University of Alabama - Huntsville

University of Alabama Huntsville Athletics
205 Spragins Hall Huntsville, AL 35899

Division 2 Alabama Southeast

Public Medium Competitive team

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Coaches

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Akasha Kasper

Akasha Kasper was named the second head coach in the UAH women's lacrosse program's history on Aug. 25, 2021.

Overall in her time in the Rocket City, Kasper has guided four CSC Academic All-Americans, three IWLCA All-South Region honorees, one GSC Player of the Year, one GSC Defensive Player of the Year, eight All-GSC awardees and six GSC All-Academic performers. Kasper additionally guided the program to its third GSC Championship in 2022.

A current member of the IWLCA Division II Board of Directors and a native of Greensboro, North Carolina, Kasper comes to the Rocket City after two seasons as head coach of the Charleston women’s lacrosse team. This past season, Kasper guided the Golden Eagles to the Mount East Conference tournament semifinals while coaching four All-MEC honorees in the 2021 campaign.

Prior to UC, Kasper spent three seasons as an assistant with regional powerhouse Limestone, where she helped guide the Saints to a pair of regular season and tournament championships in the Conference Carolinas along with an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018. In her time at Limestone, she coached five IWLCA All-Americans, eight IWLCA All-Region athletes and 16 All-Conference Carolina performers.

Kasper has also served as head coach at William Peace in 2016 and 2017 in addition to assisting the Catawba program in 2015 and 2016.

As a student-athlete, Kasper was a member of the Queens women’s lacrosse program from 2011-14, starting in 71 career games. She garnered all-conference three times in her career, while leading Queens to its first-ever South Atlantic Conference Championship as team captain in 2014.

Kasper graduated Magna Cum Laude from Queens in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts in new media design with a concentration in media communications.

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Melissa Reeves

Melissa Reeves joined the UAH women's lacrosse program prior to the 2022-23 academic year.

The Everrett, Washington, native comes to UAH after earning her undergraduate degree in Communication from Westminster College and her Master's of Business Administration from Saint Leo.

She played collegiately at Westminster from 2019-21, followed by a stint at Saint Leo in the 2022 campaign. In her final playing season at Saint Leo, she competed in 18 games, registering 15 points from 14 goals and one assist.

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Brandon Badgley

Coach Brandon Badgley has been coaching women’s lacrosse for over 15 years and started his coaching career as the head women’s lacrosse coach at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. At Cal Poly, he led the team to win the inaugural Collegiate Club National Championship in 2001, beating Northwestern, Navy, and Michigan on the way to the title. He guided the team to two additional National Championships in 2002 and 2003, while amassing a 70-13 record at the school. Badgley was named IWLCA National Coach of the year in 2003 and coached 12 IWLCA All-Americans over his four years at Cal Poly.

After leaving Cal Poly, Badgley became the head coach of NCAA Division I St. Mary’s College of CA for four years, where he worked to build a fledgling program from the ground up. Badgley also spent time as an assistant coach for the USA West Team in 2001 in London, UK, as well as in Prague and then again in 2004 as the head coach participating in the Friendship Games in Tokyo, Japan.

After leaving collegiate coaching, Badgley became the head coach for Sacred Heart Prep in Atherton, CA from 2006-2010. During his time in Atherton, Badgley coached three All-Region selections and one All-American selection while elevating the program to the national scale, earning a ranking as high as No. 22 in the country. From 2010-2013, Badgley served as the Girls Director of the El Dorado Hills Lacrosse Club while also coaching and assisting at various high school club programs.

Outside of lacrosse, Coach Badgley earned his Degree in Aerospace Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and his Master’s Degree in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University in Irvine, CA. Badgley currently works in the Aerospace industry as a Senior Manager of Programs for Aerojet Rocketdyne and lives in Huntsville, Alabama with his wife Lisa and three children Luke, Eli, and Leah.