Leslie LaFronz
With over thirty years of coaching and playing experience at the collegiate, club, high school and recreational levels, Coach LaFronz offers a wealth of field hockey experience to players of all levels. She launched Rapid Fire Field Hockey in 2006 to offer quality field hockey opportunities to players of all ages and abilities. Now, Rapid Fire is arguably one of the most competitive and comprehensive clubs in the tri-state area.
She began her high school career in 1977 and started her coaching career in 1987. Coach LaFronz played at Northern Valley Demarest High School where she received All-League, All-County and All-State honors. Afterwards, she attended Northwestern University on a full field hockey scholarship. With Northwestern, Coach LaFronz made four NCAA Division I appearances, one Final Four appearance, and was named to the First Team All-Big Ten Defensive Squad on Northwestern’s number two nationally ranked team. She was also a member of Northwestern’s nationally ranked lacrosse team, where she made three NCAA Division I Tournament appearances.
After graduation, she worked on Wall Street before leaving to coach full-time. At Wayne Valley High School, LaFronz spent ten years bringing her team from last place to championship winners. In 1996, she was named County and Conference Coach of the Year and her team won the County Championship for the first time in school history. She was named Passaic County (Star Ledger) Coach of the Year that same year. She received the same Coach of the Year honors in 2000, 2001, and 2002. LaFronz was also named North Jersey Coach of the Year in 2002 and won the County Championship for the second time in the school's history.
Coach LaFronz made the leap to the collegiate ranks in 2003 where she began an inaugural field hockey (and lacrosse) program at Ramapo College. As Head Coach, LaFronz received Ramapo College Coach of the Year honors in 2004. After five years at collegiate level she chose to devote her career full-time to Rapid Fire Club and developmental hockey. Coach LaFronz was a long-time United States Olympic Development Futures Coach. She has travelled Holland, England and Brussels with Elite high school teams as well as her college team. She was instrumental in bringing the World USA Camps to New Jersey in 2008 which exposes players to cutting edge international training and playing techniques. She has run the New York City, Boston and Honolulu Marathons multiple times with a personal best of 3 hours and 20 minutes.
Contact: leslie@rapidfirefh.com
Victor Ochieng
Coach Victor Ochieng is the lead coach at Rapid Fire. As a player, Coach Ochieng competed at the highest level playing for the Kenyan National Hockey Team in the 1988 Seoul Olympics and in several international tournaments in Europe, Asia and Africa (1986-92). In 2004, Coach Ochieng was certified as a Level II Coach by the IOC. He started his coaching career in 1989, building the first Ladies’ University of Nairobi hockey team which won accolades for winning the national league (1990) and four tournaments in 1989-91. In 1992 he was invited to coach Sliders Ladies Hockey Club, a newly formed club structured to develop high school players, mentor and motivate college hockey players and provide opportunities for college players and college graduates to excel in the sport locally and overseas. In 1994, Coach Ochieng led Sliders Hockey Club to win the Tour de Paris Hockey Tournament. As coach, Sliders also won two gold medals and one bronze medal in the African Continental Club Championships between 1993 and 1996. In 1996, Coach Ochieng who was appointed Tournament Coach for the Men’s Kenya Armed Forces for a 3-year assignment, resigned from coaching the ladies’ club and became a co-owner/executive of the club; a role that he continues to play actively to keep the high success-rate of the club. As coach for the Armed Forces Team (1996-98), the team won two Continental Championships. In 1997, Victor was appointed the Kenya Men’s National Under 21 Coach before becoming Full National Team Coach (Stats. Coach) from 1998-2003. Coach Ochieng has an outstanding record as a coach in the United States having led the Rapid Fire U19 team to an undefeated (2nd overall position) at Festival 2008; a team that led the division on goals scored (12) and least goals conceded (2). Prior successful coaching assignments include coaching the first (and so far), the only championship team for Quick Stix U19 at Festival 2004, and development of several youth, college and peer programs in New Jersey and New York as well as international hockey exchange programs. Coach Ochieng is a practicing professional engineer and holds a B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. (abd) in Civil Engineering.
Contact: victor@rapidfirefh.com
Victor Machoka
Victor's hockey career spans over 30 years. As a player he has captained all the teams that he played for; junior school, High School, University & Wazalendo Hockey Club. He is also a National Team trialist and ex-2nd Vice Chairman of the Nairobi Hockey Association. He captained the Varsity team to the National Premier League (Div I) qualification after winning the Provincial League (Div II) in 1990 and won the intervarsity national hockey championships for 2 consecutive years.
Victor's coaching resume stretches back to 1989 when he began a 14 year stint as a Head Coach at Kenya High School while pursuing his bachelor's degree at the University of Nairobi. He coached this team to several Kenya Secondary Schools Association Provincial (8) & National Championship finals (4). His high school team, nicknamed "Boma", also won several trophies in major national tournaments organized by the Kenya Ladies Hockey Association. Victor is a graduate of the University of Nairobi (BA Economics), Kenya and Webster University (MBA), and is currently an employee of the United Nations in New York.
Tim Poeton
Tim began his field hockey career in England over 35 years ago. Graduated Dean Close College, Cheltenham in 1975 with single season scoring record of 26 goals in 14 games, a record that still stands; also played for Gloucestershire U21s. Played for a number of area clubs while pursuing a career at Lloyd’s of London, including a 10 year period at Cheshunt Hockey Club where he was 1st team captain for his last 5 years, and led them to promotion to the First Division of the East Leagues.
Tim founded Wapping Hockey Club in Central London in 1988 and was Chairman and 1st team captain for the first 2 years. Proudest achievement was creating a program for underprivileged kids from East London to play field hockey.
In 1992 elected Lifetime President of Wapping Hockey Club, which now has 7 men’s and 5 ladies teams, and remains involved to this day. Upon moving with his family to the USA in 1991 Tim took a couple of years off until his daughters were old enough to play when he discovered QuikStyx and quickly became involved in assisting with the coaching. As well as playing in the US he has played in Holland, Germany, Belgium, Ireland and Barbados.
Tim is the Head Coach of the Chatham Recreation Program which he co-founded in 2002 and has grown to 150 5th to 8th grade girls with 7 travel teams.
He coached Morristown Beard High School 2004/5 and 2006/7 with an unbeaten freshman season. Tim has also assisted with USA Futures.
Tim has assisted in all areas of the development of Rapid Fire since its inception in 2006 and both his daughters are graduates of the program. Tim is a great resource in assisting Coach Leslie LaFronz with the college placement program as both his daughters were recruited.
Aside from the above Tim founded Timbo’s Tonkers Touring Club in 1983 which celebrated its 25th year by placing a highly credible sixth place at the 2008 National Hockey Festival in Palm Springs. Timbo’s Tonkers are an adult select team that get together annually to play a few games and celebrate the joys of the game with players from all over the world.
Finally, Tim loves to remind Coach Victor Ochieng that although he may have played in the 1988 Olympics for Kenya many of Tim’s playing colleagues were on the Great Britain team that actually won the gold!!
