YCC TEAM COACHES
U-17 Girls: Belly of the Beast
Jonathan "Sam" Goldsmith
(he/him/his)
Sam returns for his fifth year coaching Belly of the Beast. Sam started playing ultimate in 2007, where he was a founding member of his New Jersey based high school's club team. He then went on to play on and become the social chair for Lehigh University's United Ultimate Club Team. Sam plays club for the Bay Area Donuts and beach teams Tanuki Love and Fog City. Sam has been coaching Ultimate since 2016. Sam previously coached Bentley Phoenix and the Alameda Taurus. When he is not playing or coaching, Sam is focused on fitness, nutrition, following sports, and his wonderful dog Pippen (@PippensAdventureTime on instagram). Sam loves teaching people how to throw, check out his start up Disc.ai (@discaiapp).
Carolyn Stewart
Carolyn started playing ultimate with the Cal Women’s team, when they were Rhythm Method and helped rename the team, the Pie Queens. She co-captained the team to Nationals with a roster of 10 players where the Pie Queens finished tied for 3rd. She went on to play women’s and mixed club in the Bay Area and in the NY Metro Area, including playing at Nationals with W.U.P.A.S.S.
Carolyn has coached middle school ultimate since 2016 and BADA clinics the last few years. She’s currently the head coach of Purple Reign, the Piedmont Middle School team. She’s very excited to be coaching YCC for the first time.
Chris Godek
Chris Godek began his Ultimate journey with Pacific Lutheran University, Reign, in 2004, quickly developing a deep love for the sport. After relocating to the Bay Area in 2010, he immersed himself in the local Ultimate scene, playing in beach and recreation leagues. His dedication to Ultimate led him to co-found Firefly, a mixed club team. Transitioning from player to coach, Chris now leverages his extensive experience to mentor the next generation of Ultimate players. He currently coaches Berkeley High's Girls team, Hysteria and has an immense passion for growing the sport at all levels while constantly looking for ways to increase opportunities for players. This marks his second year coaching Belly of the Beast.
Luna Wagner
Bio coming soon!
Elsa Winslow
Elsa started playing ultimate in college with UC Santa Barbara, and was quickly obsessed. She captained the UCSB Burning Skirts to two semi-finals appearances. Elsa played club in SoCal throughout and after college, most notably with Flipside in 2022. She also played with the U24 women’s team in 2023 and is a current player on the Bay Area Falcons.
A first time coach, Elsa is excited to give young girls the frisbee experience she never got as a high schooler, and watch them all become better than her. She has volunteered with middle and high schools and worked to promote women in the sport. Elsa can’t wait to push the U17 girls team by racing them during conditioning workouts, and to help make this the most competitive and fun summer ever.
(he/him/his)
U-17 Boys: Aftershock
Jasmine Lim
Coach Jazzy started playing ultimate in 2007 in Malaysia. She played at UCLA, and continued to play on club teams in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In recent years, she’s competed with the club teams Firefly, Classy, and Blackwidows.
She’s coached players of all ages through multiple ultimate frisbee programs: Pasadena High School boys, Bay Area Leagues, OAK. This year she's excited to return to coach Aftershock at YCC for the second time.
Conor Brownell
Conor started playing ultimate in middle school in Atlanta, and has played ever since, including on ATLiens U20 YCC (including a 2013 YCC championship), Georgia Tech’s men's team, and Chain Lightning.
He’s coached middle and high school programs, including summer camps, clinics, and his local middle school team. He also captained Georgia Tech for 2 seasons. Conor is excited to coach YCC for the first time this season, especially since YCC remains one of his favorite playing experiences.
Seamus Shogren
Bio coming soon!
(she/her/hers)
U-20 Mixed: Happy Cows
Joey Ricks
Joey started playing ultimate in college at UMBC and quickly fell in love with the sport. He has dabbled in the pro scene with the DC Current and Detroit Mechanix, but has been playing mixed club since 2015. Joey currently plays for SF Classy.
Joey first started coaching high school ultimate back on the East coast when he was in college and co founded the first MD YCC team, Blackout! He previously coached Gunn Control and currently coaches the Berkeley HS A team. Joey is excited to be coaching the next generation of ultimate studs!
Robert "Rob" Srinivasiah
Rob has been playing Ultimate in various forms since 2004 at Arizona State. Rob first started coaching by helping Peninsula-based DISCeption in Spring 2013, followed by a co-coaching role with Palo Alto HS before the program merged with Gunn HS. He recently helped restart the coaching staff for Gunn HS, and is enjoying working with the next generation of Ultimate community members. This is Rob’s third year with BUYA + YCC.
Eliza Chang
Eliza started playing ultimate as a freshman in college on Harvard Quasar and was immediately hooked. Throughout her college years, she played and practiced with various club mixed and women’s teams on the east coast. Since arriving in the Bay Area, Eliza has played for Nightlock, captaining for 3 of those years, and plays with the SF Falcons during the pro season.
Eliza has been involved in the Bay Area girls’ program as the coach of Heartbreak from 2018-2021. She is excited to continue coaching with BUYA and working with the next generations of players and leaders in our sport.
KJ Hickey
KJ started playing ultimate in High School for Disc-O-Tech, where she captained mixed and gx all 4 years. She also played on Cali Roll throughout high school, ABBQ this last summer, and Happy Cows for YCC! Right now, she’s in her second year of college at the University of Washington, where she plays on Washington Element.
Returning for her second year of coaching YCC, KJ is super excited to work with U20 players and pass on some college-level experience!
U-20 Boys: Red Dawn
Caleb Merriam
Caleb grew up in DC, where he started playing Ultimate in 10th grade. Caleb has played Ultimate ever since, through college at Cal Poly and for several club teams, most recently Revolver in 2022. His previous coaching experience comes at Cal Poly where he coached officially from 2019-2021, though he continues to work in a grumpy uncle advisory role. This is his third year coaching youth in the Bay, working with both Gold Rush and Red Dawn.
Shayla "Dozer" Harris
Dozer started playing ultimate when she arrived at Stanford as a college freshman. She played four years for Stanford Superfly and was a 2016 D1 College National Champion. Dozer played for Nightlock from 2017-2019, and was a member of the 2019 Women’s U24 National Team, which won the U24 World Championship tournament in Heidelberg, Germany. Dozer joined Fury in 2021, and won the 2021 Women’s Club National Championship. She continues to play for Fury, and plays for the San Francisco Falcons during the pro season. Dozer has coached Stanford Superfly for the past three seasons, and is excited to be returning to YCCs!
(he/him/his)