Josiah Greve ' 17 became the second member of The Yellow Jacket after having a very succesfull career both and off the field. 

Greve joined a very new lacrosse program when he chose to come to BW in the fall of 2013. At that time, it was head coach Jason Tarnow, which led him to Berea. “I appreciated Coach Tarnow’s approach to the game.” Said Greve. “He carries his own personality but is genuine and I respect that.” The other piece that led him to BW was family friends that live by BW. 

Coach Tatro spoke what he brought to the culture of the team and hit of his great work ethic. “I don’t think anyone has had a better work ethic than him,” Tatro said. “It wasn’t just at practice. It was before and after practice and at home he was always practicing. Its awesome to have a player that cares that much. The defensive mentality we have to this day is built because of what Josiah did.”

As soon as he got on campus, he made an impact on the field and off the field. He joined the team in its second season, and he was able to come in and fill that leadership role. “Obviously a new program will be void of upperclassmen so its significant when your peers allow you to fill that role the best you can,” said Greve. “It’s nice because being a leader at the inception of a program means you have the ability to trailblazer the expectations and standards for the future.”

Greve was able to fill in that player-led team approach that the lacrosse program instills, and Coach Tatro saw it first-hand when he was here. “Coaches can yell from the sideline all we want, but it’s the guy that have control on the field,” Tatro said. “He was one of the first player to players to step into that player-led mentality. Josiah was very inclusive and that was a really cool thing to see.”

Greve was not alone in trying to lead the team and establish a culture. Fellow Yellow Jacket member Jacob Totten was a part of the program roughly the same time. Greve also highlights teammate Michael Dickey. “A large part of our/my success was due to Michael,” he said. “I feel like a lot of my recognition overshadows the role he had. I wouldn’t have been able to lead a team on my own.”

When it comes to working with his teammates to build a culture, he had one goal and mind and it was to win. The culture, Greve and his teammates built put an emphasis on the menial things. “I hoped to build a culture that understood the importance of menial things that might seem insignificant but when added up carry a lot of weight behind them,” said Greve.

During his time as a Yellow Jacket, Greve mentions the small things are his favorite things about his time in the program. Getting dinner after practice or the mornings before games are a few times he mentions. He appreciated the moments that he got to spend a lot of time with his teammates and friends.

Looking at the program now, Greve wants current and future Yellow Jackets to know, “The program’s in good hands with Coach Tatro,” he said. “They should know that their role in the program is different from what mine/ours was. We tried to give them a good head start, and their role is to catapult it to the next level.”

Looking back upon his time at BW and receiving this honor, Greve said, “It is pretty humbling to know that people held you in high regard for what impact you made. Getting recognition isn’t the goal of why you do things, but it means a lot for people to respect the approach and impact you had.”