Coaches
Alexa Block
Coach Alexa is a native Californian, spending most of her young life on soccer fields in and around Los Angeles. The time was well spent; she's a talented player. Always an offensive threat, she played for her high school team, as well as several club teams in the area. She's enjoying the experience of teaching the 'little ones'...
Favorite color: purple
Favorite superhero: Iron Man
Something you wouldn't know about Coach Alexa: She loves Thai Food!
Brian Nitzkin
Born and raised in Chicago, Coach Brian grew up with soccer from his days as a player on many AYSO, traveling, club and high school teams. After playing a little in college, he moved back to Chicago and, while teaching high school English, began coaching soccer for for the district's Special Olympics team. Since moving out to Los Angeles a little over three years ago, Coach Brian has been active on his company's soccer team - as both a defensemen and goalie.
Favorite Color: red
Favorite Superhero: Superman
Something you wouldn't know about Coach Brian: He has never tried coffee OR has ever seen The Godfather.
Jason Mosberg
Jason is from Delaware. He is 25 years old and has been coaching soccer at SoccerKidsUSA for more than two years. He has been playing soccer for 21 years and plays in leagues in Santa Monica and Arcadia.
Favorite color: orange
Favorite superhero: Moon Knight
Something you wouldn't know about Coach Jason: He named his car after Zack Morris.
Keith Lincoln
Coach Keith has played soccer for over 19 years, playing at all levels from club to college. He is a full time student studying for a profession in sports psychology. A resident of Santa Monica, Coach Keith enjoys surfing at the local beaches and training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at The Gracie Academy. He has been a coach with SoccerKidsUSA for nearly 3 years. One of the best things about teaching is passing on some of the knowledge that he's learned and seeing the kids enjoy the sport.
Favorite color: blue
Favorite superhero: Wolverine
Something you wouldn't know about Coach Keith: His great grandmother was 100% Cherokee Indian.
Lauren Whitted
Coach Lauren Whitted started playing soccer in elementary school and has played on a team or for recreation ever since. She's moved around a lot. After finishing college, she couldn't ignore the call from incredible Southern California. Most recently coming from Texas (don't let her lack of an accent fool you) Lauren has called LA home for a year and a half. When not doing the workweek shuffle, she likes to spend her time hiking, going to the beach, trying to find her way around LA, and cooking. Just don't ask her to make apple cider. One day, she hopes to go see Arsenal FC play in Emirates.
P.S. She's a great defender - good luck getting past her!!
Favorite color: blue
Favorite superhero: Sonic the hedgehog (but both Ty and Brian say that doesn't count)
Something you wouldn't know about Coach Lauren: She adopted a rescue dog named Morty in Sept. 08.
Michelle Shegda
Coach Michelle has been with SoccerKidsUSA since February 2007. An East Coast native, she has been residing and working in Venice, CA, as the Education Director at the Boys & Girls Club of Venice. She spends her free time playing competitive soccer in a women’s amateur league, hiking in Temescal Canyon, skateboarding along the beach and biking around town. She's also been known to do yoga and belly dance! Originally from Pennsylvania, Michelle attended LaSalle University as a scholarship player on the Women’s Soccer Team. After obtaining her Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Michelle began coaching at her high school Alma Mater. She earned a “C” coaching license, a Certification in Personal Training, and a Master’s in Sport & Recreation Administration from Temple University.
Her favorite thing about SoccerKidsUSA is the kids' imaginative minds. It's amazing to see the growth of coordination and talent over the course of only 10 weeks!
Favorite color: purple
Favorite superhero: Wonder Woman
Something you wouldn't know about Coach Michelle: She collects postcards!
Patty West
Program Director
Coach Patty was born and raised in Chicago where she started playing soccer when she was three. She played lacrosse at Northwestern University and then went on to coach her high school girls' lacrosse team for three years. Patty is excited to now coach a much younger group and introduce soccer into their lives! When she's not with SoccerKids, she's working at the American Film Institute.
Favorite color: blue
Favorite superhero: BATMAN
Something you wouldn't know about coach Patty: Her family won a car in Disneyworld!
Christin Mizelle
Growing up as 1 of 8 kids on a 300 acre farm in Virginia has bred Christin not only to love the outdoors, but pretty much all sports. She moved to California almost 4 years ago to pursue her Masters Degree and is currently working on her second feature length documentary as a Production Coordinator. She is really excited to join the SoccerKidsUSA team, as it reminds her of the fun she had when she was younger.
Favorite color: "Carolina" baby blue
Favorite superhero: Spider-Man
Something you wouldn't know about Coach Christin: She has a collection of over 100 Barbies!
Michelle Strapp
Coach Shell grew up in Southern California and started playing soccer at the age of 3. She loves being able to teach the kids at SoccerKidsUSA and see how much they learn each session. She enjoys seeing different places and learning new things. Growing up she played many sports, but soccer seems to be the one that stuck.
Barbara Macz
Behind-The-Scenes Assistant
Barbara Macz was born and raised in Los Angeles. Being the third of four siblings kept her childhood fairly busy, with sports being a shared interest. Never one to be left out, a young Barbara was always spotted dashing quickly after a soccer ball (through a field of adults in a game). She is an unquestionable geek in nature and practitioner of the fine arts in her spare time (though most definitely not conceptual art nor dance) but can play almost any instrument thrown at her; just give her a few minutes to work it out! She spends a large percentage of her day looking serious from squinting in thought… or sunlight, and humming/drumming/whistling to show tunes unconsciously. She loves being a SoccerKidsUSA ninja!
Favorite color: teal
Favorite superhero: Zorro
Something you wouldn’t know about Barbara: has never gotten chickenpox and fears for that day
Dianne Ward
Coach Dianne was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia and moved to Los Angeles 13 years ago to pursue her higher education. After completing her MFA in Film and TV Producing from Chapman University, Dianne works in the Television Division at Content Media Corporation, a London based international sales, acquisition and distribution company. Coach Dianne enjoys watching and playing a variety of different sports and, is very excited to be part of the SoccerKidsUSA team!
Favorite color: Blue - Well, any shade of blue, really.
Favorite superhero: Wonder Woman
Something you wouldn't know about Coach Alexa: She has 4 brothers and sisters, all of
whom live in different parts of the world!
Megan Stock
Coach Megan is from Springfield, Missouri and recently graduated from the University of Tulsa. She has played soccer since she was 4, but loves all sports! Coach Megan is really excited to be working with SoccerKids! She loves animals, sports and music, likes that she is tall, and hates orange Starburst.
Favorite color: blue
Favorite superhero: Superman
Something you wouldn't know about Coach Megan: She has two screws in her pinky from a flag football injury in high school
Alycia
Alycia grew up in Salinas, CA. She started playing soccer at 5 years old for a team named The Blue Rockets. She has played ever since. Alycia attended the University of Southern California and long jumped on the track and field team for 2 years. She loves sports, sunshine and hates the rain, although “playing in the rain is pretty fun!”
Favorite color: Yellow
Favorite superhero: Violet from the Incredibles
Something you wouldn't know about Coach Alycia: She lived in Australia for 6 months
Justin Galindo
Justin is from Cleveland, Ohio. He is a student filmmaker and Psych Major. He enjoys most outdoor activities.
Favorite color: Green
Favorite superhero: Batman
Something you wouldn't know about Coach Justin G.: He creates reels for actors, makes films and is a cinematographer
Justin B.
Justin has been playing soccer since middle school and continued to play on his high school team at South Pasadena. He is now at Santa Monica College studying Music Appreciation.
Favorite color: Green
Favorite superhero: Ballatore
Something you wouldn't know about Coach Justin B.: He has a birthmark on his head that white hair grows out of!
Lisa
Lisa started playing soccer when she was 5 years old in North Carolina where she grew up. She loved running around and getting dirty on soccer fields from Europe to South America, in San Francisco and LA. Just as much as she loves the game itself, she loves the way it has been a catalyst for lasting friendships. When she is kicking a ball around, you are likely to find Lisa in front or behind the cameras, playing volley ball or salsa dancing. She is excited to join SoccerKidsUSA!
Favorite color: Turquoise
Favorite superhero: Elecktra
Something you wouldn't know about Coach Lisa: She enjoys speaking French and loves French culture.
