OUR COACHES

image2

My name is Ray Pryphun and I am so honored to be entrusted with the role of head coach and excited to be joining the Ballard lacrosse community. I have been involved in lacrosse for most of my life having played Midfield in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC then at the MCLA level at Louisiana State University where I played SSDM.

After graduating from LSU, I returned home to Maryland and served as an assistant coach at my home high school for a season then as a coach for the Juniors team for the Winners Lacrosse Club in DC. The following year I moved to New Orleans and took a role as a referee for the Louisiana Lacrosse Association. I took a break for several years from lacrosse to focus on getting my master’s degree and beginning my career in teaching but jumped back in this past 2022 season for Props Lacrosse, Ballard's feeder program, as the 7/8’s coach.

Professionally I am an 8th Grade US History Teacher for the Kent School District and am very passionate about education and facilitating hard working critical thinkers. I look to bring together my teaching practices into my coaching where we will build a strong and competitive team culture, foster growth mindsets, and have fun playing this sport we all love.

 

My name is Zack Cohen and I am super excited to be back in Seattle and coaching at Ballard.

I grew up in Seattle playing for the Mag-U (Props) and the Warriors before going to Garfield High School where I was a captain for 2 years and made the all-metro team my senior year. I played club for 4 years at Cal Poly, winning the WCLL championship in 2022. Other than a short stint at defense, I’ve spent most of my career playing attack and offensive midfield. Since I have been back in Seattle I’ve been getting more involved in the coaching scene, working for CitySide, and preparing for my consulting job starting this summer.

 

Jerrod Heiser grew up playing lacrosse in upstate NY.  He played midfield, LSM during man down situations, and was captain of his high school team his senior year. He was the one man clear, registered 3 hat tricks and 151 ground balls his senior year, and was named to his all-area and all-conference teams, as voted on by the coaches in his league. After high school, Jerrod went on to play division 3 football (CB) at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Jerrod and his wife moved to Seattle in the summer of 2022 to escape the northeast.  He enjoys playing the drums, the piano, and is always game for learning how to cook his favorite dishes!

Jerrod holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, and is currently a software engineer with Cengage Group.