EDITOR’S NOTE: Nease High School Golden Booster Kathy Wachala interviewed the school’s first-year coaches for this article during the academic year that just ended.
As I interviewed every first-year coach, there was a constant theme: They love their sport, and they love sharing that with our athletes.
Without fail, they are all concerned for the welfare and growth of the whole child. That focus will take their teams far and will do so with challenge, fun and individual and team growth. Knowing that most coaches are paid little, if anything, their dedication speaks to their passion and character in giving back to the community and our young people.
I would like to thank each of them for taking time to get to know them just a little bit better. We all appreciate your commitment, and we support you in your efforts!
In addition to these amazing people, thank you to all the assistant coaches and parents who support all these head coaches! The Golden Boosters, the parents and the students at Nease appreciate your commitment and love for your sports! Thank you for sharing that passion with our athletes!
Here are Nease High School’s first-year coaches during the 2022-23 academic year:
Jason Hatcher, Baseball Head Coach
Jason is originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he started as a head coach right out of college, the first half in Virginia before coming to Florida. He has been coaching for over 25 years. He coached Nease from 2013 to 2018, when Nease became the 2017 State Champions! He returned to Nease last year from Bartram High School and we are proud to have him back!
Jason is all about life and how his kids grow well beyond baseball. He stays in touch with his players as they finish college and go on to have families of their own. They are extended family, and he is proud to call them that.
“Kids are so different these days and face many challenges from a few years ago; they are working, have technology and many distractions,” said Coach Hatcher, whose greatest challenge is keeping them focused on the baseball field. He is a coach who cares deeply about developing not only baseball but life skills in his players. Seeing boundaries and getting agreement from both the players and parents has created clear expectations and focus that translate into success in all areas! Coach Hatcher is not just about winning the game but creating a complete future for his players!
Brooke Lovelace, Head Cheer Coach
Coach Brooke was born and raised in St. Augustine. She is currently a second-grade teacher at Valley Ridge Academy. She coached at Zone Cheer All-Stars prior to joining Nease. This will be her third season with the Nease Cheer program, and she continues to expand and build the program. The Nease cheer program includes a varsity and JV team, in addition to a traditional competition team. And for the first time in Nease Cheer history, Coach Brooke has added a Gameday competition team. Recently, the program has also added an assistant varsity coach, a JV head coach, and an assistant varsity/JV coach!
Coach Brooke’s greatest challenge is that she works at VRA, so she does not get to participate in spirit events during school hours and see her team daily. But she is there for them when needed. She, like other coaches at Nease, cares deeply about the whole athlete, not just their performance within their sport. She wants to know that all is well with their personal and school life, in addition to their performance on the team. She has started to build an incredibly competitive and lasting program as she begins her second season as head coach!
Dylann Swisley, Head Track & Field, Women and Men Coach
Dylann is originally from Sacramento, California. She has a Master’s Degree in sports management from Texas A&M. Since sports tend to be more competitive in the South and her mother was already here, she decided to move to Florida. She contacted multiple schools, but Nease was her top pick.
When she arrived, she brought a new way of doing things and set high expectations which were challenging at first as the team adjusted to the cultural shift. The athlete’s health and happiness are the top priority for Nease’s track-and-field program. Coach Swisley, like other Nease coaches, cares as much about the whole individual as the sport in which they are participating. Coach Swisley also works closely with the football program and is grateful to her colleague, Coach DeVos, for empowering his staff to be the best for their athletes. She is very proud to be associated with Nease and proud of the athletes she calls “solid gold” from the inside out!
Jordann Pierluissi, Nease Head Dance Coach
Coach Jordann was born and raised in Ocala. She comes to Nease after building a top-tier program at The Villages Charter School, winning a national title with Dance Team Union in 2020 and then starting the dance team at Beachside High School.
She has traveled the country in an RV with her husband and returned to stay in the St. Augustine area, her favorite! She is also a national choreographer Consultant for Bre Choreography Management Agency and a national judge for Dance Team Union. We are truly fortunate to have her!
Her greatest challenge will be to create a direction and focus for the new dance team. Coach Jordann wants to see the dancers reach their full potential on an individual basis and as a team.
She has big plans for the future of the Pantherettes Dance Team! We look forward to seeing her and the team this fall!
Sean Schoeneman, Head Women’s and Men’s Weightlifting Coach
Coach Schoeneman is originally from Canton, Ohio. After a 10-year career as a navy submariner, he settled in Jacksonville. He coached Olympic weightlifting and crossfit for 10 years before joining Nease as the weightlifting coach.
After taking over the program at Nease, and being the fourth coach in five years, building the kids’ trust was initially challenging. But as their lifts and technique progressed, he earned their buy-in.
Coach Schoeneman looks forward to working with all Nease athletes, regardless of their sport. The girls benefit from normalizing, being strong and gaining confidence. The boys learn that there is no bigger competition than the one against themselves. This sport is about effort. The more effort you put in, the more you get out of this sport.
Vinny Stolp, Women’s Softball Head Coach
Coach Vinny is originally from Guam. He moved to Jacksonville where he graduated high school at Robert E. Lee and joined the military. After 24 years in the military, he retired and moved back to Jacksonville. Vinny has four daughters who all play women’s fastpitch softball. His two older daughters received athletic scholarships to play softball. Coach Vinny has been around softball for over 25 years. He has coached at various levels of softball from recreational league to middle school and high school varsity level.
Coach Vinny’s greatest challenge is “getting the girls to play as a team and trust each other as well as getting the girls to realize that making a mistake is not a bad thing and to always look at those mistakes as learning experiences.” It’s an ongoing process. Coach Vinny would like to see his girls grow as a team win or lose.
David Schmutz, Women’s Golf Head Coach
David is originally from New Jersey where he and his family shared a love for golf. He went to college at Florida State and remained in Florida. He has played professional golf and is a golf instructor. His passion for the game of golf is what he tries to share with his team.
He also enjoys watching his team’s skills grow over time. After three coaches in three years, his greatest challenge was getting buy-in from his players that he was there to stay and grow the program. He has accomplished not only that but has become the first male girl’s golf coach of the past three.
He has navigated this very well as the team did well this past year and their prospects for this coming year are particularly good as they continue to grow. He recognized a senior who was the rock of the team and looks forward to the next student who will step up into that leadership role and push the team to the next level!
