MEET THE ELEVATE OWNERS

Coach Branche grew up playing lacrosse in Syracuse New York and has lived in the Atlanta area for the last 24 years with his wife and kids.  Coach Branche started the Mountain View High School Boys Lacrosse program as its first Director of Lacrosse while also assisting in the development of the coaches and players in the Mountain View Youth Lacrosse program at its inception. 

In 2019 Coach Branche moved to Buford High School where he took on the role of Varsity Offensive Coodininator where they made it to the 5A GHSA Lacrosse Final Four.  The 2020 Buford team moved up to 6A/7A and went undefeated until the COVID shutdown, beating some tough teams like McCallie School out of Chattanooga, TN on the road.  Before retiring from coaching Varsity lacrosse in 2021 so he could spend more time with his family, he helped Buford make it to the 6A/7A GHSA Elite 8.

Throughout his time coaching Varsity level lacrosse, Coach Branche was also coaching youth and travel lacrosse at all age groups and skill levels which helps him bring an uncommon breadth and depth of experience to Elevate.  His goal is  to develop his players into more than just elite lacrosse players; it is also to develop them into productive young men with character, work ethic, and integrity.

Caroline Ariano has played lacrosse for 10 years now and specializes in draws. Currently she plays at Kennesaw State University on the girls club team where she is a draw specialist. Previously she played at Piedmont University where she specialized at draws and played attack. Before that, and because of Covid, she only played 3 years at North Gwinnett High School. During her time at NGHS, she was a draw specialist and played attack. She currently hold North Gwinnett’s all time draw control record of 287. She was the captain of the varsity team her senior year and made the All County Second Team Girls Attack and All County Girls Leadership. She was an Assistant coach for Gwinnett Rush where she taught draw control.

HIGHLIGHTS & SPECIALTY: Draw Specialist

Coach Steph currently coaches at Parkview High School. This

season of 202S. the Parkview Panthers just won their first ever

area championship for the program. Coach Steph moved to

Georgia in 2020 from Southlake, TX, where she won a State

Championship in 2019, alongside working at the Lax Kong

Lacrosse Store

Before Texas. Coach Steph played and coached overseas, with a

teaching and coaching job at Oakham School in England, and

playing in tournaments in Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, and more.

She also coached for De Montfort University's lacrosse team

and gol a second place standing for their region in their second

year of the program. Prior to England, Coach Steph lived south

of Nashville, TN, where she helped her old lacrosse team.

Ravenwood. to a final four appearance in the slale championshi

(2016).

Coach Steph played at Longwood University on a Division I

scholarship and graduated in 2013. Her university won their

conference (National League Conference) in 2010 betore

switching to the Big South conference by her senior year. She

got recruited from Nashville in 2009 where her high school

team, Ravenwood, was one of the top three teams in the state

for altour vears of her high school lacrosse career.

Most recentlv. Coach Steph got into box lacrosse, the version of

the sport with full pads and full contact. She is an ambassador

for a program.

Women's Box Lacrosse Global Network, to ncip

grow women's box lacrosse, around the globe. She was a

commentator for the first ever Women st Box lacrosse World

Championship this past fall (2024) alongside the Men s Box

Lacrosse World Championship.

Madison Welch is a passionate lacrosse coach and current midfielder for the Mars Hill University Lions. A standout athlete from Buford High School in Georgia, Madison played a key role in building the program’s success with her athleticism and leadership. Now competing at the collegiate level, she brings a high level of energy and game knowledge to the field. As a coach, Madison is dedicated to helping young players grow in skill, confidence, and love for the game.

Mark was named Assistant Men's Lacrosse Coach in September 2023 and will begin his second season with Piedmont in the spring of 2025. Destro joins the Lions after spending this past season as Assistant Men's Lacrosse Coach at Oglethorpe University. Overall, Destro boasts seven seasons of collegiate coaching experience, all of which have come at the NCAA Division III level. Destro began his coaching career as Assistant Men's Lacrosse Coach for Sewanee in the 2015 and 2016 seasons, helping the team secure two conference championships and NCAA tournament appearances. After the 2016 season, Destro moved to the University of Mount Union before spending two seasons coaching at Methodist University as an assistant coach in 2018 and 2019. As a collegiate athlete, Destro played three seasons of lacrosse as a goalie at The Catholic University of America, while he also earned Division I experience, playing for both Manhattan College and Jacksonville University. In 2022, Destro earned his master's of business administration from Liberty University and also has a bachelor of arts in history from Catholic University of America, which he earned in 2014.

HIGHLIGHTS & SPECIALTY: Goalie