About Us – Dirty Birds Lacrosse

President, Head Coach, Vince Walch

Vince Walch is the new President of Dirty Birds Lacrosse. Vince works full time as a Sr. Technical Recruiter for Amazon. Vince is also a seasoned lacrosse professional with over 10 years of experience playing at the High School and Collegiate Level. He attended Emmanuel College and Georgia Southern University and played Attack for both organizations. Since Graduating Georgia Southern University in 2016, Vince has been involved in coaching at the High School, Middle School, and Youth grade levels in the Atlanta Metro Area. He started off at Campbell HS as their Varsity Offense Coach helping improve the team from a previous 2-14 record to 8-8 in one year. From there, he became an offensive coach at Milton HS assisting in an Elite Eight playoff run. Since 2018, Vince has been acting as an Offensive Coach for the 2019 GHSA State Champion and 2022 GHSA State Runner Up Walton HS Lacrosse Program at both the middle school and high school grade levels. He also has US Lacrosse, GHSA, and GMSA coaching certifications as well as his CPR/First Aid and Personal Training certifications.

Chief Strategy Officer, Founder, Griffin Spotz

Griffin Spotz is in his 14th year as a head coach in GA and 11th as head coach at Walton High School. Previously, he played lacrosse in Illinois, playing defense and LSM for the University of Illinois MCLA Club team. He started the Duluth High School boy’s lacrosse team. In 2013, he started the Dirty Birds Lacrosse program. At Walton he has gone to the Elite 8 six separate times, as well as the Final Four three times. In 2019, Coach Spotz led the Raiders to a State Title, beating Lambert, 8-7 in the State Championship game. The Raiders finished the season ranked #1 in the state for all of GHSA Lacrosse, 1A – 7A, with a 21-2 record. They also finished the season ranked #3 in the Southeast by Inside Lacrosse Under Armour rankings. Their record of 7-1 against other teams that finished the season ranked in the Top 10 in the state will stand as a testament to how successful their 2019 season was. Coach Spotz was awarded the NFHS Boys Lacrosse Coach of the year for 2019 by the GHSA. In 2022, Coach Spotz led Walton to their first ever Region Title and a 6-7A GHSA State Championship appearance. In 2022, Coach Spotz also won MDJ Coach of the Year, which he previously received in 2014 and 2019 as well. His teams over the past decade have been awarded multiple Academic All American, All State, and All American honors.

Program Director, Head Coach, Chris Hasbrouck

Chris Hasbrouck will be joining the Dirty Birds as a Program Director beginning with the summer 2022 season. Coach Hasbrouck arrived in Atlanta four years ago after a successful run at Episcopal HS in Houston. Before moving to Houston, Hasbrouck spent 22 years coaching and recruiting for three nationally ranked NCAA programs. Hasbrouck served as the Head Coach at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, where he earned the Capital Athletic Conference Coach of the Year award in 2009. In 2013 Hasbrouck guided the Seahawks to their first ever NCAA playoff berth defeating national powerhouse Salisbury in the conference championship. During his tenure at St. Mary’s the lacrosse team had 122 athletes named to the Capital Athletic Conference All-Academic team and 6 players named USILA Scholar All-Americans. Prior to St. Mary’s, Hasbrouck was the Head Coach at Limestone College where he took the Saints to the National Championship game in 2005. After the 2005 season he was named the Division II National Coach of the Year. Chris began his college coaching career at Salisbury University (MD), where he served for 10 years as the head assistant coach. Salisbury is universally regarded as one of the most successful collegiate men's lacrosse programs in the country. During his time at Salisbury, the Sea Gulls won five Division III National Championships and were a national runner-up once. Hasbrouck has successfully recruited over 250 high school athletes to play for nationally ranked NCAA college teams and has coached 90 All Americans, as well as 15 National Position Players of the Year. Chris hails from Suffern, New York where he played for the legendary coach John Orlando. Coach Orlando is one of the most successful coaches in New York state history compiling over 500 wins in a storied career.

Head Coach, Pete Manderano

Pete Manderano has coached 18 seasons in Georgia, which includes four years at the collegiate level. He has a total record of 170-111. He currently is the Head Boys Lacrosse Coach at River Ridge High School. In May, 2021 he completed his fourth and last season at Woodstock High School with an overall 37-23 record. Woodstock reached the Sweet 16 in 2019 and 2021, while 2021 was the most successful of the four years, having earned a 13-6 record. Coach Manderano's experience includes 2 seasons at Kell High School in which his team earned a 25-9 record in two seasons. The 2017 season was one of the most successful seasons in school history when it earned its first playoff win in school history. Also, two players were named to the All-State Honorable Mention team for their accolades on the field. Before Kell, Coach Manderano spent 5 years at Piedmont College, a DIII program, located in NE Georgia. While at Piedmont he was tasked with starting the lacrosse program. He spent four seasons on the sidelines for the Lions and earned a 21-36 record. He coached two players who earned more than 100 goals in their career. Two of his players also earned All-SEILC honors. Before Piedmont, he was the Head Boys Coach at Lassiter High School where he earned a 78-23 record during his 5 years tenure. He was part of a program that played in 3 state championships in 2006, 2007 and 2010. The 2006 team brought home the championship, the first public school to win a GHSA state championship. Coach Manderano was fortunate to coach 3 U.S. Lacrosse All-Americans, 4 MDJ Lacrosse Player of the Year and multiple All-State players. He was named the MDJ Lacrosse Coach of the Year 4 times during his stay at Lassiter. Before Lassiter, Manderano was the Head Boys Lacrosse Coach at Riverwood High School. He was the first coach at Riverwood as well. His teams earned a two year record of 9-20. His 2005 team earned a 7-9 record after only their second season as a program. Manderano spent his scholastic days playing football and lacrosse at Fairport High School, which is a suburb of Rochester, NY. He was a three year starter on the football team and won 2 Section V Championships. He was captain his senior year, when he earned 1st team All-County, 1st team All-Greater Rochester and 4th team All-State as a linebacker. In lacrosse, he was a 3 year member of the team and earned a spot as a captain his senior year. He was also named to the 2nd team All-County and the team won the Section V Championship. After high school he spent two seasons playing linebacker at the University at Buffalo. Coach Manderano has been married to his wife Leah for 19 years and they have 2 children, Kaitlyn and William.

Head Coach, Clinic Instructor, Mason Wren

Mason Wren has coached for seven years at Woodstock High School. Coach Wren served as the JV Boys Head Coach for six years before being named the Varsity Boys Head Coach before the 2022 season. In his first season as Head Coach in the 2022 season, Coach Wren led the Wolverines to a 15-5 record, two playoff wins, and an Elite 8 appearance in the GHSA 6A/7A State Playoffs. Fifteen wins was the most in one season in school history. The 2022 season saw one his players earn USA Lacrosse All-American Honors for the first time in Woodstock High School history. Coach Wren was named the 2022 Cherokee County Boys Lacrosse Coach of the Year by the Cherokee Tribune and Ledger. Coach Wren has over 10 years of playing experience as an attackman and midfielder. Coach Wren was part of Riverwood High School’s inaugural team in the Spring of 2004 season playing under Pete Manderano. Coach Wren works as a Special Education Teacher at Woodstock High School and lives in Holly Springs, GA.

Head Coach, Clinic Instructor, Mario Lewis

Mario Lewis is a Cobb County native and is a Reinhardt University alumni. He was a former defensemen who was named to a MCLA All Conference Team in 2014. During his college playing career he also competed in two MCLA championship games. Since graduating in 2017, Mario has been the defensive coordinator for Campbell High School helping lead the team to their first and second ever school playoff appearance (2018/2022). He also comes with extensive club coaching experience spanning across Atlanta Kings, Atlanta Lacrosse Club, and Crossfire. Fun fact! When he’s not coaching at Campbell High School or Dirty Birds, Mario works as a project coordinator for Walmart.

Head Coach, Cole McMeen

Coach Cole McMeen is one of the newest coaches of the Dirty Birds Lacrosse. Coach McMeen currently works as a Healthcare IT Consultant in Atlanta. McMeen played Defense/LSM for Berry College and Kennesaw State University. Coach McMeen has been around the sport more than 20 years and coaching in the Cobb area for more than 12 years. He spends his summers coaching elite players and helping them take their game to the next level. Coach McMeen has graduated players to go on to D1 , D2, D3, and MCLA programs. He is US Lacrosse certified and GHSA certified.

Head Coach, Kevin Johns

Kevin Johns is a Long Island native where he started play in the Centereach and Plainedge school districts. He then went to the University of Buffalo where he played college rugby and lacrosse. He has over 20 seasons of coaching experience, and has been currently involved coaching with Cherokee Youth Lacrosse for over nine seasons. In his free time, he currently plays with Old Guy Lacrosse. He is excited to join the Dirty Birds family and focus on our U9 team and player development.

Head Coach, Strength and Conditioning Coach, Bajro Buzaljko

Bajro “Buzz” Buzaljko (By-row Buzz-Psycho) is one of our newest additions to the Dirty Birds family. He has been coaching and training athletes for over 15 years. Bajro works full time as an Active Duty Marine, he is currently the Operations Chief for the state of Georgia recruiting. Bajro played lacrosse in high school prior to enlisting and deploying with the Marine Corps. He has been involved in coaching High School, Middle School, and Youth lacrosse across various teams in the Cobb and Cherokee County areas for the past 12 years and is currently coaching the U15 Select team for the Etowah Jr Eagles. He is a speed, strength, and agility coach for lacrosse with Fury Performance in Woodstock, GA. Bajro brings an infectious high intensity & energetic attitude to the team with a high demand for discipline; pushing athletes to an elite level and mindset. Coach Bajro produces results that are rarely seen in young athletes due to his attention to detail and the targeted development of an athletes mindset and self-confidence. He is married to his wife Jordan, and they have 3 daughters ages 9, 4, and 1 month.

Head Coach, Carl Pfaff

Carl Pfaff has been a teacher at Pope High School since August of 2006, having taught at Tucker High School in Dekalb county the ten years prior to that. He graduated from Appalachian State University with a degree in Chemistry in 1996 after serving as a Sergeant in the Marine Corps Infantry. After a long stint teaching AP Physics and AP Chemistry at Pope, Coach Pfaff has made a move into the PE department. Coach Pfaff umpired high school and college baseball from 1996 to 2006 here in Atlanta and the surrounding area and has been coaching lacrosse at Pope since Jan 2008. Coach Pfaff took over as the head lacrosse coach at Pope in 2010 and has led the Greyhounds to three state final appearances, in 2011, 2012 and 2015, several elite eight and final four appearances, as well as winning two Area titles in that time. Coach Pfaff has been coaching football at Pope since August 2016 where he has worked with Linebackers as well as coaching the Freshman and Junior Varsity teams. Coach Pfaff started the Hounds of Anarchy club team in 2013 and built the program with teams spanning from U11 to HS Varsity. He has coached recently with ATL Empire lacrosse and is involved in finding and training coaches for the Jr Greyhound Lacrosse program.

Head Coach, Ryan Bridges

Ryan Bridges is Cobb county native and a Reinhardt University alumnus. He played collegiate lacrosse at Reinhardt as a face off specialist and midfielder where he contributed to winning a MCLA conference championship. Outside of coaching Ryan is a Senior Sales Development Representative at Workspot. He also enjoys competing in powerlifting competitions for the USAPL. Ryan is currently coaching within Walton’s Youth Program, and is eager to bring his skill set to the Dirty Birds lacrosse family.

Head Coach, Zach Bazemore

Coach Bazemore is a Woodstock native. He graduated from Blessed Trinity Catholic High School where he played for 3 years and was a part of the team that made the first Final Four appearance in school history. After graduation in 2016, he attended Millsaps College where he started his freshman year as a mid-fielder for the Majors. He was named to the SAA All-Conference honor-roll in 2017. Millsaps unfortunately cut the program and Zach transferred to Kennesaw State University where he graduated from in 2020 with a degree in Sport Management. During his 3 years at KSU he assisted with coaching the 7 th & 8 th grade team as the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. He stepped away from the game for 2 years after graduating from KSU to pursue a job opportunity in Las Vegas, NV. During his time in Vegas, he served as the Assistant Operations Manager and helped open the new home for the Las Vegas Raiders, Allegiant Stadium. He now works at the Marist School as the Assistant Director of Facilities and as the Varsity Boys Lacrosse Head Coach. With 7 combined seasons of playing and coaching the game, he is looking forward to getting to work with the Dirty Birds Lacrosse Club.

Head Coach, Jacob Nichols

Coach Jacob Nichols is entering his second year as the head coach of The Walker School's Boys Varsity program. Before Nichols took over the Walker program, they were a combined 3-30 in the previous three seasons. In his first season at the helm, he led Walker to their best record in school history (11-6) and their first region championship. Nichols got his start playing lacrosse at Newnan High School and then collegiately at Columbus State University where he played defense. Jacob is excited to join the Dirty Birds family!

Assistant Coach, Rick O'Neal

Coach O’Neal attended Darlington School in Rome, GA where he played lacrosse all four years. He played college lacrosse at Georgia Southern, Shorter University, and Kennesaw State University between 2010 and 2014 and was a team captain all four years. His collegiate accolades include 1st team All-Conference D-Middie SELC - Georgia Southern, 1st team All-Conference D-Middie - Shorter University, 2x “Head, Heart, Hustle Award” – KSU, 2x 1st Team All-Conference D-Middie SELC – KSU, current record holder for Most Groundballs in a Single Season with 65 groundballs at Shorter University and 66 groundballs at KSU. Coach O’Neal spent six years coaching U9, U11, and U13 boys’ teams for the Marietta Athletic Club before coming onboard as an assistant varsity coach at River Ridge High School for two years. He joined the Jr. Knights program where he’s been the head coach of senior (14U) boys’ team for the past three years and led them to the championship game last spring, 2021. He is currently the Director of the Junior Knights Program and head coach of the 8th grade team.

Assistant Coach, Kevon James

Kevon James is an Atlanta native where he played throughout HS for various club teams locally winning multiple tournament championships. He later received a scholarship to play for Reinhardt University and graduated with a Bachelor of Sciences.He was a 4 year captain helping lead Reinhardt to multiple conference championships and their first ever national championship his senior year. He was also an All American Honorable Mention his senior year. Since graduating, Kevon has been coaching at various local programs such as Alpharetta High School, Kings Ridge High School, Cherokee High School, and Sprayberry High School helping lead most of the programs to their best school season records. He's coached all age groups over the last ten years and has extensive club coaching experience. Coach Kevon is looking forward to joining the Dirty Birds Family!

Assistant Coach, Chad Horst

Chad Horst is an upstate New York native where he began his lacrosse and coaching careers in the lacrosse hotbed. He played his collegiate career at Nazareth College in the late 90s and early 2000s when Nazareth was a perennial powerhouse. He comes to Dirty Birds with several years of high school and youth lacrosse coaching experience. Most recently, he has been coaching the past four seasons in the Cherokee Youth Lacrosse program, after moving to the Atlanta area with his wife and two kids in 2018. He is excited to join the Dirty Birds family and focus on our U9 team and player development.

Assistant Coach, Matt Meeks

Matt Meeks is a Roswell, GA local who started playing lacrosse at 12 years old. He was a 3-year lacrosse team member for The McCallie School playing close defense and LSM. He also played multiple seasons of club lacrosse with LB3. He started his coaching career in 2019 coaching with the Roswell Youth Lacrosse League and is currently in his second season of coaching for Cherokee Youth Lacrosse. Coach Matt is very excited to be part of the Dirty Birds Lacrosse family.

Assistant Coach, Matt Nagy

Matt Nagy has coached 12 seasons in Florida and Georgia. He started coaching at Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs, Florida for 5 seasons and 1 season at Trinity Preparatory School in Winter Park, Florida. Upon his relocation to Georgia, Matt coached one year at Roswell High School before joining Lassiter High School, where he coached for four years as the defensive coordinator and was a part of 2 state championship games in 2010 and 2012 where he coached one 1st team All American and multiple All-State players. Currently, Matt is helping coach Milton’s youth lacrosse program. He is married to his wife Danielle, and they have 2 sons.

Clinic Instructor, Assistant Coach, Logan Myers

Logan Myers is a Cobb County native, '22 Senior, 2019 Walton High School State Champion, and 2022 State Championship runner up. He comes with multiple years of playing and coaching experience. He can play exceptionally well at both ends of the field, and is an excellent team player. He has been a 4 year letterman, Cobb County All County Honorable Mention, 2022 Team MVP and Third Team All State, and has played club lacrosse with Thunder LB3 Blue and Dirty Birds. Logan has been involved coaching the youth grade levels for multiple years now and is looking forward to working and helping develop the future of Dirty Birds as a former Dirty Birds alumni. Logan also strings and dyes lacrosse sticks in his free time, so if you're looking to get some work done, hit him up! Coach Logan will be attending Rollins College in the fall on a lacrosse scholarship.

Faceoff Coach, Assistant Coach, Hunter Coleman

Hunter is a native of Woodstock, GA and a 2021 Graduate of Etowah High School where he was a 4-year letterman on the Men’s Lacrosse Team. As a Face Off Specialist, Hunter graduated with a 68% overall winning percentage. He was selected for the All-County team in 2019 and 2021 and Second Team All-State in 2021, as well as being selected as Most Valuable Player his senior year at EHS. Hunter is currently a rising junior at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, AL and starting Face Off Specialist on the Men’s Lacrosse team. He was nominated for Freshman Athlete of the year at UAH, selected First Team All-Conference and awarded the Peach Belt Conference Freshman of the Year. Hunter finished his first season with an overall winning percentage of .622% and number one in the conference for Face Off wins, third in the conference for Ground Balls. Hunter enjoys working with young lacrosse players and has been a sideline coach and helper for several years. He often provides Face Off instruction to interested players including his younger brother. He is looking forward to continuing his education in Nursing and playing lacrosse at UAH.

Clinic Instructor, Assistant Coach, Brady Hanak

Brady Hanak is a Cobb County native. He graduated from Kell High School in 2020 where he was a 4-year varsity letterman in lacrosse and helped his team to their first ever Elite Eight and Final Four appearance. He also played multiple years of summer travel with Atlanta Travel Lacrosse. Brady is currently a 2x National Champion as well as 1x voted captain in his junior year with the Reinhardt University Lacrosse team and is pursuing a degree in Project Management. He is excited to be a part of the Dirty Bird Family.

Goalie Coach, John McLaughlin

Coach Mac is a devoted father, grandfather, referee and coach. He has extensive experience playing both hockey and lacrosse for over 40 years in New York and Georgia. He is currently working at Kell High School where he coached their varsity program for 10 years and girls program for 5 years. He has been married to his wife Lynne for 25 years and has four children, Devin, Amy, Fiona, and Riley. He's also currently the goalie for the ATL Megamen Box Lacrosse Team which competes in the ABLA. He is looking forward to working with Dirty Birds Lacrosse Goalies and joining the Dirty Bird Family!

Assistant Coach, David Williamson

Coach David is a retired Police Lieutenant/Division Commander CID from the Fulton County Police Dept./ Atlanta Police Dept (28 yrs). David has been playing lacrosse since he was six years old in Upstate New York. He played four years of Varsity for Rush-Henrietta High School in Section 5 large schools as a middie and faceoff man, where he made All-County three of those 4 years and the All-Tournament Team for Section 5. He went to Utica, New York to college and played for Herkimer CCC , winning a Jr. College National Championship and making Academic All-American. He transferred to Nazareth College of Rochester where he played Fall Ball and ended his Collegiate play. David graduated with a two-year degree in Police Science and a B.A. in History from Nazareth College of Rochester. He is a father of 5 children, 4 of them played/playing for Etowah Eagles Lacrosse program. He has coached the Cherokee County Youth 10 and 11 teams and is currently an Assistant Coach for the Jr. Etowah Eagles, 6th through 8th grades. David also has been an active member of the Boy Scouts of America for the past 12 as a Den Leader, Cub Master, and Assistant Scoutmaster. One of his sons is an Eagle Scout.

Goalie Coach, Assistant Coach, Drew Hurst

Drew is a Cobb County native and has been playing lacrosse since he was in 3rd grade. He is a 4 year varsity player, 2019 state champion, multi-year varsity captain, 2022 state championship runner up, and 2022 Defensive MVP. Drew has been involved coaching the youth grade levels for multiple years now and is looking forward to working and helping develop the future of Dirty Birds as a former Dirty Birds alumni. Coach Drew will be attending UGA in the fall.

Clinic Instructor, Assistant Coach, Blake Carrodus

Blake is a Cobb County native. He started playing lacrosse in 5th grade. He is a 4 year letterman with Walton’s Varsity program and he comes with multiple years of coaching fall and spring Walton Youth teams. He is a Dirty Birds alumni and is ecstatic to teach these kids what he has learned over the years. Blake is going to Ole Miss this fall to study Real Estate Business.

Assistant Coach, Kevin Harper

Coach Kevin is a Cobb County native who has been coaching youth and middle school lacrosse since 2019. He has 10+ years of playing experience both at the club and high school level. Outside of coaching, he works in IT and is majoring in Electrical/Computer Engineering.

Meet the Staff