A-Game Sports Staff

Vaughn Anderson played high school basketball at Iona Prep, and then went on to play two years at Buffalo State College. From Buffalo State, he transferred to Manhattan College on an academic scholarship and graduated with Honors in the field of Exercise Science. Vaughn is well known in NY state as one of the top basketball trainers on the youth elite AAU circuit. Vaughn has coached at New Rochelle High School, Iona Grammar, Mount Vernon Jr. Knights, and Mamaroneck Middle School.

Kaitlin Bonk, currently the Little Athletes Academy director, started her volleyball and softball career in Upstate New York, where she participated in four years of varsity softball and three year of varsity volleyball, named Captain of both for her junior and senior years. Kaitlin played volleyball and softball briefly for Southern Connecticut State University and then transferred to play softball at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. While at the University of Hartford, she assisted in founding the Men’s Club Volleyball team, in which she had the opportunity to coach the Club division 1 program until she graduated in 2013. As a Student-Athlete, she worked with many local youth organizations and assisted with other organizations while home in New York. In addition to playing and coaching experience, Kaitlin has a Master’s of Science degree in Sports Management, a Graduate Certification in Athletic Administration, and formal training and experience with sports medicine.

Juan Brito is from New York City. He has played baseball for 23 years, three of which were as an NCAA pitcher at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, where he graduated in 2018 with a BA in Sociology, and a double minor in Italian and Business. He is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in business administration. Juan has played every position on the diamond at a competitive level. He currently coaches travel baseball teams and gives private instructional lessons. He is enthusiastic about player development.

Evan Brown is a Queens Native, who has over 20 years of experience in the game of baseball. He graduated from St. John’s Prep with Honors and as the Captain of the Varsity Baseball Team, having won two City Championships. Evan then went on to attend the College of Mount Saint Vincent where he again, graduated with honors and as a 4 year Member and Captain of the Baseball Team. As a two-way player in College, he was named Skyline Conference Player of the Week twice in his collegiate career as well as etching his name in the Mount Saint Vincent Record Books as a pitcher, ranking in the Top 10 of Strikeouts in a Season. Evan graduated with a Bachelors in Business Marketing and Management, which he uses daily in his work as a NYC Real Estate Agent.

Ingrid Carmona started her volleyball career in middle school in her home country, the Dominican Republic. Ingrid was a member of the Dominican Republic Junior National Team from 2003 to 2008, also participating with the Dominican Beach Volleyball National Team. During her time with both teams—indoor and beach volleyball, she had the opportunity to compete in multiple international competitions such as NORCECA, Central American Games, Youth Volleyball World Cup, and World Championship of School Volleyball.

In Fall 2008, Ingrid joined the California Baptist University Lancers womens volleyball team. During her time at CBU, Ingrid was a four-time, first-team All American and All-Conference honoree—named to the All-PacWest first team twice and named NCCAA All-American in her final two years. In addition, she was tabbed to the NAIA All-American first team for two years. At the conclusion of her playing career at CBU, she became the career leader in kills for the Lancers. The Lancers qualified for the national quarterfinals all four years, reaching the NAIA semifinals when she was a freshman and winning the NCCAAA title in her senior year.

Ingrid began her coaching career in 2014 at the Bronx Community College, where she coached for five years. Additionally, she has been coaching for the All-Star Empire Volleyball Club former All Star Volleyball Association since 2015, where she had have the opportunities to work in their Summer Virginia Beach Volleyball Camp and other High Performance Volleyball Camps in New York City. Ingrid had completed The Art of Coaching Volleyball Training program, and she is an USAV Coaching Accreditation Program (CAP) I certified.

Thomas Cosentino is a 2016 graduate of Westlake High School, where he earned three varsity letters under head coach John Consorti. A team captain his senior year, he was selected to the All-State, All-Section, and All-Tournament teams. Thomas also earned Second-Team All-County honors while a member of the Wildcats. Tom spent all four years at Ithaca and made an immediate impact as a freshman, logging 35.2 innings and making the most appearances out of any pitcher on the staff. As a sophomore, he threw 28.2 innings and led the Empire 8 conference with a 1.26 ERA. As a junior, he threw 43.2 innings for a 2.68 ERA and a 5-1 record. Thomas was named an Empire 8 all conference selection. In Senior year, he was named Liberty League pitcher of the week in his first start before the season was cancelled due to Covid-19.

Lule Dyasi has been coaching and training athletes for over 20 years. He played soccer at a championship level for many teams with accomplishments that include being a Hyundai nation cup finalist, a Budweiser Cup champion and a Los Albos (Honduras) champion in the NESSL. Lule’s love for playing the game is reflected in how he trains and coaches his students.  He instructs players at all different levels of soccer, from recreational to professional. Lule holds a USSF national license to coach and truly loves working with anyone that is willing to better themselves on and off the field.

Benjamin Erkan is a graduate of Purchase College with a BS in Psychology. Ben was a standout lacrosse player at Purchase College, becoming the program’s all-time leading goal scorer in his five-year career. The three-year captain was also named 2nd Team All-Skyline Conference in both 2021 and 2022. Ben was named to the Long-Island Lacrosse Journal Top-Junior Team in the entire country in 2020. Ben also competed on the Men’s Golf, Swim and Volleyball teams at Purchase College where he was named to an All-Skyline Conference team in Volleyball. In Golf, Ben finished 20th in the Skyline Conference Championship. Ben was named Purchase College Male Athlete of the Year in 2022.

Ben has experience coaching at 91 Tristate Boy’s Lacrosse Club, 2Way Boys Lacrosse Club, and 91 Tristate Girl’s Lacrosse Club. Ben has assisted in many clinics with Bronx Lacrosse, One Love Clinic, and White Plains Youth Lacrosse Program. Ben currently serves as the Assistant Coach for Purchase College, as well as Head Coach for 2Way Lacrosse Club in Greenwich, CT.

Jamal Fernandez is a New Rochelle native. He’s been playing sports for 21 years and coaching for 13. He’s played football, basketball, rugby, and ran track—all locally at New Rochelle High School. He attended Hudson Valley Community College to play football and walked on 1 season at SUNY Albany. He’s currently playing rugby in the American Rugby Premiership for The White Plains Warpigs. Football and basketball are his specialties, but Jamal is passionate about overall athletics and sports as well.

Anna Giannoni was a three sport athlete at The Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, CT. Anna continued on to play Division III field hockey at Endicott College in Beverly, MA. She was named MVP her freshman year in 2008 and was voted captain going into second season with the Gulls. Her collegiate career was cut short due to multiple knee injuries but she was able to continue her love for sports through coaching. She coached a variety of sports at The Pingree School in South Hamilton, MA as well as at Manchester by the Sea High School. After moving back to CT in 2014, Anna continued to coach field hockey at Loomis. Most recently, she was coaching at Western New England University for two seasons.

Anna currently works at Voya Financial in the Wealth Solutions department. She has a strong interest in emotional intelligence, self management and self resilience. Her leadership work translates directly to her passion for coaching as she tailors her sessions to the individual/group.

Anthony Gigante, started his baseball career at Iona Prep, where he was the captain and starting shortstop for the varsity team. Anthony continued his athletic career at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina on scholarship and subsequently transferred to Farmingdale State College, where he became team captain and played three full seasons. While at Farmingdale State College, Anthony received an associates degree in Sports Management and a bachelors degree in Business. He made the Academic Dean’s List achievement in 2018 and was Player of the Week in 2019. Baseball has always been an integral part of Anthony’s life as a player, coach, instructor, and even most recently as a replay operator for Major League Baseball. Anthony’s overall goal is to teach the younger generation the game of baseball and having fun doing so.

Nicole Goodrich (Director of Remote Learning) is a native of Queens, NY and a graduate of St. John’s University. She came to New Rochelle 25 years ago to be the Director of Children and Family Services at the New Rochelle YMCA. While with the YMCA, Nicole started afterschool programming in all 7 of the New Rochelle public schools, growing their programs from 12 children to 250. Deciding to open, own, and operate her own center in 2001, Nic of Time became a successful early childhood education and afterschool program for the past 20 years in the community. Nicole joined the faculty at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Pelham Manor as the Pre-K Assistant Teacher in 2013. Over the past 7 years she has served as an experienced, trusted and valued champion of education, helping develop the minds of countless pre-kindergarten students that have come through OLPH’s doors. She has been involved in curriculum development, classroom management, technology assistance, group teaching, and one on one learning. Nicole has worked with students in all grades academically, and has over 28 years of teaching and directing experience.

Mike Green has been the Varsity Assistant/Modified Lacrosse Coach at Pelham Memorial High school since 2013 and Varsity Assistant Cross Country Coach since 2017.

In 2018, he was part of the coaching staff for the Pelham Varsity Lacrosse team who won the NY Class C Section 1 Title in a dramatic overtime win over Rye. In the following game, the team won the NYS Regional Championship against Glens Falls which led to his team finishing 3rd in New York State. During his 7 years of coaching, he has developed players that have gone on to play Division 1 and Division 3 lacrosse across the country including Notre Dame, Boston University and Georgetown. Throughout his career, his players have found success on the field as well as in the classroom with dozens of Academic All-Americans. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and earned his Masters Degree in Education from Pace University.

Mike has been a full time Special Education Teacher at Pelham Memorial High School since 2013.

Yvonne Hartridge graduated from Cardinal Spellman High School, and during her senior year led her team to a New York Archdiocesan Championship win. She then continued her academics and athletics at Corning Community College and The Univeristy of Maine-Presque Isle. She was a four year starter at both institutions, playing first base and the outfield. During her time at Corning her team competed to regionals both years and were conference champions in 2018. During her 2019 season, at UMPI her school became apart of the Northern Atlantic Conference, and she helped lead her team into the first NAC conference tournament appearance. In her final season at UMPI she was selected as a nominee for Woman of the Year and was the UMPI Owls Al Arman “Make A Difference” award winner. Yvonne graduated from UMPI with a B.S. in Exercise Science with a concentration in Occupational Therapy and was awarded the Outstanding Exercise Science Major Award.

Amanda Heyde was born and raise in Westchester County, NY. As a physical education teacher and lifelong athlete, sports are in her blood. She started coaching youth soccer in high school and has been coaching ever since.

Amanda started her college career at Hofstra University where she was a field hockey goalie and a soccer defender. Amanda played 4 years of D1 field hockey and took her 5th year on the soccer team. Throughout grad school Amanda played club lacrosse until she finished her Masters degree.

After gradution, Amanda started coaching Varsity Girl’s Lacrosse. Soon after landing her first teaching job Amanda was coaching Field Hockey, Track, Girl’s Lacrosse, Basketball, and soccer in various seasons. Amanda also coached club lacrosse for Top Side, and House of Sports. Amanda has a wealth of experience on many different fields and has continued to coach all throughout the county.

Miguel Justiniano joins A-Game Sports after serving as head coach at the College of Mount Sain Vincent and Fayetteville Technical Community College softball team. Prior to FTCC, he served as the assistant softball coach for Methodist University, with his team ranking as high as number seven in the nation back in 2006. He then went on to coach Fayetteville State University’s softball team for six seasons. The Broncos made it to the 2009 CIAA Championship series and finished as a runner-up.

Justiniano grew up playing baseball in the Bronx, New York. He is a U.S. Military veteran with service in the Marines, Air Force and National Guard. While serving in the Marines, Justiniano played professional baseball in Guam. He also coached a semi-pro team while stationed in New Jersey.

Justiniano is a graduate of Campbell University and earned his master’s degree from American Military University in West Virginia. Justiniano and his wife, Edna, have three children: Sheena, Jonathan and Michael..

Jeffrey Perez was born and raised in the Bronx, NY. He graduated from Cardinal Hayes in 2015, where he participated in lacrosse and football all four years, and was the lacrosse team captain for two years. He was named the lacrosse team’s first “All-city” and Faceoff Player of the Year in 2015 and won an “AA” for the NYCHSFL in 2013. Jeffrey attended and graduated from SUNY Canton in 2020 with his BA in Sports Management, and also played four years of men’s lacrosse. He was named starting FOGO his freshman year and, throughout his time in college lacrosse, transitioned into an offensive midfielder. Jeffrey has been passionate about sports for most of his life and wants to help kids of all ages become better athletes.

Angela Robbins has had a passion for field hockey since she was in 5th grade. After graduating from high school, where she was a four-year Varsity Player, she went on to become a member of the Mercy College Field Hockey Team. With 14 goals, seven assists, and 35 points during her four years on the team, Angela ranked third in program history in goals, fourth in assists, and fourth in points. During her time at Mercy, she has earned numerous accolades including ECC offensive player of the year and ECAC second team ALL-Conference, to name a few. Angela graduated in 2019 with a Bachelors Degree in Exercise Science. Moving forward, she hopes to go to graduate school to pursue a career in physical therapy, with a concentration in pediatrics. Angela’s love for the game of field hockey continues and she enjoys sharing her passion with other young athletes that she coaches.

Alex Tejera attended Fordham University on a baseball scholarship where he was a four year letter winner, the starting SS for three seasons, and Captain as a Senior. They won their league all four years, making the NCAA Regionals twice. Alex was part of the double play combination that led the nation in double plays in the 1990–1991 season.

After Fordham, Alex played minor league baseball in the Dominican Republic (Winter Ball) and for the Northern League Sioux Falls Canaries in 1994. He played both SS and Pitcher.

Alex has since been the Assistant Baseball Coach at Woodlands High School (2000–2002), Head Baseball Coach of The Masters School (2002–2004), and Head Softball Coach at Rye High School (2004–present).

Christopher Tucker, Jr. is a graduate of Canisius College with a Bachelor of Science in Health and Wellness with an academic focus in exercise physiology, nutrition, human anatomy, and strength and conditioning. He was a left-handed pitcher for the Canisius College NCAA Division I Baseball team, staying involved through graduation. CJ was also a member of the Army ROTC program and is now a 2nd LT in the United States Army Reserve. CJ also has experience in youth coaching, specifically in baseball.

Kyle Unger is a former Pioneer from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT. He played at the collegiate level on the mound and in the infield for both the Division 1 and Club teams. Kyle got recruited out of Clarkstown North High School in New City, NY as pitcher, catcher and third baseman. Throughout high school, Kyle’s experience includes Frozen Ropes, Clarkstown Stars, Rockland Riverdogs in the American Legion travel league, and the pre-collegiate Rockland Boulders amateur team. Since graduating from Sacred Heart, Kyle has worked as an instructor at House of Sports in Ardsley, NY and Game on 13 in Elmsford. Kyle specializes in offensive training, infield work and pitching lessons.

Mike Vecchione became the director of basketball at A-Game Sports in April 2019. In his current role, Mike is responsible for the oversight of all daily activities for basketball, including camps, training and travel teams.

Mike is currently the varsity boys basketball head coach at Rye Neck high school. He previously worked as boy’s varsity head coach at Gorton high school in Yonkers, NY and JV head basketball coach at Blind Brook high school in Rye, NY. Mike was the co-director of Sts. Peter and Paul CYO basketball program for 17 years and is currently coaching at Immaculate Conception in Tuckahoe, NY. Mike also has 10 years’ experience as a varsity head coach for baseball in Blessed Sacrament in New Rochelle, NY and Gorton high school in Yonkers, NY.

Mike is a full-time science teacher at Mount Saint Michael Academy in Bronx.

Aaron “The Problem” Williams played basketball at New Rochelle High School and average 18 points per game.  Afterwards, he walked on at SUNY Delhi and was named NJCAA “Player of the Year”. The award helped him get a scholarship to Delaware State University where he helped get his team to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history by hitting the game-winning shot in the conference finals. He has since gone on to a pro career that extends from the ABA here in the states, to FIBA and other professional leagues around the world, including Canada, The Dominican Republic, Russia and New Zealand.  In addition to still playing the game, Aaron provides basketball instruction to kids throughout Westchester County, teaching them to turn their “problems” into strengths.

Carly Young grew up in New Hampshire and has played lacrosse and field hockey since second grade. She has played for Brine All American Lacrosse and the Under Combine 120 team, and was an All-State Player for her high school. Carly was chosen for the Super Sophs All-State field hockey team and All-State field hockey for New Hampshire. She was also a member of the Seacoast field hockey team and New Hampshire Tomahawks lacrosse team. Carly currently plays lacrosse at Iona College as a Defensive Mid, where she is a Junior working towards here Criminal Justice Major with a Psychology Minor.