SPARKS, Md. – USA Lacrosse is pleased to name the outstanding coaches selected to lead the U.S. Youth National Teams at the U15 age grouping as part of the National Team Development Program.
Serving as the head coaches will be Jon Posner (Lawrenceville School – N.J.) on the boys’ side and Darcy Messina (St. Anthony’s – N.Y.) on the girls’ side.
Posner’s assistant coaches include Nic Bell (St. Anne’s Belfield – Va.), Dave Morrow (Big Red Lacrosse Club) and Wes Speaks (St. John’s College HS – D.C.).
Messina’s coaching staff will include Shanna Brady (St. Timothy’s – Md.), Madison Doucette (Johns Hopkins University) and Lisa Griswold Lindley (Darien – Conn.).
Boys’ Staff
Since taking over as the head coach at The Lawrenceville School in 2020, Posner has turned the program into a national power, including consecutive No. 1 finishes in the USA Lacrosse National Boys’ rankings in 2023 and 2024. Prior to that, he built the Culver Academy program in Indiana into one of the nation’s best, including three No. 1 national rankings. He has a career coaching record of 344-64 entering the 2025 season and more than 150 of his players have gone on to play college lacrosse. Posner is a 1997 graduate of Scranton, where he played lacrosse.
Bell is entering his second year as the head boys’ varsity lacrosse coach at St. Anne’s Belfield after previous stints as the head coach at the Taft School (Conn.), Trinity-Pawling School (N.Y.) and the Blue Ridge School (Va.) in addition to extensive experience at the club level, most recently as the co-founder of Cav Lax Elite. More than 185 of his players have gone on to play college college, and he led Taft to the 2021 Geico High School Nationals championship. He is a 2009 graduate of Brown, where he played lacrosse.
Morrow is one of the best players in the history of the sport. He was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2018, highlighting a stellar playing career. He was a three-time All-American at Princeton, twice named the Schmeisser Award winner as the nation’s best defensemen, and helped the Tigers to their first NCAA title in 1992. He went on to win two gold medals with the U.S. National Team, earning All-World honors after the 1998 championship. Professionally, he founded Warrior Sports and was the co-founder of Major League Lacrosse. He is also the co-founder, trustee and board member of the Big Red Lacrosse Club.
Speaks has been the head coach at St. John’s College High School since the 2017 season. St. John’s has played in four straight WCAC championship games and won the highly-competitive league in 2017, 2022 and 2023. Prior to this role, Speaks was the defensive coordinator at Gettysburg College, helping the Bullets reach the NCAA Division III semifinals in 2015 and 2016. He has also coached at McDaniel College. Speaks is a 2002 graduate of Towson, where he helped the Tigers reach the final four for the first time at the NCAA Division I level in 2001 and then was a captain for the 2002 team.
Girls’ Staff
Messina led St. Anthony’s, her alma mater, to an undefeated (19-0) season and the No. 1 spot in the USA Lacrosse National Girls’ rankings in 2024, her first season as the school’s head coach. She spent the previous spring as the school’s JV coach and before that was the head coach at St. Andrew’s School (Fla.) from 2016 through 2021 while also coaching on the club level with the Florida Select Lacrosse Club. Messina is a 2016 graduate of Florida, where she helped the Gators reach the NCAA tournament in each of her years with the program while winning three league championships. She was a two-time USA Lacrosse All-American as a player at St. Anthony’s.
Brady is currently the athletic director and head lacrosse coach at St. Timothy’s School (Md.) after serving the last three years as the defensive coordinator at Penn State. She helped the Nittany Lions to four nationally-ranked wins last year, including Northwestern, and just the school’s third appearance in the Big Ten championship game. She previously served as the defensive coordinator at Hofstra and Towson and is the co-director of the Predators Lacrosse Club. A 2015 graduate of Maryland, Brady was a four-year starting defender for the Terps and helped Maryland win two national championships. She later played professionally in the United Women’s Lacrosse League and the Women’s Professional Lacrosse League.
Doucette became the first player in history to represent the United States in a world championship in all three disciplines – box, field and sixes. She won gold medals with the 2019 U19 field team and the inaugural women’s box team team in 2024 at World Lacrosse championships and won a silver in sixes at The World Games 2022. At the collegiate level she set a Johns Hopkins school record with 178 saves last season and previously was a two-year starter at Northwestern, helping the Wildcats reach two final fours. Doucette made her professional debut in Athletes Unlimited last summer and then helped the New York Charging reach the title game of the 2025 WLL Championship Series in February.
Lindley is one of the top high school coaches in history, having guided national power Darien to over 500 wins since 1994. Inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2020, Lindley has led Darien to 19 state and conference championships while coaching more than 80 USA Lacrosse All-American players. She has also coached collegiately at Massachusetts and Yale and is active on the club scene, co-founding the Connecticut Grizzlies program. A three-time All-American playing lacrosse and field hockey at Massachusetts, Lindley was also a member of the U.S. national team, winning a gold medal at the 1989 World Cup in Perth, Australia.
Launched in 2019, the National Team Development Program annually encompasses approximately 1,500 athletes and offers them high-level training and instruction while evaluating them for inclusion for the U.S. Youth National Teams.
The program has expanded to the U15 age group this year, in addition to U17 and U19 teams. At the U15 age group, 24 boys and 24 girls will be selected for the U.S. Youth National Teams following 10 Regional ID Clinics (five each for boys and girls) and a review of virtual applications.
The U.S. Youth National Teams will play against international competition this fall. All three age groups will compete at USA Lacrosse headquarters the weekend of Sept. 18-21 and the U17 and U19 teams will participate in the Brogden Cup at USA Lacrosse the weekend of Oct. 23-26.
To be eligible for the U15 U.S. Youth National Teams, the player must be born on or between September 1, 2010 and August 31, 2012.
About USA Lacrosse
USA Lacrosse, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, is a Recognized Sports Organization of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. As the governing body of men’s and women’s lacrosse in the United States, USA Lacrosse leads the U.S. National Teams Program and establishes universal standards. With more than 425,000 members across the country, USA Lacrosse unites the community of players, coaches, officials, parents, and program leaders. Working together, we inspire participation, enrich the athlete experience, and support the growth of the sport.
