Lindsay Kauffman has been coaching girls (ages 5­ thru 18) in the Bay Area for over 20 years. She has a background in elementary school education as well as cultural and social anthropology with graduate research focused on women’s and girls empowerment and human rights. Coach Lindsay was the assistant coach for the Gold Medal winning of the 2013 USA Maccabi Women’s Team, and has been head coach for Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep HS, Lowell HS, Bay HS, Urban HS, and Vikings Club. In 2014, Lindsay was awarded the San Francisco Unified School District Women’s Soccer Coach of the Year in 2014. Most recently she earned the Positive Coaching Alliance 2022 Double-Goal Coach Award, helped lead the Urban High School Varsity team to playoffs, and earned division championships for two of her Girls Unite competitive teams. Coach Lindsay holds a USSF D license, and specializes in TOVO Methodology having completed multiple TOVO Institute courses and applying them to her coaching. She is committed to helping girls fall in love with the game of soccer; encouraging them to be strong, healthy and confident.

Val Henderson is a Bay Area native and long time sport and soccer lover. She is passionate about empowering players and coaches of all ages through sport. Val has served as an ambassador to the US State Department in Chile, Paraguay, Singapore, and Mexico, uniting communities through soccer, and teaching and empowering coaches and players. Val was an All-American, Academic-All American, and captain for the UCLA women's soccer program. She competed in the 2004 U20 Women's World Cup in Russia and played professional soccer for the LA Sol, Philadelphia Independence, and KIF Örebro in Sweden. Val has a degree in English and Spanish from UCLA as well as a teaching credential from CSUEB. Val has coached players of all ages and levels from U8 to college and post-collegiate. Val holds her USSF 'B' License and serves as an assistant coach with the US Youth National Teams.

Girls Unite is thrilled to welcome Kierra Scalercio as Director of U8-U10 Competitive Travel Program!

Coach Kierra joins the Girls Unite coaching staff with the primary focus of developing our U8-U10 girls in the technical, athletic, and mental skillset needed to become competitive soccer players. Adding Kierra to our competitive developmental program speaks to Girls Unite’s commitment to center female players and support them with strong mentors, highest quality coaching, community and tools to reach their potential.

Coach Kierra has USSF C and USSF D licenses, and brings a lot of experience with her, including:
* Dominican University Women’s team Assistant Coach
* Mill Valley Soccer Club Competitive Head Coach
* College of Marin Women’s team, Assistant Coach
* Sacred Heart Cathedral HS, JV Coach
* Lowell High School, Varsity Assistant Coach
* Convent Varsity, Assistant Coach
* Branson High School, Assistant Coach

Kierra Scalercio continues to play professionally with CaliBeach Soccer Club (a beach soccer lover!) and recently with the San Francisco NightHawks of the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL). She has also been working with a nonprofit organization called SoccerFours for over a decade. Her true passion lies in connecting with and developing motivated young female athletes as they find their confidence and skill on the field, and we are thrilled that she is bringing her incredible experience, skillset, and passion to Girls Unite’s youngest competitive players!

We are thrilled to have Shalom Kimble as our Professional Goalkeeper Trainer for the Girls Unite Competitive Travel program. Coach Shalom played goalkeeper for San Francisco State University Women's varsity program. She has coached and trained youth and high school goalkeepers for the past 20 years, and has won numerous awards including the 2021 Positive Coaching Alliance Double-Goal Coach Award. She has a B.A. in Psychology and Criminal Justice, decades of experience working with youth ages 3-18, and currently is also a teacher at A.P Giannini Middle School. She holds USSF E coaching license.

Coach Erin grew up playing competitive soccer in Pleasanton, CA and has continued to play soccer for the past 20 years in San Francisco. She has been coaching girls competitive soccer for the past six years. She is a D licensed coach and holds two special topics diplomas for Speed of Play and Maximizing Player Performance using Technology and Science. She has three children and her two daughters play on competitive Girls Unite teams.

Marieke Blazeski is a San Francisco native. She has been playing soccer for 25 years and has been coaching for 15 (ages 3 thru 18) with a F, E, and E/D coaching license. In addition to coaching for Girls Unite, she is also currently the Head Coach for the boys soccer team at Galileo High School (4+ years). Growing up in San Francisco she played recreational soccer in the Vikings and PAL league, club soccer with the San Francisco Vikings, semi professionally with the San Francisco Night Hawks, and 4 years in college at San Francisco State University. She has experience personal training (soccer and fitness) and studied Creative Writing with a bachelors in English. She is very passionate about soccer, teaching, and competition.

Coach Stefani is originally from the midwest and has been playing soccer for over twenty five years. She played goalkeeper at the University of Wisconsin (go Badgers!) from 2003-2006. She was voted team captain her senior year and helped lead the Badgers to two NCAA tournament appearances. Stefani holds a USSF “D” Coaching license and was a goalkeeper coach in the Chicago area from 2008-2011. Stefani has lived in the Bay Area for nearly ten years now and is looking forward to coaching for Girls Unite. By day, Stefani works to help make buildings more energy efficient. Stefani continues to play soccer recreationally in the Golden Gate Women's Soccer League . Stefani has recently also transitioned her skills to flag football and is playing on the Bay Area Fire, competing this summer in the inaugural WFFN national women’s flag football league. Fun fact: Stefani has been to four soccer World Cups: two men’s- USA (1994) and Germany (2006), and two women’s- Canada (2015) and France (2019).

Coach Olivia comes from Saint Paul, Minnesota, and earned her BA in creative writing from DePaul University in Chicago. Since graduating college, Coach Olivia has been traveling and teaching English abroad. She currently works as a carpenter for Habitat for Humanity, specializing in tiny houses for underserved communities.

She started playing soccer when she was 5 and played competitively up until college. The coaching director of Coach Olivia's youth club was trained in Brazil, so Coach Olivia grew up playing futsal, small sided games and juggling tennis balls! Coach Olivia encourages players to take opponents on, think creatively with their feet, and work in tight spaces.

Coach Alicia start playing soccer in 3rd grade - ever since she got hit in the stomach with the ball and had the wind knocked out of her - she was hooked! Growing up in SoCal, and there were lots of youth leagues and Coach Alicia played AYSO then moved to a competitive travel team (Wildcats) in the Coast Soccer League. As a freshman in high school, she and several teammates from the Wildcats attempted to try out for the boy's soccer team as there was no girl's team (but the boy's coach would not allow them to try out). However, because of Title IX passing shortly after, Coach Alicia was able to join her high school's first girls varsity soccer team and played for all four years. Coach Alicia hasn't stopped playing since, staying active in the Golden Gate Women's Soccer League - also as volunteer VP of New Players for the GGWSL Board - and constantly seeking out ways to keep players of all ages playing. Coach Alicia believes in sports as a tool for female empowerment, and strives to provide a strong example to her young charges. Coach Alicia loves getting to know her players, embracing the challenge of a new season, and helping them realize their potential! Coach Alicia has been coaching for 15+ years, currently holds an E license and is actively pursuing her USSF D.

Continuing her seasons of coaching with Girls Unite, soccer for Coach Delmy has always been a family passion. Her dad was her first coach, and imparted the playing passion and discipline that would stay with her throughout her playing career. Coach Delmy played at Skyline College representing Bay Area home grown skill, and still attend Earthquakes games as often as possible! She loves teaching soccer team play with a defensive emphasis, building the foundation from the back, and how to move forward as a unit. Last season, her 2011 Warriors were crowned division champions in the local league, and graduated to travel competition! She can't wait to continue working with her players this upcoming season and help her teams grow and learn together.

Danielle Leone has been playing soccer recreationally for 30 years and coaching kids for five. Before that, she was a nanny for fifteen years, and she's always been a writer and a touring musician. She has three books of fiction and six albums of songs, and also works with kids on writing and music.

As an avid fan of the modern Women’s Soccer game, Coach Marina can’t wait to share strategy and methodical approach with her teams. She partially takes her inspiration from experience, as well as her favorite professional team - the Orlando Pride, and brings big ideas and passion to the Girls Unite coaching staff. Her favorite experiences as a soccer player includes embracing responsibility and meeting high expectations from teammates. Coach Marina also believes that putting young players in a position to succeed and share their voice develops leadership skills that last their entire lives. She can’t wait to meet and start working with her teams this upcoming season!

Coach Elise grew up playing competitive soccer in Oregon. She played Division I soccer at San Diego State as a goalkeeper for two years before transferring to Oregon State University to earn her B.S. in Environmental Engineering. Coach Elise is new to the Bay Area and new to coaching, but she is excited and ready to share her love and knowledge of the game with players.

Team friendship and a sense of camaraderie has kept Coach Brianna involved in soccer from the time she could walk through high school varsity in El Paso. Coach Brianna focuses on building unity within the team, finding common ground, and emphasizes fun through her coaching style. The highlight of any season for her is getting to know the players and helping them find their individual style on and off the field! As a software engineer, Coach Brianna approaches every problem with discipline, and loves finding solutions through careful analysis. However, Coach Brianna believes firmly the most important aspect of any season is the bond one creates with their teammates and she can't wait to share that with her players.

Coach Aletheia comes to Girls Unite from the East Coast, where she specialized in child psychology and development and is now looking to continue her career as a teacher. Coach Aletheia brings holistic perspective to the field, and with her diverse background working with children from all different areas, Girls Unite is thrilled to build with Coach Aletheia in her inaugural season.

Coach Alli fell for soccer back in elementary school, when her dad coached her rec teams in Columbus, Indiana. As an adult, Coach Alli has found soccer to be an amazing way to quickly meet great people wherever she goes, whether moving across the country to San Francisco, visiting family back in Michigan, or traveling internationally. When not playing soccer, Coach Alli is likely playing tennis or Ultimate Frisbee, biking, or lying in a park reading. She loves connecting with others through play and movement, and she is thrilled to be out on the pitch with girls, families, and coaches who share this passion or are just checking out soccer for the first time!

Coach Jocy knows what it takes to motivate players and keep them in the game - FUN! Coach Jocy started playing at a wee 5 years old and kept playing up until a few years ago when they evolved into a coaching role. Their family spends weekends bonding over matches for the Mexico City team, Cruz Azul, and Coach Jocy takes many of their midfield strategies from Cruz Azul's play book (get ready 2nd graders!). Girls Unite is so thrilled to have Coach Jocy's calm demeanor and fun-focus out on the pitch.

Coach Jessica truly can't wait to get out on the field and coach this year! She played soccer for eight years recreationally, competitively, and in high school. Coach Jessica embraced the coaching path because she believes that soccer is a brilliant sport, and motivates kids to have fun and get creative. She hopes to impart players some of her passion for the sport, and guide them into lifelong involvement.

Coach Lindsay can't remember a time when she wasn't playing the beautiful game, continuing to play through college, and even today on an 11v11 team in the GGWSL premier division. She's a new coach, but has wanted to coach for a long time to share her love and passion for the game with young players, and foster a safe and fun environment. Coach Lindsay strives to help players find their joy on the field, and follow her steps in making soccer a life-long passion!

Tori is an outgoing, semi-recent college student who cannot give up her love of soccer. When she isn't coaching or doing her day job, you can find her watching Netflix, reading, blogging, or painting! She loves to show kids what it's like to play soccer and have fun doing it. After all, she has learned some great life lessons through her 14 years of playing. The goal for this season is simply that- have fun with friends and learn something valuable!

Coach Jackie is a San Francisco native and has played soccer in the Bay Area for over 10 years. She graduated from the University of San Francisco with a B.A. in Environmental Studies, and is passionate about social and environmental justice. Coach Jackie brings patience and optimism to every team she works with, and finds a way to meet players at the level they need! She looks forward to working with teams and promoting the confidence of young female players both on and off the soccer field.

As a senior at SF State working working towards a B.A. in criminal justice studies, Coach Kylah is no stranger to discipline. She values structure in practices and helping players find their creativity through strong execution of the fundamentals. Playing from ages 4 to about 13, Coach Kylah has pursued ways to stay involved in the game. She looks to impart positivity, confidence and fun and a sense of pride to all players she has the opportunity to work with.

Coach Gillian has been working as a mechanical engineer for the last couple of years. However in the after-work hours, she wanted to revisit her first passion, and get involved with coaching youth. Playing in San Diego area as a tiny tot, Coach Gillian grew up with the life philosophy of applying oneself and pursuing goals with diligence. She strives to help young players understand their crucial individual role within a collective effort. Girls Unite is so thrilled to collaborate with Coach Gillian and her nose for goal(s) on and off the field.

Coach Xitali comes to Girls Unite in her second season of coaching. Coach Xitali loves looking for the commonalities across team members, and bringing players together through collaboration and collective effort. As a current college student, Coach Xitali understands how to juggle pressure and expectations, and she actively seeks out opportunities to show young aspiring players how to find rhythm in the on-field chaos. Girls Unite is so lucky to have Coach Xitali's calm demeanor on the sideline!

Coach Avena played in competitive east bay clubs until about 8th grade. After that, she took a step back to focus on finding the ``fun`` in soccer again. Coach Avena now looks to help individual players find their own voice by creating space for them to express their own unique communication styles. She believes that freedom helps players build better team play and stay in the game!

Coach Lexi grew up playing competitive and high school soccer in Louisville, Kentucky. In high school, she was an all-state player and held a state record for most goals scored in a career. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s in psychological science from Western Kentucky University where she was also captain of the soccer team. For the past three years, Lexi has worked as a research assistant and played soccer at the University of Southampton in England, studying multi-sensory perception. Playing soccer in a new culture helped Lexi realize that soccer has the ability to transcend language and cultural barriers: the love of the game can bring anyone together.

Lexi is new to the Bay Area and cannot wait to utilize her coaching role to mentor and inspire players. On the field, her team goals include focusing on improving individual skill while emphasizing the importance of team harmony. Off the field, she hopes to motivate young women to be the best versions of themselves!