Head Coach - Mark Marsala

Professional Experience:

• 29 Years of High School Coaching Experience
• 19 Concurrent Years as a High School Athletic Director, in the State of Florida

Certifications:

• CAA – National Interscholastic Athletic Administration Association

FHSAA (Florida High School Athletic Association) Experience:

• 7 Years Section Appeals Committee
• 5 Years Board of Directors (2013-2014 - Chairman of the Operations Committee)
• 2 Years FHSAA Representative Assembly

Education Experience:

• Masters in Physical Education
• B.S. in Business Management

“With focus and integrity, I have worked diligently over the past 29

years, to ensure that high school sports are safe, fair, and most importantly

a positive experience for our school communities.”

Assistant Coach - Ridge Dulitz

Assistant Coach - Pedro Lopes

Assistant Coach - Darvin Jackson

 

Varsity Head Coach - Bill Carufe

 

Mr. Carufe has a wealth of experience teaching, coaching, facilitating sports camps and clinics, and with managing facilities, planning, curriculum design, book consultation and writing program philosophy. Bill currently focuses his energy as a faculty member and Director of Basketball Operations at Seacrest.

Prior to moving to Naples, Coach Carufe was an elementary physical education teacher, assistant football coach, JV baseball coach and varsity basketball coach for 14 years in upstate New York. He moved to Naples in 1998 and was employed by Gulf Coast High School as a physical education teacher, assistant football coach and junior varsity basketball coach. During his tenure at Gulf Coast High School, he was named Gulf Coast High School Coach of the Year, Gulf Coast High School Teacher of the Year and Collier County Public School High School Teacher of the Year. Click here for more

Assistant Coach - 

Boys Middle School - Tyler Turner

 

Varsity Head Coach - Nikita Carty

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nikita Carty has an everlasting passion for the game of basketball, and more importantly, a strong dedication to the development of youth through the sport.

A native of Sunrise, FL., Coach Nikita began coaching and working with young athletes at the Boys & Girls Club of Lauderhill. After relocating to Naples, FL in 2012, he continued coaching and working with Naples’ youth on skill development. Coach Nikita has trained and coached youth basketball for over 12 years and is now the Girl’s Varsity Head Coach for Seacrest Country Day School. During the off season, Coach Nikita and Assistant Coach Safiya operate an all-girls travel basketball organization named the Florida Diamonds. Based out of SWFL, The organization looks to build players from the ground up.

Coach Nikita is a United States Army National Guard Veteran. After serving for 8 years he learned the value of teamwork, discipline and hard-work. He believes those same principles can translate to the basketball court which is why they are the focus for his program here at Seacrest.

Assistant Coach - Safiya Martin

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coach Safiya Martin began her coaching tenure in Philadelphia, PA through a non-profit organization known as Philadelphia Youth Basketball. After relocating to Naples, FL she spent a year coaching middle school girls basketball at Community School of Naples, and also assisted with the varsity girls team.

Coach Safiya is entering her first year of coaching at Seacrest as assistant coach to the girls varsity team. During the off-season, coach Safiya and varsity girls basketball head coach Nikita Carty operate the grass-roots all-girls travel basketball organization known as the Florida Diamonds.

Coach Safiya is an alumna of Temple University where she played basketball for 4 consecutive years and earned her Bachelor of Science degree. 

Girls and Boys Varsity and Middle School - Bill Carufe

 

Mr. Carufe has a wealth of experience teaching, coaching, facilitating sports camps and clinics, and with managing facilities, planning, curriculum design, book consultation and writing program philosophy. Bill currently focuses his energy as a faculty member and Director of Basketball Operations at Seacrest.

Prior to moving to Naples, Coach Carufe was an elementary physical education teacher, assistant football coach, JV baseball coach and varsity basketball coach for 14 years in upstate New York. He moved to Naples in 1998 and was employed by Gulf Coast High School as a physical education teacher, assistant football coach and junior varsity basketball coach. During his tenure at Gulf Coast High School, he was named Gulf Coast High School Coach of the Year, Gulf Coast High School Teacher of the Year and Collier County Public School High School Teacher of the Year. Click here for more

Varsity -Bob Wickbolt

 

 

 

 

 

Varsity - David Pearson

 

 

 

 

 

My name is David Pearson and I am excited to be your Seacrest varsity head soccer coach.

I am from the UK and played football (soccer)at a Semi Professional Level. I played soccer from the age of 11, playing up a year every season.

At 14 I was asked to join Oldswinford FC for the U16’s, at this point I was already guest playing in an adult league. I finally retired playing when I was 37. I played predominantly in center of mid-field and defense, I had an uncanny knack of reading play and this role enabled me to have an influence on the game. Hard to believe but I was a very nippy right winger for many seasons and as any of my U10 team from last year will tell you I can still beat them in a 50 yards dash. Over my career I played numerous positions including Centre Forward, Center Midfield, Centre Half and Full Back and even played one season as Goal Keeper.

Highlights of my playing career were winning leagues and tournaments, scoring goals and I even had a club pay a transfer fee for me (my highlight of that particular season).

I have coached at Club level for Florida Fire Juniors for 5 years and took our U12 Boys team to Regional Commissioners Cup Final in recent years. I am currently Operations Manager for our new club, Florida West FC, having served in this position for 2 years prior with FFJ.

I am US Soccer Federation F, E and D Licensed, and will be taking my C License this year.

I am looking forward to meeting you all out on the field soon and hope to have a great season with you.

I hope to improve every player as an individual which will lead to the Team playing well and improving.

See you out on the field!

Middle School - Ridge Dulitz

Varsity - Louise Pearson

 

 

 

 

 

 

United States Soccer Federation E, F, D Licensed Coach
Plus other qualifications based around sports psychology, injury and nutrition.  I believe that I can always improve and learn and actively keep up to date on the latest training and initiatives in sports.

My philosophy is that the development of the players is more important than winning.  If I can guide a student to learn about themselves and become better citizens then I have done my job.  My aim is for the girls to have fun, become part of a team that supports one another and achieve their own personal goals.  I am not perfect and will undoubtedly make mistakes but I will always try to be my best.

Experience
5 years Coaching Soccer in the USA from grassroots to competitive
Coached Club for 5 years, winning several tournaments and leagues with a U12 Girls team.
Coached Seacrest Girls Varsity Since the 19/20 Season.

I represented my High School in Field and Track winning the High Jump, ShotPut, 100M and 400M at district level.  I was also the Captain for a team sport called Netball (similar to basketball).  We were the only school to win the double (district league and tournament) for 5 consecutive years running during my time.  I played Goal Attack which is one of the 2 goal-scorers.  I was also the Captain of the Field Hockey team for 2 years.

My athletic career from the age of 6 was based around the Equestrian world as Soccer was not really accessible to girls when I was young.  I spent my free time riding and competing in events across the Country and did capitalized from this.

I was raised in the UK in a huge soccer family and spent many a wet morning watching either my dad or brother playing soccer and more often than not,  wishing I was out there.  The nearest I got to playing was, street soccer, against my brother and his friends.  We moved to the USA in 2012 and our Son Max has been at Seacrest since Pre K.
 

 

Co-Head Coach - John Kruk

Seacrest parent and ESPN analyst John Kruk is the head coach of the Lady Rays varsity softball team. Kruk, a former major leaguer who played for four years with the Padres, five years with the Phillies and his final year with the White Sox, looks forward to coaching the girls and says his goal is to build the program. Kruk coached junior varsity baseball during the 2014-2015 and the 2015-2016 school years. He stresses that his coaching style is about encouraging his players to improve, helping them learn from their mistakes, identifying talent, and rewarding hard work. We can't wait to watch the Lady Rays play next spring under Coach Kruk's leadership.

Co-Head Coach - Jaclyn Traina

Born and raised in Naples, Jaclyn Traina is returning to her roots and joining Seacrest Country Day School as Co-Head Coach of the Varsity softball team and a Lower School Teaching Assistant (images below). Traina comes to Seacrest following a decorated softball career that includes professional leagues in the United States and Japan, four years as a pitcher on the USA Softball National Women's Team, and an NCAA Division I Softball Championship with the University of Alabama.

Assistant Coach - Paul Sladick

Assistant Coach - Rob Platt

Head Coach - Trey Brown

 

A Seacrest alum, Trey was part of Seacrest swimming from 6th grade through his senior year. After graduating from Seacrest in 2015, he swam for Centre College before transferring and swimming for Marymount University. Trey still holds the record for the 100 IM at Marymount. Trey started his coaching as part of a swim program at Marymount and also taught there for 3 years. Trey has also coached at Tom Dolan Swim School for a year.

Varsity Head Coach - Oliver Landert

Varsity Boys Tennis Coach - LouAnne Fischer

 

Varsity Co-ed - Nick Pohl

Nick has been teaching at Seacrest since 2008, and coaching since 2011, with one Team Cross Country District championship, numerous individual District champions in both track and cross country, and several State medalists. Nick was named Seacrest's chair of the history department in 2015 and the Naples Daily News Cross Country Coach of the year in 2018.

He is an accomplished and avid runner. He ran cross country for his high school and was a member of his schools's first team to ever make it to State finals. Nick has completed 12 half marathons with a PR of 1:27:45 and six marathons with a PR of 3:03:54

 

Assistant Coach - Mario Mendoza

Varsity - Jan Class

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2013, Jan Class came to Seacrest as the junior varsity and assistant varsity coach. He assumed the role of head coach during the 2013 district tournament . The team, under his coaching, went on to win the 2013 Class 2A State Championship, the first volleyball state championship for any school in Collier County and the first state championship for Seacrest. In the fall of 2014, he joined the community as a parent. Jan went on to take the 2014 varsity team back to the state tournament. Jan has an extensive background coaching volleyball all over the world that spans more than 25 years. Click here for a full bio on his volleyball experience.

Junior Varsity - Valerie Gonzalez

 

 

 

 

 

 

• USA Volleyball Indoor IMPACT Certified Coach
• Radford University – Virginia – Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration – Marketing and Management
• Seacrest Country Day School Junior Varsity Volleyball Coach and Varsity Volleyball Assistant Coach
• Radford University—Virginia NCAA Division I Volleyball Player: 2015-2019
• 2017 Honorable Mention of All-Conference Team
• 2017 Big South Conference Championship
• 2018 Big South Conference Runner-Up Championship
• 2018 Honorable Mention of All-Sports Big South Conference selection
• 2018 All-Academic Team
• 2018 Nominee of Big South Women’s Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Year
• Seacrest Country Day School 2011-2015 Varsity Volleyball Team Player
• 2013 FHSAA State Championship
• 2014 FHSAA Runner-Up Championship
• 2015 FACA Player of the Year & All-Star Team Select
• 2015 Naples News Player of the Year
• 2015 Winged Foot Scholar Athlete Award

Varsity Assistant Coach - Benjamin Davison

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Bachelor’s Degree in Biology – Olivet Nazarene University – Summa Cum Laude
• State of FL Certified Teacher in Biology and Mathematics
• Nationally Certified Teacher in Adolescent Mathematics
• USA Volleyball – Cap 1 Indoor Impact Certified Coach
• 19 years coaching/teaching experience
• Current Athletic Director, Teacher and Coach at Naples Christian Academy
• 18 Years coaching 7th/8th-grade volleyball at Naples Christian Academy
• Over 600 wins coaching between middle school, high school and travel sport levels with multiple league championships.
• Played collegiate volleyball at Olivet Nazarene University – Middle and Right Side Hitter
• 4-year starter – selected 2nd Team All Conference – (Senior Year)

Middle School Head Coach - Luis "Tito" Martinez

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Bachelor - Physical Education Secondary
• Volleyball Team Captain at Central University of Bayamon 2011-2013
• High School Alliance Men's Nationals Champions- Puerto Rico 2012
• HSAA Division 2 Champions- Puerto Rico 2013
• IMPACT certified
• Coach at 352 Elite Girls ( Ocala, Fl ) 2014-2017
• Coach at 352 Elite Boys ( Ocala , Fl ) 2014-2018
• AAU Nationals 2nd Place Gold Bracket 15s Open Division 2015
• USAV Nationals 2nd Place Gold Bracket 15s Club Division 2015
• AAU Nationals 1st place Gold Bracket 16s Open Division High Performance Tournament Girls National Select Red-Team Florida Champions 2016
• Trinity Catholic High School ( Ocala, Fl ) FHSAA 5A Division State Champions 2018
• Coach at Ocala Power United ( Ocala , Fl ) 2018-2020
• Florida Region Qualifier Tournament 2019- Qualified in American Division
• Sunshine Qualifier Tournament 2019 18s Open Division Champions- Qualified in OPEN
• Sunshine Qualifier Tournament 2020 15s USA Division Champions- Qualified in USA

Head Athletic Trainer - Hans Smelker 

 

 

 

 

Hans is a certified and licensed athletic trainer who earned both his BS in athletic training and his MS in health science education from FGCU. During his athletic training career, Hans has worked as an intern with the Boston Red Sox, a rehabilitation therapist in an orthopedic clinic focusing on post-surgical care, a Head Athletic Trainer at Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers, FL, and a Head Athletic Trainer for Naples Community Hospital and Palmetto Ridge High School in Naples, Florida. Hans is a leader both on and off the field and employs a wealth of knowledge that is invaluable in a wide variety of clinical settings. Hans also teaches Health class for Seacrest and has previously taught Biology and Anatomy & Physiology in the public school setting. Hans’ primary focus as Head Athletic Trainer at Seacrest is the prevention, evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of athletic injuries. Hans also enjoys educating his athletes about the human body, how it functions, how injuries occur, and how injuries can be prevented.