2024 coaches revealed
The Fly is delighted to announce the eight Head Coaches and eight Assistant Coaches who will lead our teams at The Fly 2024.
Sam Patterson, who led Hustle to their first The Fly men’s title at the 2023 competition, returns as Head Coach of the team he first took charge of in 2021.
He’ll be looking to extend his unbeaten run which sits at three games without defeat and aim for a second successive The Fly title.
Patterson is joined by newcomer Sean Bodie as Assistant Coach who has previous experience as Head Coach of the men’s team at University College Dublin.
Also returning to The Fly for 2024 is Alex Carnegie-Brown who makes the switch back to Hustle Head Coach after a year with Forge where she secured the women’s title in 2023.
A chameleon-like coach, Carnegie-Brown has coached across the men’s and women’s codes at The Fly during her three seasons so far.
Bryoni Minetti will join Carnegie-Brown at Hustle women as Assistant Coach after successful stints as Head of Lacrosse at two independent schools as well as coaching for the Wales under-20 side.
Another returner from last year and yet another The Fly title winner, Carina Bates will make her third coaching appearance at The Fly 2024.
Bates secured the inaugural The Fly women’s title in 2021 after demolishing the opposition with Swift and she returned in 2023 where she guided her team to the final.
She’s joined by Steve McDermott as her Assistant Coach who makes his second The Fly appearance in 2024 after acting as Mike Molster’s Assistant Coach for Rise last year.
On the men’s side, Ravi K. Sitlani also returns to Swift after leading them to their first final appearance in 2023.
Sitlani stepped up to the Head Coach role at last year’s competition after two years honing his skills as an Assistant Coach.
Teaming up with Sitlani in 2024 as Assistant Coach is Jacob Lynch who makes his debut at the competition after cutting his coaching teeth with the Royal Holloway University women’s lacrosse team last season.
In what can only be seen as a major shake-up in the Forge ranks, for the first time ever Conor Dockery will not return as a Head Coach of the Forge men’s or women’s team in 2024.
Dockery, who led Forge women to their first title in 2022 will instead take up an Assistant Coach role with Gavin Donaldson stepping up to lead a women’s team that is looking to win a third The Fly title in four years.
Like Dockery, Donaldson has been an ever-present at The Fly since its inception and is appointed as Forge Head Coach after stints as Rise (2021), Forge (2022), and Swift (2023) Assistant Coaches.
Yet another coach making his debut as Head Coach at The Fly after time as an Assistant is Kieran Pegrum-Milner who has been appointed as Head Coach of Forge men for 2024.
After spending 2022 as Swift Assistant Coach and leading Hustle to victory as their Assistant Coach in 2023, Pegrum-Milner jumps up to Head Coach for the first time at The Fly in 2024.
Joining him as Forge men Assistant Coach will be men’s Head Coach at Hillcroft Lacrosse Club, Alex Harper, who also has experience coaching at Bath University and with the Belgium Sixes Lacrosse team.
At The Fly 2024, Ash Gloster will make her return to the competition after a three year break; Gloster is back with Hustle but it’ll be with the men’s team next year.
The Fly debutant, Alex Williams, will assist Gloster after impressing as the senior first team coach at Sheffield Steelers and Assistant Coach of the Wales under-21 side.
And wrapping up The Fly coaching appointments for 2024 is Raj Rout who takes the role of Rise women Head Coach.
He returns to The Fly after a one-year hiatus and is looking to improve upon his fourth place finish with Swift in 2022.
Joining him will be Aimee Ratapana who herself returns to The Fly in 2024 after a hugely successful stint as Forge Assistant Coach at the 2023 competition.
Coaching Pairs (Head Coach & Assistant Coach)
Hustle
Men | Sam Patterson & Sean Bodie
Women | Alex Carnegie-Brown & Bryoni Minetti
Swift
Men | Ravi K. Sitlani & Jacob Lynch
Women | Carina Bates & Steve McDermott
Forge
Men | Kieran Pegrum-Milner & Alex Harper
Women | Gavin Donaldson & Conor Dockery
Rise
Men | Ash Gloster & Alex Williams
Women | Raj Rout & Aimee Ratapana