Staff

Camp Staff

Our coaching staff is dedicated to providing innovative and comprehensive training for athletes looking for the extra edge on the soccer field. Fully licensed by soccer organizations such as US Soccer, NSCAA, UEFA, and other professional organizations, our staff is knowledgeable, energetic and dedicated to providing an amazing experience for our campers.

Our staff includes:

Top Collegiate Coaches
Professional and Licensed soccer coaches with USSF, NSCAA, and UEFA
Licensed Dieticians and Nutritionists
Nationally Licensed Strength and Conditioning Trainers
Current and Former Professional and National Team Players
Staff members work to get to know each athlete on an individual basis, ensuring that his or her specialized needs are met.
The staff is carefully picked to ensure each athlete’s experience is educational, positive and memorable.
All staff is on campus during the entire duration of the camp.

Billy Lesesne

Billy Lesesne was introduced as the fifth head coach of the Georgia women's soccer team on December 16, 2014, after serving as the associate head coach at Duke University.

In his first season as head coach, Lesesne guided the 2015 Bulldogs to heights that UGA had never been before. On Sept. 27, 2015 Lesesne coached the Bulldogs to a 2-1 victory over No. 4 Texas A&M, marking the highest-ranked team a Georgia squad has ever defeated and the first in school history against the Aggies. The Bulldogs later went on the road and secured crucial back-to-back road wins against Vanderbilt and No. 16 Auburn. Georgia earned a No. 9-seed to the SEC Tournament in UGA’s 17th overall appearance in the conference tournament.

Under Lesesne’s tutelage two Bulldogs earned postseason 2015 All-SEC honors. Caroline Waters was named All-SEC Second-Team while Sydney Shultis garnered All-SEC Freshman Team recognition.

Lesesne came to UGA following 14 seasons in Durham, the last 11 as the program's associate head coach. He helped lead the 2011 edition of the Blue Devils to the NCAA College Cup ("Final Four") and was named the Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year that season. In his 14 seasons at Duke University, the Blue Devils reached a total of 12 NCAA Tournaments, including three straight trips to the "Elite Eight" from 2011-13.

He previously spent three seasons as an assistant coach before his promotion in the summer of 2004. In addition to his coaching duties at Duke University, Lesesne was a North Carolina ODP state coach and Region III staff coach in 2002-03.
Prior to his time in Durham, Lesesne served as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt for two seasons, guiding the Commodores to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament in 2000.

Lesesne's previous head coaching experience came at his alma mater, Erskine College, where he spent six seasons. There, he served as the head coach of both the men's and women's programs. He earned several honors during his time at Erskine, including NSCAA Division II Women's South Region Coach of the Year and Carolina's Virginia Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 1997, after leading the Lady Fleet to a 15-2-1 record and a conference title. He also won the Carolina's Virginia Athletic Conference Messick Award for Sportsmanship in 1996, 1997, and 1998, as well as the conference award for highest graduation rates for student-athletes.

Lesesne began his coaching career at Cambridge Academy in Greenwood, S.C., in 1988, before serving as the assistant men's coach at the College of Charleston from 1990-91. He also coached the South Carolina Boys' State ODP team from 1990-95 and the Girls' ODP team from 1996-99.

Lesesne enjoyed a successful playing career, playing three years of professional soccer with the Charleston Battery (USISL/A-League) and four years at Erskine College, where he was an NAIA All-America selection his senior season and an NSCAA All-South Region honoree his last two seasons. He also earned NAIA All-District 6 honors from 1983-86, and was the Jake Todd/Erskine College Senior Athlete Award winner for the 1986-87 school year. He graduated from Erskine in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in biology/natural science.

Lesesne and his wife, Katie, live in Athens with their children.

Katie Ely

Katie Ely joined the University of Georgia soccer staff as an assistant coach in January of 2015. Ely came to UGA after spending two seasons with the Missouri program where she served as an assistant coach to 19-year veteran Bryan Blitz.

In 2015, her first season working with UGA goalkeepers, Ely guided Louise Hogrell to national recognition while posting four shutouts. Under Ely, Hogrell led the SEC in saves and saves per game in 2015 and was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 26 and national honorable mention player of the week by TopDrawerSoccer.com on Oct. 27.

Ely worked primarily with the Tigers' goalkeepers while in Columbia, helping McKenzie Sauerwein set a school record in saves in 2013. Sauerwein recorded six shutouts in 2014, helping the Tigers advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and a 12-7-3 record.

Prior to joining the Missouri staff, Ely spent two seasons as the goalkeeper coach at Duke where she worked on the same staff as then associate head coach Billy Lesesne. While at Duke, Ely helped the Blue Devils reach the 2011 and 2012 NCAA College Cup. The Blue Devil goalkeepers also set single season records in shutouts (16) and goals against average (0.48) under Ely's direction.

Ely spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Syracuse before joining Missouri's staff. While with the Orange, she coached goalkeepers who set the school's career saves and shutouts records and earned All-Big East Rookie Team honors.

Ely graduated from Fairfield (Conn.) University in 2007, where she helped the Stags win the MAAC regular season title in 2002 and the MAAC Tournament title in 2007. She ranks first in school history in saves average, fifth in saves and sixth in wins, shutouts and goals against average.