Club Director - 15’s Gold Head Coach

Brian began his volleyball career playing at Kempsville High School where he helped lead his team to a District Championship in his first season. As a senior he was Captain of his team and also named MVP of the year. During his high school career he also competed in club volleyball with Tidewater Volleyball Association in Virginia, winning Regionals and MVP there as well, before relocating to Florida and beginning his coaching career coaching for Blaze in 1996 for 6 years. During that time he coached at Lakeside Jr High, St Johns Country Day and Fleming Island High School. In 2004 he started the North Florida Pirates with this year being their 20th season as a club. He will be going into his 7th season as the Head Varsity coach at Bishop Snyder High School. He also helped develop the beach volleyball program at Bishop Snyder and is going into their third season. In 2021 he was inducted into the Florida Region Hall of Fame and in 2023 was named Coach of the Year for Bishop Snyder High School.

Assistant Club Director - 16s Gold Head Coach

Amy Schermerhorn started her volleyball career when she was just 10 years old. She played for Fleming Island High School, where she was the captain her senior year. During her high school career she played for the North Florida Pirates during her 16s-18s year. She was recruited to play collegiate volleyball for Southeastern University where she signed to play middle. She was on the first ever SEU volleyball team to go to nationals and win a conference title. During her collegiate career she played as an outside hitter and rightside hitter as well; being named captain her senior year. Once she graduated, she began her coaching career with First Coast Elite in 2019. She has since coached for Bishop Snyder High School, where she coached for 4 years along with joining the staff of The North Florida Pirates in 2020. She now coaches at Fleming Island High School as the head volleyball coach.

17’s Gold Head Coach

Ashley started her volleyball journey in middle school and was named Captain her Junior and Senior year at Fletcher High School. Ashley was named a Duval County All-Conference player for her extensive block and kill stats. During this time, Ashley was also a club volleyball player with JJVA, as a Middle Blocker. Unfortunately, Ashley underwent life-saving heart surgery at 18 years old, ending her collegiate volleyball aspirations. After many operations and a pacemaker implant, she was eager to rejoin the game of volleyball in a new role as coach. Ashley has coached both club and high school volleyball at varying levels for 10 years and is currently entering her fourth season at Baldwin Middle Senior as the Varsity Head Coach and her second season with the Pirates.

14’s Head Coach

Anyssa Guzman started her volleyball career when she was just 10 years old. She played for Ridgeview High School, where she was the captain her freshman and senior year. In her junior year of high school she and her team made history for by winning the first ever District championship for RHS. During her volleyball career she played for the North Florida Pirates from the age 13 to 18. She was recruited to play collegiate volleyball for College of Central Florida where she signed to play Libero/DS. After her first year of collegiate volleyball at college of central Florida, she decided to transfer to Edward Waters University as their starting Libero. She was rewarded many awards over the years in college. For instant 2018 Newcomer of the year, Defensive player of the year, All conference second team 3x in a row, 2019 GCAC All tournament team and 2021 GCAC national champion. During her years in college, she began her coaching career with 904 Elite in 2018. She is now the Head Jv coach for Bishop Snyder High school, along with joining the staff of The North Florida Pirates in 2023.

13’s Head Coach

Taylor Stanley has been apart of the sport of Volleyball since she was 10 years old. She played for the North Florida Pirates in 2007-2009 where she was awarded the MVP award each club season she played. She also played at Fleming Island High School as an outside and middle hitter. After playing the sport for many years and becoming a mom she chose to focus on coaching. She has coached for the North Florida Pirates over the years working with ages 12-16’s. As well as coaching for Bishop Snyder High School in 2019. Her coaching career has been focused these last few years on the YMCA and developing younger players where three of her daughters currently play. She has been coaching there for 6 years and has held 8 undefeated seasons along with four championship titles. Now with her daughters getting older she has been able to realign her coaching career with the North Florida Pirates and join the staff again as the 13’s team coach.

12’s Head Coach

Elaina has been dedicated to volleyball since the age of nine, competing at both the high school and collegiate levels. During high school, Elaina was a four-year varsity athlete at Ridgeview High School, contributing to four consecutive district championships while also playing club volleyball for OTVA. She continued her athletic career at Gulf Coast State College, where she was part of a regional championship-winning team that advanced to the National Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Following this, she transferred to Florida State College at Jacksonville, competing in both indoor and beach volleyball. Currently, Elaina is pursuing her undergraduate degree at the University of North Florida.

16’s Assistant Coach

Faith Kennedy started her volleyball career when she was 12 years old. She played at Bishop Snyder on the varsity team for all 4 years of high school where she was the captain as well. She set a school assist record with 2,029 assists. She also lead her team to there first regional game in school history. She started playing for the North Florida Pirates when she was 14 years old and just wrapped up her season last year playing on the 18s. Faith says “The North Florida Pirates gave me a place to call home forever and could always come back to.”  She also played beach volleyball for Bishop Snyder and the North Florida Pirates, where she also helped her team get to there first ever beach volleyball regional in school history. This will be Faith’s first season on the coaching staff for the North Florida Pirates.

15’s Assistant Coach

Gabby was a 3-year varsity player for Bishop Snyder High School's indoor team. She played travel club volleyball for JJVA for 2 years and moved to the North Florida Pirates for 2 years. She also played beach volleyball for both Snyder and the Pirates. She plans on attending Florida State College at Jacksonville and is majoring in Kinesiology to become a Physical Therpist. She is so excited to join the coaching staff and bring her passion for volleyball to the team! Gabby is looking forward to an awesome season, go pirates!

TBA