2024 Coaches Conference - Sunday, January 7, 2024

The BR coaches conference is a great opportunity for area boys’ and girls' coaches (HS, MS and Youth) to come together and improve their lacrosse knowledge. We have some of the best college and club coaches who will share their knowledge, experience and expertise to better help you prepare for the upcoming season. We expect that there will be 20+ separate sessions (3 or 4 per hour) during the course of the day.

Cost / Registration

  • $85 a coach.  Bring 5 or more coaches and get $10 off per coach ($75 a coach).

    • A full lunch buffet is included in the registration fee
      • Caesar Salad, Italian Sausage and Peppers, Chicken Romano, Grilled and Breaded Eggplant, Tomato Penne, Garlic Bread, Antipasto.
      • Tiramisu.
      • Coffee, Decaf, Water, Iced Tea, Soda Pop

 

  • To register one (1) coach or ten (10) coaches please click on the link below

 

  • Hotel rooms for out of town guest
    • We have negotiated a price of $139 a night (2 Queen Beds) for our out of town guests.
    • To take advantage of this deal please call reservations at 330-405-4488 or book at www.hilton.com.
    • Guests making such reservations must identify themselves as members of our group by using reservation code "Burn" by Dec 16, 2023.

Coaches Conference Information

  • Dates: Sunday, January 7, 2024
  • Time: 8:30 am to 5 pm
  • Location: Hilton Garden Inn, 8971 Wilcox Drive, Twinsburg, OH 44087
  • Schedule:
    • 8:30 am - Round 1 (3 to 4 presentations)
    • 9:40 am - Round 2 (3 to 4 presentations)
    • 10:50 am - Round 3 (3 to 4 presentations)
    • 12 / noon - Keynote Speaker / Buffet Lunch (Included with registration)
    • 1:30 pm - Round 4 (3 to 4 presentations)
    • 2:40 pm - Round 5 (3 to 4 presentations)
    • 3:50 pm - Round 6 (3 to 4 presentations)

 2024 Presenters (As of October 2023)

  • Anthony Ameo, Burning River - Faceoffs A to Z
  • Adam Blose, Mt. Union - Versatility in Lacrosse: Creating the Complete Player
  • Woody Calleri, Burning River - Drills / Practice Plans For Youth/MS Lacrosse (Link to Slides)

  • Michael Caravana, Razor Lacrosse Consulting - Why Not Play an Aggressive Man Down Defense! (Link to Slides)
  • Amanda Daniels, Denison - Motion Offense and Offensive Drills (Link to Slides)
  • Corinne Desrosiers, Duquesne HC, Women's Lacrosse – Drills To Enhance Skills While Keeping Practice Competitive
  • Angelica Gero, Kenyon College HC, Women's Lacrosse – Man Defense For The Whole Unit
  • B.J. Jenkins, Gilmour Academy / Burning River - Youth Goalies Basics: finding the right players
  • P. J. Kavanagh, Burning River - Youth and MS Offense
  • Ryan Kuhn, Trine University HC, Men's Lacrosse – Fundamental defense: Individual to Team To Clearing (Link to Slides)
  • Paige Messersmith, OWU HC, Women's Lacrosse – Situational Sets; Player Up/Down (Link to Slides)
  • Nat St. Laurent, Ohio Northern HC / PLL Redwoods HC, Men's Lacrosse – Developing The Next Generation of Leaders
  • Eric Seideman, College of Wooster HC, Men's Lacrosse – Riding/10-man ride  (Link to Slides, Link with Videos)
  • Alexander Skvarch, Thiel HC, Men's Lacrosse – Transition Situations
  • Adam Stewart, Capital HC, Men's Lacrosse - The Psychology of Being (and Building) Great Teammates (Link to Slides)
  • Wendy Stone, Niagara College HC, Women's Lacrosse – TBD
  • Andrew Whitley, Bellarmine HC, Men's Lacrosse – Program Building (Staff, Fundraising, Managing Admin, etc.) (Link to Slides)
  • Maddie Wilson, U of Akron AC, Women's Lacrosse - Goalie World
  • Lawrence Wynn, Gilmour Academy, Strength & Conditioning -  How to best condition your athletes for success (Link to Slides)

2024 Presentation Schedule

2024 Coaches Conference Schedule and Poster (Poster)3

Details On 2024 Presenters

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Anthony Ameo – Burning River Lacrosse

Coach Anthony Ameo has been with Burning River for over 10 years as a player and now a coach. During the year, Coach Ameo coaches face-off personnel at Hudson High School and runs face-off clinics at Burning River, and he will coach for Burning River during the summer. Hailing from Northeast Ohio, Coach Ameo played at St. Ignatius before matriculating at The Ohio State University. As a prep athlete, Coach Ameo dominated the X winning 73% of his face-offs his senior year on his way to a 3rd straight state finals appearance and All-America honors, and at OSU he was an Academic All-Big 10 and OSU Scholar Athlete.

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Adam Blose – Assistant Coach Mount Union

Adam Blose enters his first year as the assistant coach at Mount Union for the 2023-24 season. Blose played for Baldwin Wallace the last four years earning three All-OAC Second Team selections. He helped Baldwin Wallace to three straight Ohio Athletic Conference regular season titles in his final three years. Blose is 6th in school history for career caused turnovers, and tied for 10th in career games played and career ground balls.

Michael Caravana - Owner Razor Lacrosse Consulting

Coach Caravana was the head men’s lacrosse coach at Denison University from 1990-2021 with exception of a three-year stint at Woodberry Forest School. Before Dension, he was assistant head lacrosse coach at the University of Virginia (l984, and 1987-1990) and at Brown University from 1985 to l987, where he was head assistant to National Hall of Fame inductee Coach Dom Starsia. In 2003, Caravana was chosen to serve as an assistant coach for the United States National Lacrosse team during which he guided the team to a silver medal in the  International Lacrosse Federation World Championship in Ontario, Canada.

Razor Lacrosse provides focused training opportunities for serious boys high school lacrosse players and coaches. They serve players and coaches throughout North America providing advanced position skills training, coaching clinics, team consultation, private lessons, tournaments and camps. What makes Razor Lacrosse unique is that these programs are developed specifically for advanced players with ambition to compete in college.

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Amanda Daniels - Head Coach Denison University

Amanda Daniels is in her 11th season as Head Women's Lacrosse Coach at Denison University. Few coaches have had a better start to their careers than Daniels. In 10 years and nine full seasons (2020 season was shortened due to COVID-19) as the Big Red head coach, she has guided Denison to nine straight NCAA Division III Tournament appearances, a Final Four appearance in 2021, five North Coast Athletic Conference championships and eight NCAC Tournament titles. From April 11, 2015, to April 2, 2022, the Big Red won 45 consecutive regular-season conference games.

Corinne Desrosiers - Head Coach Duquesne

Corinne Desrosiers was hired as the Dukes' fourth head lacrosse coach in program history in July 2018. In 2022, Desrosiers led the Dukes to their first appearance in the Atlantic 10 Championship since 2019 and just their third appearance since 2016.  The team closed the regular-season on a four-game winning-streak that propelled it up to the fifth seed in the championship. Statistically, the Dukes led the A-10 and ranked fifth in the nation with 20.41 ground balls per game and were eighth in Division I with 11.24 caused turnovers per game.

Angelica Gero

Angelica Gero - Head Coach Kenyon College

Possessing more than a decade of coaching and playing experience, Angelica Gero was hired as head coach of the Kenyon College women’s lacrosse program in the summer of 2023.  Generating steady improvements, Gero’s last three Aquinas teams combined for a 30-14 record. Her 2022 team went 7-2 in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) play and got to the conference semifinal. Last season, her squad went 8-1 in conference contests, defeated two nationally-ranked teams along the way, earned their own national rank as high as No. 9 and got to the conference final. In that same three-year span, the Saints produced 17 all-conference honorees, four conference Players of the Year and four NAIA All-Americans.  Prior to Kenyon, Coach Gero served as head coach at Aquinas College, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) institution in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

B.J. Jenkins – Burning River Lacrosse

With a wealth of knowledge and experience, Coach B.J. Jenkins in an invaluable member of the Burning River staff. Currently the Head Coach at Gilmour Academy, Coach Jenkins has myriad college coaching experiences ranging from Division I to Division III. Most recently the Head Coach at Hiram College, Coach Jenkins has also coached at Shenandoah University, Lafayette College and Lehigh University. In 2001, Coach Jenkins played in the Master’s Division for Team USA in Perth Australia advancing to the championship game, and the Long Island native attended SUNY Cobleskill before finishing his up an All-Conference career at Cortland State.

P.J. Kavanagh – Burning River Lacrosse

Coach P.J. Kavanagh brings to the Burning River program coaching experience from youth lacrosse to the professional ranks. Growing up in Syracuse, NY, Coach Kavanagh played both high school and college lacrosse in the Central New York Region. Following his playing career, Coach Kavanagh first coached high school lacrosse at several programs before moving into the college ranks. In addition, Coach Kavanagh coached in the professional ranks for the Bridgeport Barrage and Ohio Machine of Major League Lacrosse. Currently an Assistant Coach at Hoover High School, Coach Kavanagh works with several Burning River teams during the summer.

Ryan Kuhn – Head Coach Trine University

Kuhn became the fourth head coach in program history in August of 2021. Kuhn’s most recent stop was at Heidelberg University where he served as head coach of the women’s program, a position which he held for one season. During that season he led the team to a 4-0 record before the season was cut short due to the outbreak of Covid-19. Before taking the reins at Heidelberg, Kuhn spent a season as an assistant coach at Shoreham Wading River High School where he led the team to a New York State Championship, finishing 13th in the country and second among public school competition.  Kuhn established the lacrosse program at NCAA Division II Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn. In just four years, Kuhn led the Railsplitters from an inaugural season to a national contender. In his final season as head coach (2018), the team finished 14-4 breaking into the national rankings.

Paige Messersmith - Head Coach Ohio Wesleyan University

Coach Messersmith joins the slate of speakers for our coach’s convention. She is in her fifth season as head women's lacrosse coach at Ohio Wesleyan University.Last year, the Battling Bishops went 11-6, including a 4-2 record in the North Coast Athletic Conference, good for a third-place finish in the final conference standings, and made their first NCAC tournament appearance since the 2010 season. Prior to her time at OWU, Paige was an assist. coach at Dickinson College, PA and Catholic University, DC.

Nat St. Laurent - Head Coach Redwoods (PLL) and Ohio Northern University

Nat St. Laurent is in his 9th season as the head men's lacrosse coach at Ohio Northern University. A Carthage, N.Y., native, St. Laurent has posted an 80-41 career coaching record at ONU, a .661 winning percentage. He has guided the Polar Bears to eight consecutive winning seasons and six straight Ohio Athletic Conference upper-division finishes.

In addition to his collegiate coaching duties, St. Laurent has served as the head coach for the Redwoods squad of the Premier Lacrosse League since the 2019 season. In December 2018, he was named one of six head coaches for the inaugural season, which included the best leaders, strategists and innovators in the sport.  Prior to his stint with the Redwoods, he served as an assistant coach for the Ohio Machine, a professional Major League Lacrosse team, for four seasons.

Eric Seideman - Head Coach College of Wooster

Eric Seideman is in his second season as the head coach at the College of Wooster.  The Fighting Scots enjoyed its best season in Seideman's first year with the program, setting new program records for wins (13) and consecutive wins (11). Casey Steffen was named the NCAC Defensive Player of the Year, and an All-American after breaking the NCAA Division III single-season record with 5.06 caused turnovers per game. Additionally, Wooster led the nation by holding the opposition to a 62.7 clearing percentage and had top-three national rankings in groundballs and caused turnovers per game.  Following the season, Seideman (and Assistant Coach Joseph Pille) was honored as the NCAC Coaching Staff of the Year.  Prior to Wooster, Seideman previously served as the head coach at Mount Saint Mary College (NY), and was an assistant coach at Ithaca, Gettysburg, Vassar, and SUNY Cortland where he was a part of the 2006 national championship winning team.  As a student-athlete, Coach Seideman was a four-year starter at Haverford College, and earned a Master’s Degree in Education from Cornell University.

Alex Skvarch - Head Coach Thiel College

Coach Skvarch is in his first season as head coach of the Thiel College men's lacrosse team in 2023-24. A native of Marcellus, New York, Skvarch was a four-year letter winner at Hartwick College and served as a team captain for two years. In 2011, he earned Empire 8 All-League honors, as well as Sportsman of the Year accolades. Skvarch began his career as an assistant coach at Hartwick College. While at Hartwick, Skvarch coached one Academic All-American and also three players earn Empire 8 All-League honors. As head coach at Walsh, Skvarch coached two United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Scholar All-Americans, one GMAC Goalkeeper of the Year and 18 All-GMAC players, including five first teamers.

Adam Stewart - Assistant Coach Capital University

Adam Stewart is an assistant men's lacrosse coach for Capital University.  Stewart is the first full-time assistant coach in program history and most recently served as the offensive coordinator for Division III powerhouse Denison University.  At Denison, Stewart served for nine seasons in two separate stints and helped guide the program to new heights. In his tenure, he coached 13 All-Americans, six NCAC Players of the Year, and the only two 100+ point scorers in program history. Under his assistance, the 2017 team qualified for the National Final Four. Stewart's offenses have consistently been recognized around the country as ranking in the Top-10 (of more than 200 programs) in scoring offense, shooting percentage, extra-man percentage, turnovers per game, assists per game, and scoring margin. Off the field, Stewart had worked closely with leadership development coach Pat Touhey to develop an improved team culture and overall team well-being.

Wendy Stone - Head Coach Niagara University

Coach Stone was named head coach of the Niagara women's lacrosse program in 2012.  She has taken a team that averaged less than 3 wins per season in the 6 years prior to her arrival to new heights, winning 47 games in her first 7 seasons. After leading the Purple Eagles to their first .500 record in 13 seasons in 2016, including a then program-best 5-3 MAAC mark, Stone repeated the feat each of the next two years, becoming the only coach to post winning conference records in three consecutive seasons since Niagara first fielded a varsity women's lacrosse team (1996).

In addition to her work at Niagara, Stone currently serves as the team manager for the United States Women’s Lacrosse World Cup team.  Prior to Niagara, Stone spent three seasons at Longwood University. At Longwood, Stone guided the Lancers to a 2010 National Lacrosse Conference (NLC) Championship and helped develop 12 All-NLC selections, two NLC Midfielders of the Year, an NLC Player of the Year & an NLC Goalkeeper of the Year.

Andrew Whitley - Head Coach Bellarmine University

Coach Whitley begins his fifth season at the helm of the Knights during the 2023/24 campaign. 2023 was a historic season for the Knights. The team broke 33 different program records, including the record for NCAA Division I Wins in a Season (11).

Coach Whitley came to Bellarmine after having previously served as the Associate Head Coach at Fairfield University. He joined the Fairfield staff as a volunteer assistant coach for the 2010 season before being promoted to the role of assistant coach for the 2013 season.   Before Fairfield, Coach Whitley served as a volunteer assistant coach at Yale University overseeing the goalkeepers.  Before entering the coaching profession, Coach Whitley was the Chief Executive Officer of Ankeny Homes, LLC of Wilton, CT from 2001 to 2008.  Prior to becoming the CEO of Ankeny Homes, he was the Vice President of U.S. Operations of Athletes, Inc where he worked from 1994 to 2001.

Maddie Wilson - Assistant Coach U of Akron

Maddie Wilson is in her first season as an assistant coach with the Akron Lacrosse program after being named to the staff in July 2023.  Wilson comes to Akron after working with the Longwood lacrosse staff for the past two seasons.  She served as an assistant coach at Ursuline College, an NCAA Division II institution in Pepper Pike, Ohio, from 2017-2021, including being elevated to the team’s interim head coach in 2018.

A four-time all-conference selection at Capital University, including being named a first-team honoree twice, Wilson was honored as the Ohio Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a freshman. She posted a 37-12 record in goal over her four seasons and finished with a .525 save percentage and a 6.79 goals against average. She racked up 427 saves in 60 games along with 132 ground balls and 74 turnovers. Following her career, she played in the 2017 Division 1 US Elite All Star USA Team at the World Cup Lacrosse Festival in Surrey Park, England where her earned a silver medal.

Lawrence Wynn - Director of Strength & Conditioning - Gilmour Academy

Coach Lawrence brings 8 years of strength & conditioning experience including 11 state championships as an assistant strength coach with Archbishop Hoban High School (2015-2021) while adding another 3 state championships as Head Coach at Gilmour Academy (2021-Present).

 

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Woody Calleri: Founder and CEO of Burning River

Having coached for over 30 years, Coach Calleri brings experience and passion for the game of lacrosse to Northeast Ohio. Coach Calleri’s experience ranges from the youth level to the international level, and every level in between. As the first coach in Northeast Ohio to win a national recruiting championship and a box lacrosse championship, Coach Calleri has mentored over 300 players sending them to over 100 colleges and universities, including 62 All-Americans and 28 Academic All-Americans. Burning River is the measuring stick for club lacrosse program in Ohio and across the country.