Coaches
Dayton Gilbreath
Background: Dayton comes from Washington where he played at Bainbridge Island High School from 2005 to 2008. Dayton Graduated in 2008 as Team Caption and Washington State All-American. In 2009 he joined the Air Force Academy (Div. I), where he played all four years and was again, team captain in 2012. Dayton was 1st Team All League for all of his 4 years and the league rookie of the year in 2009. During his 4 years at the Air Force Academy, Dayton would return home to Washington each summer, where he created position-specific clinics and focused on working with up to 100 high school players a year, helping them understand and get ready for the recruiting process. Upon graduation, he was transferred to Okinawa, Japan, for 3 years, where in his spare time he set up 3 lacrosse leagues for kids ages 8 to 18, and coached the high school group. Dayton joined the Santa Monica Dragons in December 2016, when he is transferred to Los Angeles. Dayton left the Santa Monica Dragons to help build the Palisades Lacrosse Club into the great program it is today.
Contact: 20dayton@gmail.com
(206) 819 - 3714
Brooks Davy
Background: Brooks is a native of Wilmington, North Carolina where he grew up playing lacrosse, along with soccer, basketball, surfing, and fishing. He then went on to Episcopal High School, outside of Washington, D.C. where he was a four-time member of the varsity lacrosse team. Brooks graduated a captain and first team all-state in Virginia. In 2015, he went on to join the Denison Men’s Lacrosse team (Division 3) in Granville, Ohio. During his tenure, Brooks managed to set new program records for goals (66) and shots (199) in a single season and ranks fourth all time in goals (157). He also helped lead his team to one Final Four appearance, two Elite Eight appearances, and one Sweet Sixteen appearance. The team also won the conference tournament all four years during Brooks’ time in Ohio. Upon graduation, Brooks went on to move back to D.C. for a year and a half where he worked in real estate while also coaching/mentoring at risk youth via the WINNERS program. In 2021, Brooks relocated to Santa Monica for a new job and began coaching with the Santa Monica Dragons before meeting Dayton and ultimately helping to grow the Palisades Lacrosse Club. Brooks brings a wealth of experience to the club via his highly successful career and many years of coaching youth lacrosse across the country.
Contact: brooks.davy13@gmail.com
(910) 352 - 5594
Liam Rooney
Background: Liam grew up in Redding, CT and played at Joel Barlow High School from 2010-2013. While at Joel Barlow, Liam was named team captain and earned All-State, All-Conference and Conference Offensive Player of the year awards. In 2014, he walked on to the Denison University lacrosse team (Div 3), where he played all four years and was again, team captain in 2017. Liam was 1st team All-Conference for three years and earned honorable mention All-American (junior year) and 2nd team All-American (senior year). While at Denison, Liam helped the team win 3 conference championships, and lead the team to three trips to the NCAA Elite 8 and one appearance in the NCAA Final Four. Liam currently holds records in Denison lacrosse history for all-time points, single season assists and single season points. Liam's been coaching lacrosse since high school and has continued to help out with club teams, clinics and private lessons since graduating. In February 2021, Liam moved from New York to Los Angeles and started coaching for Palisades Lacrosse Club.
Contact: rooney.liam29@gmail.com
203-885-9613
Libby Bush
Background: Libby comes originally from Philadelphia where she was a triple sport varsity athlete for lacrosse, soccer and basketball at Agnes Irwin High School from 1996 to 2000. Libby graduated in 2000 as Team Captain for all three sports and in 2018 was inducted into her high school Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2000 she received a scholarship to attend and play for the University of Richmond Division 1 lacrosse team coached by, at the time, the Women’s US Lacrosse coach, Sue Murphy. Libby went on to be named team Captain her senior year and currently holds a record for most groundballs in a season.
Libby lives in Pacific Palisades with her husband Alex and two daughters, Audrey and Emerson, who each received a lacrosse stick on their second birth day. .
Contact: libbybush14@gmail.com
610-999-6339
Betsy Given
Background: Betsy comes from Maryland where she was a multi-sport athlete with multiple honors from high school through college. She was named an All-American for lacrosse at Loyola University (Div.1) in 1995. After Betsy’s incredible career as a player, she has transitioned to coaching. Betsy has a diverse coaching experience expanding over 20 years. She was the head coach at Greenwich High School in Connecticut from 1998-2001 with a record of 42-18. The Head Coach for Davidson College (Div. 1) where she set a school record for the most wins in a season (12). Following her east coast career, Betsy came out west where she is the founder of Givengo company which focuses on girls’ development and training. In addition to Givengo, Betsy has started the wave of interest in the palisades for girls’ youth lacrosse.
Contact: coachbetsy@icloud.com
Chloe Schmitz
Background: Chloe is from Rhode Island where she grew up playing lacrosse and soccer. At Moses Brown High School she made varsity soccer and lacrosse as a freshman and went on to become captain and awarded MVP of both. She graduated high school in 2008 as a first-team All-American and Under Armor All American in lacrosse. She went on to play lacrosse at UNC-Chapel Hill, a top 5 Division 1 ranked program that went on to the final 4 each year of her tenure.
Chloe has coached girls of all ages since 2009 competitively, at camps, clinics, and in private lessons.
Contact: chloeaschmitz@gmail.com
Jessie Cuccia
Background: Jesse played at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill from 2015 to 2019. While there, he won a National Championship with the team in 2016 and an ACC championship in 2018. He has 8 years of combined coaching experience from running private lessons in High School to coaching future collegiate All-Americans with the Long Island Sting. Jesse grew up locally and graduated from Westlake High School. There he was a 3x Varisty captain, 3x All-American, 4x CIF All-Region, 2x League MVP, and Adrenaline All-American. Jesse accredits all of his accomplishments and love for lacrosse to Mario Waibel, Ken Miller and Jeff Seibold and takes pride in being a Goon Squad, Long Island Sting and an Adrenaline Tropics Alum.
Currently the Offensive Coordinator at UCLA
Contact: jjcuccia13@gmail.com
Kelsey Berlacher
Background: Kelsey is from Villanova PA where she grew up playing soccer, basketball and lacrosse. She was team captain Junior and Senior years at Agnes Irwin High School, she led her team to the Inter Academic championships each year, winning the title her senior year. Kelsey went on to get a degree in Fashion Marketing from Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago before moving to Los Angeles. She is one of six kids, Coach Libby's younger sister, and aunt to six nieces and nephews.
Courtney Miller
Background: Courtney grew up in west Hester, New York. She graduated from Colgate University In 2012. She was Patriot League Midfielder of the Year and Colgate’s Female Student-Athlete of the Year. Courtney was inducted in Colgate university athletics hall of fame in 2017. Her name appears several times in the Colgate record books. Currently she is:
• First in Draw Controls (201) • Third in Career Points (241)
• Third in Goals (168)
• Fourth in Assists (73)
Courtney’s stats at Colgate put her in the Patriot League’s Top 10 in goals, assists, points and draw controls.
Courtney has continued her lacrosse career after Colgate as a member of the New York Athletic Club and has been on the Israeli National Team roster since 2015 where she represented Israel in the 2017 and 2022 World Cup.
Patrick Cotter
Background: Pat grew up in Maryland where he played 3 years of Varsity Football and 4 years of Varsity lacrosse at Georgetown Prep. In high school, he was a 2x All-State, 2x All-Met, 2x Maryland Free State Team member, an Under Armour All-American and top 10 recruit nationally. Pat played college lacrosse at the University of Notre Dame, helping the team to 3 Final Four and 2 National Championship appearances, as well as winning an ACC Championship in 2014. Pat brings with him a wealth of lacrosse knowledge and experience. Professionally, Pat currently works in commercial real estate in the LA area, after moving to Manhattan Beach from New York City in June 2021. Pat spent this past summer coaching for Mad Dog LA and is looking forward to helping grow the Palisades Lacrosse Club.
Ben Ramsdell
Background: Ben grew up in Rochester, NY where he played 3 years of Varsity lacrosse and soccer. Ben was a 2x NYS Class A finalist, and All County 2nd team LSM senior year. He was recruited to play lacrosse at Division 3 SUNY Plattsburgh. Ben was able to make an immediate impact to push his team to the conference championship birth in 3 of his 4 seasons. As for coaching, Ben moved from NY to LA in 2018 and was the Mira Costa High School Defensive Coordinator and is currently the Mad Dog National and West Elite 2030 coach as well as Mad Dog LA 2027/2030 coach.
Ben is also a Territory Sales Manager for a Packaging Design company.
Danielle Gordon
Background: Danielle is from Rumson, NJ where she grew up playing lacrosse and soccer. She made varsity lacrosse as a freshman and played on a travel lacrosse team called T3. In college, she was caption of the Richmond Women's Club Lacrosse Team and taught private lessons at local schools. Danielle received her bachelor's degree in Business Administration and currently works at Amazon in media sales.
Anthony Canapini
Background: Anthony was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. Throughout his 11 years of lacrosse competition, his extensive time playing Defense ranges from elementary through high school, as well as elite collegium and recreational squads in the Midwest.
As a starting Freshman for his high school’s Varsity lacrosse team, Anthony rose to the rank of Captain before committing to Concordia University in Ann Arbor Michigan. After two years of collegiate academic study and earning his associates, Anthony moved to Southern California to pursue an opportunity working behind the camera, in the film and television industry. Anthony has also performed duties as an Assistant Coach for the 13 Mile Lacrosse League in Royal Oak, Michigan coaching 6th, 7th and 8th grade athletes, as well as mentoring youth at his local community centers.
Jason Kahn
Background: Jason grew up on Long Island where he played at Northport High School from 1994 to 1998. Jason graduated in 1998 as team captain, with All County and All-American honors after winning a gold medal with Team Long Island in the NY Empire State Games in 1997. Jason was also a member of the championship team in Australia, part of the first U-17 Men’s USA Lacrosse team in 1996. Jason played at Johns Hopkins University his freshman year and then transferred to the University of Vermont where he decided to leave the game as a player athlete. Jason’s love for the sport of Lacrosse runs deep and he’s most recently held a head coaching position at Pepperdine University and assistant coaching roles at Thousand Oaks High School and Malibu High School in California.
Jason, his wife Lucy and their young son Leo have recently moved to the Palisades. Jason is very excited about helping the Palisades Youth Lacrosse program grow.
Contact: Jason.kahn@zohomail.com
Alex Bush
Background: Alex hails from Chevy Chase, Maryland where he played goalie for the #1 nationally ranked Landon School. He also earned All-Met honors in football and went on to play at the University of Pennsylvania from 1999-2001. He has experience coaching goalies at the high school level at his alma mater and at Harvard Westlake upon moving to LA in 2010. Alex lives in Pacific Palisades with his wife “coach” Libby and loves watching his 2 daughters enjoy playing the game he grew up with.
Meg Scattarella
Background: Meg is from Redding, CT where she grew up playing lacrosse. She was team captain during high school at Lauralton Hall and went on to play lacrosse at Ohio Wesleyan University. Meg received her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education and later earned her master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from Bank Street College of Education in NYC. She has been teaching K-5th graders over the last ten years.
Meg currently lives in the Pacific Palisades with her husband and 14-month old son.
Contact: mkhenesy@gmail.com