alma mater, from among several colleges strongly recruiting them.
Scott and Matt, both 6’3” and 200 pounds, cite the benefits from their year-round commitment to practicing and conditioning as well as from Brecht’s post-college focus. “We’re not only coaching lacrosse, we’re also helping student-athletes develop life skills to be successful after college,” says Brecht, who has coached the brothers for three years. “We’re grooming our players to compete as business people, as educators, as lawyers and on Wall Street.”
The twins already have tasted some success. Their reputations as high school and Rutgers standouts helped them secure internships and youth coaching roles, enhancing their resumes as they pursue sales careers. Matt, a sports management major and psychology minor, is searching in the office technology industry, while Scott, a communications and labor studies double major, is focusing on the pharmaceutical and payroll systems industries.
Matt and Scott were attracted to lacrosse – what afficionados call “the fastest sport on two feet” – because it combines other sports skills with physicality and speed. They view their dedication to the sport as a career learning tool. “The competitive nature of lacrosse is certainly a plus for us,” says Matt. “Sales is highly competitive. We want to establish reputations as leading sales people. We feel it’s quite similar to preparing ourselves to be strong lacrosse players.”
Life without competitive lacrosse will trigger another major change for them: the evolving of more distinct individual identities. Until Rutgers, they took all classes together and played on the same teams. They have a shared group of friends, most of whom know Matt as neater and more organized, Scott as relentless but seemingly more laid back.
“It definitely will be weird to get used to,” Matt says. "But having the same group of tightknit friends will allow us to be together and since we’ll both be in sales, I’m sure we will be helping and supporting each other.”
A couple of constants seem likely. Whenever the four brothers visit mom and dad, games of one sort or another will break out. “It’s still wonderfully insane when we’re all together, like it used to be when they were growing up,” says their mom, Kathleen Klimchak. “They’re so competitive, but the big difference is now they bring their girlfriends.”
Lacrosse also will remain a key element of their lives after graduation. Brother Bryan is the assistant lacrosse coach at their former high school.
“He is always trying to get us to work out with the team when we are home and we enjoy doing it,” says Scott. “Lacrosse has meant so much to us for so long and we are eager to help other kids going through what we went through to prepare for college.”