Chicago - Montrose
Director: Lynn Gerbec
Lynn grew up in Chicago and started playing lacrosse as a Sophomore at Northside College Prep High School. She continued playing Division III lacrosse at Oberlin College where she graduated with a B.A. in Psychology. Lynn has served as an assistant lacrosse coach at Northside Prep for the past two years and will assume the head JV coach position this spring. Lynn will complete her Masters in Education in December and looks forward to teaching Elementary school in the Chicago Public Schools.

Chicago - Whitney Young
Director: Ally Young
Ally grew up in Delaware where she was a captain and 4x All-State selection at Cape Henlopen High School, founding the LewesLax summer league upon graduation. She played for Hero's Lacrosse Club and was recruited by Syracuse University under Gary Gait. Ally has since coached for various youth programs, helped her alma mater secure its second State Championship, and led South Philadelphia High through its inaugural season. She recently moved to Chicago where she coaches the 2016 National Lakeshore Lacrosse Travel Team and is the Head Coach at Whitney Young High School. 

Winnetka / Glencoe / Northfield
Director: Jen Fitzgerald
Jen grew up in Cranford, NJ and started playing lacrosse as a freshman at Cranford High School, for their inaugural season. Jen watched with excitement as the popularity of lacrosse grew tremendously in her town throughout her 4 years in high school. During the summers she attended tournaments with the T3 (formerly Leading Edge) Lacrosse Club. She continued playing Division III lacrosse at Kenyon College, where she graduated in 2011 with a B.A. in Economics. Jen was a 4-year starting midfielder and a captain her senior year for the Kenyon Ladies. She currently lives in Chicago, plays for Lakeshore Lacrosse’s Adult Team and works as an analyst for a private equity firm in downtown Chicago. Jen is excited to get involved with youth lacrosse in the area.

Kenilworth
Director: Cynthia Helle
Cynthia grew up in Chicago and currently lives in Kenilworth with her husband, son and daughter.  She is excited to become more involved with the growing lacrosse community in the area.

Deerfield / Highland Park
Director: Ohan Kedjidjian
Ohan was instrumental in bringing an Illinois Girls Lacrosse Association team to Deerfield in the fall of 2009, and the Deerfield Lady Warriors had a very strong inaugural season. Currently, he is working towards earning his US Lacrosse CEP Level 1 and Level 2 certifications for youth girls’ lacrosse. Ohan has been coaching youth sports for nearly 30 years both in Deerfield and Evanston. Ohan is currently working closely with Deerfield High School Girls' Lacrosse coaching staff to build a feeder program that makes girls’ youth lacrosse a dominant sport in Deerfield.

Lake Forest / Lake Bluff
Director: Theresa Speed
Theresa is a Lake Forest mother of two daughters.  She got involved in IGLA cheering on her girls and assisting her husband who has coached for several years.  Theresa is a Loyola University Chicago graduate who has been actively involved in Lake Forest community service.  Currently, she serves as a Lake Forest School Association of Parent & Teacher board member, and Teacher Appreciation Week committee member.  She is a board member of the Spirit Foundation and is the Director of Corporate Fundraising.  She is also a Sunday school teacher.  Theresa is excited to now be part of the IGLA team!!!

Park Ridge
Director: Ifat Ribon
Ifat grew up in Ann Arbor and started playing lacrosse at the age of ten.  She played at the University of Michigan, and coached middle school and high school teams in her hometown.  Ifat moved to Chicago last summer and immediately got involved with IGLA by referring the youth fall leagues.  She is looking forward to engaging in the lacrosse community and developing a love of lacrosse throughout the Chicago area.

Northbrook / Glenview 
Director: Laura Heyser
Laura was raised in Glenview and returned to her hometown in 2006 with her daughter.  Laura received her Bachelor's Degree from Illinois Wesleyan University with a major in psychology and went on to get her Master's Degree from the University of California, San Diego, specializing in behavioral treatments for children with autism.  Before leaving the field, Laura working with autistic children, their families, schools, and area support groups in 3 states.  Currently, Laura works for an educational publishing company in their marketing department and is the vice president of a local non-profit, The Organic Pantry Project, which creates and maintains organic community gardens that benefit local food pantries.  The gardens involve local school and Sunday school children and engages children in learning about health & nutrition, the environment, and giving back to their communities and those in need.  Laura's daughter began playing lacrosse in the 3rd/4th grade IGLA league and Laura was there to cheer on and lend a hand.  As the Glenview/Northbrook league has grown, so has Laura's invovlement and knowledge of the game.  She spent a season or two on the sidelines with the coaches, yelling encouragement to the players as well as joining practices when asked.  Last fall, Laura assisted the site director and has enjoyed getting to know the coaches, refs, other site directors, and many players and parents to love the game.

Barrington / Hoffman Estates / Inverness
Director: Sergio Falco
Sergio has coached with IGLA since 2010 and is a USL Level 2 certified coach. His oldest daughter graduated from IGLA and now plays at Barrington HS and coaches for IGLA.  His youngest daughter plays with IGLA.  

Vernon Hills / Libertville
Director: Cheryl Gorenberg
Cheryl is a proud Vernon Hills mom to three girls, all of whom, are now playing lacrosse. Her daughter started playing lacrosse in 2005 and Cheryl has been a huge fan ever since. She originally got involved with IGLA when her youngest daughter was playing and her two other daughters were coaching. She works full time for Prime Source Health Care as a patient care specialist. Cheryl is so excited to be taking over the Vernon Hills/Libertyville location this Spring and hopes to grow a strong feeder program for the area High Schools.

Elmhurst
Director: Peggy Grubbs
Peggy moved to Elmhurst in 2003. In 2006 she, her husband Dave, and several dedicated parents started the York Lacrosse Club and in 2010 brought lacrosse to the varsity sport level for boys and girls at York High School. Peggy now enjoys watching Ellie, her youngest daughter, play. She is looking forward to help grow the sport of girls’ lacrosse.

Oak Park / River Forest / Elmwood Park / Forest Park / Riverside
Director:  Heather Tisue
Heather moved to Oak Park in 2001. From 2002-2006 she attended Oak Park and River Forest High School, where she was first introduced to lacrosse. She currently received her Associate degree in Health and Fitness and is working toward a double Bachelor degree in Management of Health/ Fitness and Applied Health/ Fitness at Robert Morris University, where she also received a scholarship to play for the University’s Women’s Lacrosse team. She coached the Oak Park and River Forest Girls’ lacrosse camp in 2011 and she coached her first season for IGLA out in Glen Ellyn this past spring. Heather is excited to be part of such a great organization and a great group of girls and hopes to be a part of the growth girls’ lacrosse has been experiencing over the past few years.

Western Springs / Pleasant Dale
Director: Amy Greving
Amy grew up in Quincy, IL and attended Quincy Notre Dame High School and Southern IL University.  She was introduced to lacrosse from her husband who is a Western Springs boys travel lacrosse coach.  Her daughter signed up with IGLA when she was old enough to join and has loved the game ever since.  Amy has coached the last 2 years with IGLA and is happy to be part of the organization.

Hinsdale / Clarendon Hills / Willowbrook
Director: Jenn Secola
Jenn grew up in Elmhurst, IL and played basketball and softball in high school.  She attended Indiana University, where she met her husband Brett, who introduced her to the game of lacrosse. She has enjoyed watching her two girls, Brooke and Avery, play on IGLA and Lakeshore Travel and Select teams for the past three years.

Downers Grove
Director: Sue Tysiak
Sue was introduced to lacrosse in 2006, when her son Nicolas starting playing lacrosse through the Lacrosse America. Since that time she has grown to love the sport of lacrosse.  Sue lives in Downers Grove with her husband and their two sons who both play lacrosse.  She is looking forward to assisting IGLA grow girls lacrosse in Illinois.

Naperville
Director: Leigh Ann Boscarino
Leigh Ann grew up in Scarsdale, NY and was introduced to lacrosse when she was five years old.  She played through high school and continued her career at Villanova University in PA.  After college, she returned to Scarsdale to coach the varsity team for 4 years before moving to IL.  Leigh Ann runs a nutrition consultation business and enjoys playing tennis.  She lives in Naperville with her husband and 4 boys who enjoy a large variety of sports.  She is very excited to be involved with growing girls lacrosse in the midwest!

St. Charles / Batavia / Geneva
Director: Susie Stevens
Susie grew up in Needham, MA where she played high school lacrosse.  She then went on to play at Fairield Univeristy. Following graduation she moved to Chicago and played for the Chicago Women's lacrosse team. She currently lives in St Charles with her husband and three children all of whom play lacrosse.  She works full time at Sherman hospital as the senior speech language pathologist. She was thrilled when girls lacrosse came to the St Charles area and has been coaching for the past 3 seasons.  She is excited to develop youth girls lacrosse in the area.

Mokena / Frankfort / Frankfort Square / Lockport / Romeoville
Director: Brian Patterson
Brian grew up on the South Side of Chicago and attended Marian Catholic High School.  Since lacrosse wasn't offered at the time, he played football and ran track.  In 2005, when lacrosse was offered at Marian he was approached by one of the parents of the current players for him to get involved with the program since he went to the school.  Unfortunately at the time he didn't know very much about women's lacrosse, but he studied the game and read many books and watched videos.  And in 2010 he took over as the Head Varsity Coach and lead the team to one of their most productive years.

Evergreen Park / Oak Lawn
Director: Emily Drown
Emily's interest in lacrosse began at an early age after watching her sister play goalie for their local high school. Emily played varsity all four years of high school and then went on to play at the University of New England (Division III) in Biddeford, ME. After playing every position except for goalie, she especially enjoys defense.  She is the Assistant Varsity coach for Mother McAuley and helped initiate the program there two years ago. Emily assisted with the IGLA during the spring season at the Evergreen Park location and is looking forward to another successful year.

Oak Forest/Alsip
Director: Kevin Garner
Kevin grew up in Oak Forest and recently graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a degree in Recreation Administration. His love for all recreational activities brought him to lacrosse and he is excited to aid in the growth and development of girls lacrosse in the south suburbs. 

IGLA CONTRIBUTORS

Web Design - Kerry Kobe
Kerry grew up playing lacrosse in Northern Virginia. She captained her high school lacrosse team in Arlington, VA and went on to play at the University of Notre Dame on the inagural Division I team. Since arriving to Chicago in '98 she has always been involved in lacrosse to some extent or another - founding coach of the Hinsdale Central girls' program, president of the US Lacrosse Chapter, a women's umpire, and a adult league player. In addition to her fulltime job as VP of Information Technology at an investment firm downtown, she freelances doing website and graphic design around the city. Kerry has her MBA from Northwestern Kellogg School of Management. She's thrilled to be involved in IGLA's website as well as the Lakeshore Lacrosse site.

Official Photographer - Connie Loftis
Connie began her career as a professional photographer in 1985.  Throughout her photography career she has photographed events for Coca Cola, Stedman Graham Athlete’s Against Drugs, French American Chamber of Commerce and many other events including 13 years of weddings, bat mitzvah’s and private parties.  After years of watching her two daughters play high school and college lacrosse she started shooting action photos of them.  Connie started her sports action photography business (www.LoftisPhotographic.com) in 2004 and came on board with Lakeshore Lacrosse and IGLA as our official photographer in 2005.  Connie is passionate about lacrosse and it’s potential to build self-esteem in young women and to empower them to become strong and competent individuals on and off the field.

Jaci Downey

A very big THANK YOU to Jaci Downey.  As a coach, location director and equipment manager, Jaci has helped IGLA in an irreplaceable way.  We send her the best of luck in her move and return to school.

IGLA Board
Su Bermingham, Mike Fullerton, Kristen Murray, Tom Olp and Bill Santulli