Director of Operations: David Corsi

Coach Corsi lives in La Costa with his wife Brenda and their children Grant and Alexandria. Coach Corsi was a four year letterman at Maranatha High School from 1975-1979. He was MVP his junior and senior Year, averaging 25 points and 20 rebounds a game his Senior Year with an All-San Gabriel Valley Selection that year.

His freshman year at Biola University, Dave won the GSAC Championship and played in the NAIA National Tournament. After transferring to Vanguard University his sophomore year, Dave received many honors including Most Inspiration Player (1982), Best Defensive Player (1984), Team Captain (1984) and GSAC Player of the Week (1984). Dave lead Vanguard his senior year in scoring (14.2 points per game) and rebounds (10.1 per game). After college, Coach Corsi participated in Tournaments around the world in Hong Kong, China, Belize, Mexico City, Guatemala, El Salvador, New Zealand and Australia.

In addition to the Solana Beach Cats David has been in the footwear industry for 25 years.  He has worked for such large corporations as L.A. Gear, Skechers, New Balance and Converse.  He is currently President of two footwear brands Gourmet Footwear and Tenevis Footwear located in Carlsbad.

Director of Skills Development: Chad Bickley

Coach Bickley lives in Carlsbad with his wife Kelly and their children Drew and Paige.

Coach Bickley became Head Coach at Hesperia Christian School in 2000. Upon his arrival, Chad inherited a team that won 6 games and had lost 5 seniors to graduation. During his three years at Hesperia, the Patriots improved under Coach Bickley winning 10, 14, and 16 games respectively.

In 2003, Chad returned to his collegiate alma mater to become the Head Assistant Coach. In his second year, the Eagles won a NCCAA National championship followed by a berth in the NAIA tournament the following year (the back-to-back tournament appearance remains the only time in school history). The Patriots were ranked as high as #10 in the nation in NAIA.

Coach Bickley holds multiple state and national records for 3-point field goals and scoring from when he played at Valley Christian in Santa Maria, CA and at San Diego Christian College. Chad has been profiled by ABC, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, and his jersey, shoes, book, and ball were on display in the Basketball Hall of Fame. He holds the following records:

California State High School Records

  • Most 3-point FG Made in a Game: 1st (21 3’s) and 2nd (20 3’s) 1994
  • Most Points in a Game: 2nd (89 points) and 3rd Place (79 points) 1992, 1994
  • Most Points in Consecutive Games: 4th (123 points) 1994

National High School Records

  • Most 3-point FG Attempted in a Career: 1st (1,443 3’s) 1992-95
  • Most 3-point FG Attempted in a Game: 2nd (39 3’s) and 3rd (35 3’s) 1994
  • Most 3-point FG Made in a Game: 2nd (21 3’s) and 3rd (20 3’s) 1994
  • Most 3-point FG Made in a Career: 2nd (507 3’s) 1992-95
  • Most 3-point FG Made in a Season: 8th (165 3’s) 1993-94

2010-2011 Coaching Staff

The coaching staff at SBC is a premier group of coaches, many are college and high-school coaches, former Division I players, and successful high school players. The 2010-2011 SBC coaching staff is as follows:

Girls Coaches

  • 5th Grade:  Robert Steele
  • 6th Grade: Whitney Botron
  • 7th Grade: Brianna Rooney
  • 8th Grade: Eisha Bohman

Boys Coaches

  • 4th Grade Red: Tim Askew
  • 4th Grade White: Matt Weaver
  • 5th Grade Red: James Morris; Chris Zingrebe
  • 5th Grade White: Chris Mohler
  • 6th Grade Red-  Drew Peterson; Bob Goedken
  • 6th Grade White- Dan Opperman
  • 7th Grade Red-  Jason Stewart;Craig Johnson
  • 7th Grade White- Jason Cook;Dave Baker
  • 7th Grade Black- Andrew Hyson
  • 8th Grade Red-  Jason Cook
  • 8th Grade White-  Jason Stewart;Craig Johnson
  • 8th Grade Black- Andrew Deremer;Len Philo

All-Star Coaches

  • 5th Grade All-Stars: James Morris; Chris Zingrebe
  • 6th Grade All-Stars: Drew Peterson; Bob Goedken
  • 7th Grade All-Stars: Jason Stewart; Craig Johnson
  • 8th Grade All-Stars: Jason Cook

Coach Bios

Dave Baker

Coach Baker lives in Encinitas with his wife Harriet and their children Coleman and Logan. Harriet is a small business owner specializing in Architectural renderings for new and remolded construction projects.

Dave graduated in 1985 from the Naval Academy. Upon commissioning he served 5 years as an unrestricted line officer serving aboard several ships in various capacities. Upon leaving the active duty force he entered the Naval Reserve Force where he served for an additional 15 years retiring at the rank of Captain. He is various positions of responsibilities included several tours as Executive Officer and Several Tours as a Commanding Officer. Dave was recalled to active duty after 9/11 for a one year period. In 1990 Dave began his civilian career with National Steel and Shipbuilding Company which is currently part of the General Dynamics family. His current position is the Senior Ship Manager responsible for the construction of commercial ships.

Dave has been associated with the development of youths in many facets from baseball where he has coached to basketball where his passion lies. He has been with the program for 8 years working with youths from age 10 to 14. As a member of the Board of Directors he is made numerous contributions to the program and is personally involved with setting the direction for SBC

Jason Cook

Coach Cook lives in Encinitas, CA and is excited to be back in San Diego. After going to college at SDCC, Jason moved to Phoenix for 4 years where he sold life insurance and investments. He realized that this wasn’t for him and missed being around basketball. He moved back to his hometown in Boise, ID and became a teacher and JV basketball coach. After two years of that was offered the chance to return to San Diego as the Varsity Assistant Coach at Santa Fe Christian.

Coach Cook played two years of varsity basketball at Eagle High school in Boise, ID and made the state tournament every year. After high school he received a scholarship to Walla Walla Community College and was a two year starter. He received first team honors his sophomore year and also received a scholarship to San Diego Christian college. At SDCC he was again a two year starter after red shirting his first year. During his senior year, SDCC won the national NCCAA Championship and Jason was named MVP of the tournament.

Bob Goedken

Coach Goedken grew up in Iowa, before moving to California in 1992. After his company moved him to Omaha Nebraska between 1997-2001, he and his wife Cathy now reside in Carlsbad, with their three boys, Mitchell , Jack  and Stephen.

Since 2003, Coach Goedken has worked for Yamaha Electronics Corporation and is currently the General Manager for the Orange County based company. Prior to that, Coach Goedken was the SVP at Profitstar, a software company catering to the banking industry for over 15 years. Coach Bob has his MBA from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and graduated with a BA in Management from Simpson College, an NCAA Division III school where he started as the shooting guard and was honorable mention, All-Iowa Conference.

In high school, Coach Bob was part of a two-time State Championship team in the state of Iowa that went 76-0 during his playing time, made it to the AAU National Finals, and where he was first team all-conference and honorable mention all-state. He also lettered in multiple years in baseball and track, where he finished 6th in the State Long Jump. Coach Bob credits much of his own personal success with his past coaches who instilled upon him the importance of hard work, teamwork, and practicing the fundamentals with improvement as the goal every day. Coach Bob has led basketball teams of 3-4 graders and 5-6 grade boys teams for six seasons, and loves teaching the boys the basketball skills and the life lessons that he has learned over the years.

Craig Johnson

Coach Johnson lives in Carlsbad with his wife, Debbie, and their children, Maggie and Bret. He is the Chief Financial Officer of TorreyPines Therapeutics, and he serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Ardea Biosciences, both publicly-traded biotechnology companies.

Coach Johnson played high school basketball at Temple Christian High School located near Detroit, MI. As the team’s point guard, Coach Johnson led Temple Christian to a record of 18-7 in his senior year, finishing the season first in assists and steals, second in scoring, and receiving the team award for best defensive player. Also that year, he was named to the all-conference team, three all-tournament teams, and an all-area team as an honorable mention. Later, Coach Johnson worked as the assistant varsity coach at Clarenceville High School, serving under his former high school coach. Coach Johnson still plays basketball every chance he gets…and when his body allows. He loves the game, he loves the life lessons that can be learned through the game, and he loves the kids.

Anthony Ligura

Anthony Ligura recently moved to San Diego in April of 2008. Anthony has always wanted to be a basketball coach and had the opportunity to start at a young age. After High School, his High School coach asked him to assist with the Boys Freshman Basketball team. After being an assistant for 3 years, Elsie Allen High School offered him the Freshman Head Coaching job which he did for two years. Work took over and limited him to volunteer his time to coach whenever possible. Anthony is excited to join the CATS basketball program and teach the lessons he has learned, both life and basketball, to all the kids.

In addition to coaching, Anthony works for a security company and is in the process of starting a branch in Southern California in which he would be the Branch Manager. He also works at the JCC in La Jolla part time helping with all the different sports leagues.

Chris Mohler

Coach Chris Mohler was born in Tucson, Arizona on June 28, 1983. He became a San Diego resident in 1990, and as a young man found himself, growing up in an exceptionally competitive environment. He attended local schools, and played in youth basketball leagues. In 2001, he graduated from La Costa Canyon High School.

His passion for basketball began through the leadership of older players, thus allowing him to play in their game. His coaching was influenced by his younger brother, who he showed the game to. His gift to him is this intense passion and love of basketball. In addition, He started sharing his passion by volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club in 2003, for the 7th and 8th grade basketball teams. At the facility he met Mike Rauso, Regional Director of San Diego, of the One on One Basketball Training program. He became an instructor with One on One Basketball, and garnered the knowledge and methods of how to teach boys and girls at various skill levels, the fundamentals necessary to succeed on the court. These experiences pave the way to success off the court, as well. In the summer of 2004, he started working with one of his mentors, Burke Spillmen, and the Young Mavs program. Summer 2004 held a special significance since he had the opportunity to coach his first competitive team. He managed to lose every game that season. However, that did not stop his “Positive Metal Attitude”, or PMA, and his burning desire to continue to coach. This experience ultimately heightened and increased his love for basketball. Two years later he transformed his methods, and thus went undefeated.

Currently, he is continuing his college education at Cal State University San Marcos, (CSUSM). He is familiar with the rivalries in this area, as well as the competitive nature of sports. Based on his experiences and opportunities he has had with several local coaches. All of these key components provide him with the necessary tools to influence and coach your basketball players. In essences, his goal is to improve the overall game. The end result consists of a season surrounded with PMA, fun, and great memoriea

James Morris

Coach Morris was born and raised in Oceanside, California. He currently resides in Carlsbad, California with his wife Cara and 4 children. He has worked for The Home Depot in San Marcos for five years. While his focus was on football and track in high school, basketball has always been his passion.

For the past years, Coach James has been a basketball coach for various ages with a recreation league. He also coached the all-star team and created and ran a fundamentals clinic. Coach James plays basketball every week in an adult league where his team has won the championship on several occasions.

Coach Morris has spent multiple years  with the SBC organization. Three of his children are current SBC players. His true love is teaching and inspiring children. He fully believes in the mission and vision of Cats and is thrilled to be the Head Coach for CATS Red again this year!

Drew Peterson

Coach Peterson lives in Solana Beach, CA with his wife Cyndi and their three sons Drew, John, and Jack. Drew is President of the California Orthopedic Institute and an Orthopedic Surgeon.

In his playing days, Coach Drew lettered for four years at Kenyon College (NCAA Division III). Since then, he was head coaching experience at SBC (4 years: Grades 5-8), Boys and Girls Club (5 Years: Grades 2 through 5), and St. James Academy (3 Years: Grades 5-7).

Coach Drew has a passion for youth basketball and has been instrumental in the development of SBC Club Basketball. He and his family remain active in their community and local parish, St. James Catholic Church.

Len Philo

Coach Len came to San Diego in 2007 with his wife Jennifer and two children Steven and Kathleen. The Navy brought him here to train as an Internal Medicine physician at Balboa Hospital. The family lives in Carmel Valley and the kids go to Sage Canyon Elementary.  Coach Len just left for Afghanistan for a nine month tour.

Coach Len grew up in the mountains of North Carolina playing basketball and running. He attended College at the University of Arizona as a Marine Corps ROTC student. After college he served as an infantry officer and a recruiter in Virginia and California. He met his bride while stationed in 29 Palms, California.  After the Marine Corps he worked for Pfizer until he attended medical school in Washington, D.C. After medical school and internship, Coach Len took care of Navy Divers and Submariners in Virginia before coming back to Southern California.

Coach Len loves coaching and has been coaching youth sports for over twenty years. He loves motivating and teaching young boys and girls and watching them grow as they develop sports and leadership skill

Jason Stewart

Coach Stewart is a native of California, born in Inglewood, CA. Coach Stewart graduated high school from Gateway Christian High School in Harbor City, California. Jason lettered in basketball all four years of his high school career. Jason also lettered in football and volleyball. Academically, Coach Stewart graduated with honors, finishing his senior year with a 4.0 in preparation for college.

Jason chose the University of Arizona to continue his education and pursue his basketball dreams. Jason Stewart was a “walk-on” on the Arizona men’s basketball team. Under Head Coach Lute Olson, the team won a NCAA National Championship in 1997. That team was inducted into the NCAA Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998. The Arizona Wildcats also won a Pac-10 Championship in 1998. Academically, Coach Stewart received his B.A. in Communication during his four year stay at the University. He also was recognized for his efforts in the community, when the school presented him with the “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award”.

After college, Jason coached boy’s high school basketball at Pusch Ridge Christian Academy while also working as a mortgage broker. In 2002, Coach Stewart presided over a club basketball team called the Tucson HEAT. In 2007 Jason moved back to California. Jason resided in Malibu before moving south to San Diego in 2008. Coach Stewart does motivational and educational speaking in combination with starting a coaching company called Pro University. He is very excited to get back to basketball as a part of the SBC Family!

Chris Zingrebe

Coach Chris lives in Carlsbad, CA with his girlfriend Janelle and their two dogs. Chris is the Director of Operations for Trump Card Incorporated, which has been growing rapidly since its inception in 2002.

Coach Chris was born and raised in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio and has been playing basketball since he was six years old. Chris played four years of Varsity basketball, were he scored over 1,000 points in his high school career along with being first team all conference his Sophomore, Junior, Senior years. Chris was an all state honorable mention his senior year along with winning the Sportsmanship Award for the city of Cleveland. Coach Chris received a scholarship to play at Tiffin University in Tiffin OH, were he played until deciding to move to San Ramon, CA to be closer to family.

Chris has spent many years being involved in youth sports, most recently coaching two All-Star teams with Coach Morris at the Encinitas YMCA. Coach Chris was introduced to the Cats program last year and has been looking forward to getting involved ever since. He enjoys sharing his talents and knowledge and is looking forward to coaching the Cats this year!

Ernie Mendes

Coach Ernie Mendes lives in Carlsbad with his wife Susan of more than 25 years and their two children Jake & Alexa. Ernie has been working with youth for more than 28 years. He has coached in the NJB league for 4 seasons and in the Encinitas recreational league for 2 seasons. During this time he has won a league championship and his teams have finished in 1st or second place in their standings.

Ernie coached high school basketball at Marian High School (now known as Mater Dei Catholic) for two years as the J.V. coach and Varsity assistant. He brings lots of passion to teaching players the right way to do things and to play with mental focus. Ernie trains and consults with organizations and school districts training leaders, teachers and coaches on how the brain best learns and the conditions that lead to peak performance in academics and sports. He has a PhD in Psychology and is a former high school teacher and college instructor. He is also a licensed psychotherapist. As a lover of many sports, he played basketball up to 10th grade, then was convinced to try wrestling where he lettered and completed his high school career. He also played football in high school, then spent 20 years in the martial arts, studying the arts of Tae Kwon Do (15 years) and Brazilian Jujitsu (5 years) under world renown masters. He has always been involved in competition and in helping others achieve peak performance in their sport, occupation or relationships. Ernie believes basketball is one of the best sports for youth to develop physically, mentally, and emotionally. He  loves identifying strengths and gaps in players and helping them develop their potential in the context of a team situation. His favorite saying is, “Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard.”

Rob Gaan

Coach Rob was born and raised in Los Angeles and earned a bachelors degree in economics from UCLA.   He is a Certified Financial Planner and a principal of an investment management firm in Del Mar. Coach Rob once read a quote from Michael Jordan, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”

Rob is motivated by the teaching aspect of coaching and has been active in youth basketball for over ten years.  He enjoys helping young players develop and progress through sound fundamental instruction.  His goal is to identify each player’s unique strengths in order to be able to place that player in a position to be motivated by success.