The Albany Firewolves played their first season in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) in 2021.
The team is owned by a small group of investors through a company called Capital Region NLL. Most of the investors have previous playing, coaching, and/or investment experience in lacrosse.
Some of the investors have also owned previous incarnations of the Firewolves!
Who Are The Owners Of The Albany Firewolves?
The Albany Firewolves is owned by Capital Region NLL, LLC, a private company led by Oliver Marti and backed by shareholders including:
- Mike French
- Brad Brewster
- Brett Jefferson
- Russ Shepherd
- Sol Kumin
- Joe Dowling
- Zach Schreibner
Let’s look in depth at each of these owners, starting with the main man.
Oliver Marti
Oliver Marti grew up in Richmond, BC where he played box lacrosse and hockey from a young age through high school.
A hockey scout from Cornell told the youngster that he wouldn’t take him for their hockey program, but the lacrosse coaches were interested. So, Marti focused on honing his lacrosse skills but went to Brown University. This would be his first exposure to field lacrosse.
Marti played on the Brown lacrosse team from 1991 to 1993 where he was the top scorer in the Ivy League in each season. He was a two-time All-American and holds the college record for most goals in a game.
He played for the Canadian national team and joined a professional New York team in the precursor of the NLL.
Investment career
Around the same time as starting his professional lacrosse career, Marti started his investment career as an analyst with Morgan Stanley.
In 1999, he joined the Columbus Circle Investors. Two years later, he founded their healthcare hedge fund. This fund went on to be remarkably successful under his management. Eventually, CCI exited the space and paid out to their investors.
Marti moved on in 2018 and founded his own healthcare hedge fund, called Akera Capital.
That same year, he founded 11|88 LLC to invest in lacrosse ventures.
One of his investment choices is in Epoch Lacrosse, the gear and apparel company.
Another major investment is in the Premier Lacrosse League. This makes him one of the co-owners of the PLL.
And of course, there’s the Albany Firewolves in the NLL.
Still active in lacrosse
When Marti ended his playing career, he continued to be very involved in lacrosse.
He was living in Connecticut when he was invited to take the role of coach of the U.S. Under 20 Indoor Team. Marti felt that an American was more appropriate as head coach and suggested Roy Colsey for the job.
Colsey said he’d take it if Marti came along as offensive coach. And that’s how Marti has been coaching the U.S. junior team for several years.
Mike French
Canadian Mike French captained the 1976 Cornell team to the National Championship. Two years later, he captained Canada to beat the USA for the World Championship title.
The three-time All-American is both a Canadian and an American Hall Of Famer.
French has a long history with the NLL. He played for the Philadelphia Wings in 1987 and took over as manager the following year. He became a co-owner in 1998.
Meanwhile, French grew his career in management consultancy. He would ultimately become a partner at PWC.
From Philadelphia Wings to Firewolves
The Wings were sold and relocated to Connecticut in 2014. They were now known as the New England Black Wolves.
The Black Wolves lasted for five seasons until they changed hands, name, and location again. They are now the Albany Firewolves.
But for Mike French, this was almost a full circle. He is part of the ownership group that rebranded the club as the Albany Firewolves.
Brad Brewster
Brad Brewster is a lawyer whose firm specializes in working with state legislature.
Although he played football in his college days, he has a long history of coaching lacrosse.
Like Mike French, Brad Brewster was also a co-owner of the Philadelphia Wings in the NLL.
When the team was sold to and rebranded as the Black Wolves, Brewster continued to be part of the new ownership group.
And as a current co-owner of the Albany Firewolves, Brewster has been an owner of this team in three guises.
Brett Jefferson
American Brett Jefferson likes to say that lacrosse put him on his path to success. He struggled academically in school but found how to marshal discipline and ambition on the lacrosse field.
Roy Simmons Jr., the coach at Syracuse University for 27 years, spotted Jefferson and persuaded him to join the New York institution. Jefferson was a goalie on the university lacrosse team.
When he graduated, he went into the world of structured financing. He eventually founded his own asset management firm, Hildene Capital Management.
Jefferson has given over two million dollars to the Syracuse lacrosse program.
Other lacrosse investments
Aside from investing in the Firewolves, Jefferson is also a key investor in the Premier Lacrosse League.
He is also on the board of the PLL.
Russ Shepherd
Like Brad Brewster, Russ Shepherd is also a high-powered lawyer.
But before he studied law, he was a schoolteacher in Canada. He introduced lacrosse into his high school in Kuglutuk, a small Arctic town. His time there is the subject of the film “The Grizzlies”.
Shepherd’s last educational role was as Dean of Students at the Hill Academy, which has produced many professional lacrosse players.
He continues to combine coaching with his legal career.
Sol Kumin
Sol Kumin grew up in Massachusetts and studied at John Hopkins in the late nineties. He played attack for the Blue Jays.
After Kumin graduated, he worked for several asset management firms. Eventually, he started his own hedge fund and raised $1 billion.
Before Kumin developed an interest in investing in lacrosse, he got involved in horse racing. He bought his first horse in 2014, the same year he started his hedge fund.
His stable has had a string of successes on the track, including:
- Justify winning the Kentucky Derby in 2018
- Monomoy Girl winning the Kentucky Oats the same year (the first double in 66 years)
- Authentic winning the Derby and the Breeders Cup in 2020
Lacrosse investments
Sol Kumin took an ownership stake in the Premier Lacrosse League.
Aside from the PLL, Kumin has spread his investment in the sport as a co-owner of the Firewolves in the NLL.
Joe Dowling
Joe Dowling founded an asset management company to manage funds for institutions and endowments.
He also managed investments and endowments for Brown University from 2013 to 2020.
He then joined the investment giant Blackstone Group as a senior managing director.
Zach Schreibner
Zach Schreibner worked for several years in the investment world before co-founding a new investment firm in 2011.
PointState Capital is New York-based hedge fund manager.
More About The Club
If you’re a fan worrying whether your club has enough financial support, I hope this article has put your mind to rest!
There is more than enough backing to support the kind of salaries earned by Albany Firewolves players.
If you want details about the full playing squad, we’ve got the latest Firewolves roster here.
