club information & breaking news

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Coach Brzyski, a native of St. Louis, began her water polo career nine years ago. She attended Marquette High School, where she excelled in both swimming and water polo. As a varsity swimmer, her team won State titles in 2019 and 2020, and served as an alternate swimmer for the state team in 2020 and 2021.
 

Her water polo career started in 7th grade & flourished in high school. After a successful year on JV as a freshman, she was promoted to captain of the JV team as a Sophomore & began playing on the Varsity Co-Ed team. Once Girls' Varsity water polo was started with the first-ever Lafayette Invitational in 2019, she instantly became a key player to Marquette’s success. As a three year Girls' Varsity captain she led her team to victory in the inaugural Missouri Girls State Championship in 2021. Her performance earned her unanimous selection for both first team and player of the year in all-conference and all-district voting, as well as the 2021 Female Player of the Year award.
 

Coach Brzyski continued her athletic career at Mercyhurst University, an NCAA Division I program, where she has been a team captain since her sophomore year in 2022. Under the leadership of her and the co-captains, the team achieved a third-place finish at the WWPA Championships in 2024.
 

Outside of school, Coach Brzyski remains dedicated to the sport. She coached in Southern California during the summers of 2022 and 2023, collaborating with the head varsity coach at Palos Verdes High School, the runner ups in the CIFSS Division 3 State Championships, organizing training sessions for JV and Varsity Girls programs. At Redondo High School, she developed practices and managed the Frosh/Soph Boys summer program, and she also served as the head coach of the 14U Blue Girls team at PV Water Polo Club.
 

Coach Brzyski is thrilled to return to St. Louis and coach with the Lions, having been a player during the STL Lions' inaugural year. She is passionate about fostering a positive and competitive culture for Missouri Girls Water Polo and looks forward to contributing to the growth and success of the STL Lions athletes.

Born and raised on the west coast, Coach Castillo has been playing water polo for 7 years. Her water polo career began in Portland, Oregon as she became one of the most decorated players in the state's history at Lincoln High.  She earned player of the year in the State of Oregon. After her freshman year, her family moved to Southern California which only further strengthened her water polo skills. Her club career skyrocketed, as she played Olympians, as well as the best club programs in the country. After her continued high school and club success, she accepted a full scholarship to play at The University of California-Irvine, ranked in the top five Division 1 water polo programs in the United States.

She graduated in 2020 with a Bachelors of Science in Educational Sciences.

After graduating she decided to follow her family to St. Louis to help out during the pandemic. Once things started getting back to normal she was able to continue her educational background by finding a job as a family nanny in the St. Louis area. She is continuing to grow in the educational community and hopes to explore more of what St. Louis has to offer. She is excited to be a part of the Lions and help grow women’s water polo in Missouri, the community and around the world. 

 Coach Clay has been involved with water polo since beginning playing as an 8th grader in 1998. He played high school water polo at Parkway North High School in St. Louis county, before playing college club water polo at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, serving as captain/coach during his junior and senior seasons.

Coach Clay began coaching the Ladue JV water polo team during the 2011 season. In 2015 he assumed the varsity coaching duties and has been head coach of the program since.  Highlights during his ten years at Ladue include three Final Four appearances (2011 as an assistant, 2017, 2018), two championship appearances (2011, 2017), and earning Missouri Water Polo Coach of the Year in 2018. 

Coach Clay strongly believes that relationship building, character development, and commitment to developing players of all ability levels creates the best possible experience for players.  He wants all of his players to reach their highest potential as polo players by teaching skills, developing confidence, and enhancing character traits.  

Coach Huff graduated from Marquette High School in 2023. She has been around the pool as a swimmer since the age of 5, then continued onto coach and convert to a water polo player her freshman year. As a player she was a part of the first girls state championship team in 2021. Following that she continued on traveling to the Junior Olympics for three consecutive years. She led her high school team to a second place finish as a captain her senior year. She has been a player for the Lions for as long as the club has been around. She now is studying construction management at Kansas State University.

 As a swimmer for the first 13 years of her life, Coach Jelliss started water polo her freshman year at Parkway North High School. For four years she and a few others worked hard to encourage more women to join the team and in 2021 became part of the first high school all-girls team along with Lafayette, Ladue, Oakville and Marquette. She also took part in an all-girls game her freshman and sophomore year, as well as a girls tournament her sophomore year. She went on to join the St. Louis Lions and played for their first 18u Junior Olympics team in 2021. She aged out the very next year and has been coaching for the Lions ever since! She currently attends Saint Louis University.

   Coach Lambert is a 2023 graduate from Parkway West High School, where the Longhorns had 3 consecutive top-3 finishes, including a State Championship in 2021. His senior year he earned the Doug Hall Player of the Year award as the State MVP. He also played for St. Louis Area Polo starting in 7th grade. With SLAP, he traveled to Junior Olympics, captaining the 18-U team to a 1st Place Championship and earning MVP of the tournament. Coach Lambert was also a part of the swim & dive team for Parkway West.

Currently Coach Lambert attends the University of Redlands where he competes in the SCIAC conference and Division 3. In 2023, the Redlands Bulldogs were Runners-Up in the D3 National Championship 

  Coach Manga has spent her life near the water, first as a competitive swimmer and then water polo player growing up in Florida. She has been involved with water polo since the 1990s when she played high school water polo in Orlando, FL where she was an All-District, All-State and Academic All-American player. She also played collegiate club and masters water polo as an adult. She moved to St. Louis in 2010; she now calls Kirkwood home with her two children and husband, Ben.  She also serves as the CEO for the women’s health nonprofit Gateway to Hope. 

A life-long athlete and now enthusiastic swimmer and marathoner, Coach Manga understands the impact that sport can have for young women in all aspects of their lives. She is passionate about creating a positive environment for girls and women to compete, develop and grow as athletes - and as people. She aims to create opportunities for girls and women to make water polo and athletics a life-long endeavor and is honored to be a part of the St. Louis Lions mission. 

 Coach Claire Maniscalco grew up in the St. Louis area. She played club water polo for Mad Dog, swam for the Rockwood Swim Club and swam and played water polo at Marquette High School.

Since high school, she has been a Rockwood Swim Coach for 12 years. She is the head water polo coach at Marquette High School, after being an assistant coach for 3 years. In 2021, with Marquette high school, Maniscalco helped coach the girls team to Missouri's first-ever girls state championship and received the honor of Coach of the Year for the female conference. She coached the girls to a second place championship in 2022 and 2023. In 2023 she received conference female co-coach of the year. 

Coach Maniscalco also coaches boys swimming for Lafayette high school and is a member of the Missouri Water Polo Board and the High School Water Polo Board.

She has been with the St. Louis Lions since fall 2021, where she has coached many female athletes and coached teams at the Junior Olympics. Coach Maniscalco is excited to be a part of Missouri's only all-female water polo club and dedicated to the growth of the sport!

Coach Peglar was born and raised in St. Louis and started his 51-year involvement with water polo as part of the Missouri State Champion team at Ladue High in 1973.  He graduated from Wash. U, in St. Louis, with a B.S. in Computer Science, as well as two years of graduate CS study, while playing and refereeing high school, college & club polo, including national-level tournaments.  

He is a certified USA Water Polo coach and referee. He and Mike Clay led the Lions 16-U team to a top-16 finish at the 2021 Junior Olympics in Dallas. He was honored with the USA Water Polo Distinguished Volunteer Award in 2022 for the Midwest Zone.

He is the head water polo coach at Kirkwood High School, leading them to four consecutive state Elite Eight finishes including the silver medal in 2021 and the bronze medal in 2024. He was named Missouri Water Polo Coach of the Year in 2021. He is also the head coach of boys and girls swimming and diving at Ladue, guiding them to multiple top-ten team placements at the Missouri Class 1 State Championships.

He co-founded and leads the Lions for the purpose of growing girls' water polo in St. Louis, and beyond, and is dedicated to seeing student/athletes mature and become outstanding young people. 

  Coach Raskin is a 2023 graduate from Ladue Horton Watkins High School. While playing for Ladue he became the team captain his junior year, and led his team to a final four finish that same year. He also played for St. Louis Area Polo since 8th grade. With SLAP, he traveled to Junior Olympics, starting for their 2023 national champion 18-U team.  Coach Raskin also was a co-captain of the swim/dive team at Ladue, swimming for Coach Peglar.

Currently Coach Raskin is attending the University of Missouri, Columbia where he is studying biomedical engineering. He is also the current President and Captain of the Mizzou Water Polo Team.