Author name: SJCSD

Tocoi Creek High School is excited to announce the hiring of Tim Moltisanti as Head Boys Lacrosse Coach for the newest high school in St. Johns County Florida.

Tim Moltisanti was born and raised on Long Island NY and started playing lacrosse at a very young age and stills plays today. Graduating from Oceanside High School where he played football and in lacrosse was coached by his father winning the Nassau County Championship, he went onto play lacrosse in college at University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). He then transferred back home to Long Island and finish his college lacrosse career at Dowling College where he earned USILA Second Team All-American honors and NYCAC Second Team All-Conference. That season Moltisanti tallied 36 goals and 41 assists for a total of 77 points, earning him status as 11th in Division II points per game (4.53) and 9th in assists per game (2.41). He was voted by his teammates 2 years in a row as team captain.

After graduating with a degree in Psychology, Coach Moltisanti went onto earn his master’s degree in physical education at Hofstra University. While taking masters classes he was the Boys JV Head Coach at Sayville HS, on Long Island and was named, Suffolk County, Long Island JV Coach of the Year 2005, finishing with a 11-3 record. He was a private business owner on Long Island until 2011.

After marrying his high school sweetheart, Jessica, they moved to St. Augustine and have their three children attending the St. Johns County School system. Since relocating to St. Johns County, he has volunteered and taught at Pacetti Bay MS, coached with the Ponte Vedra Youth Lacrosse program, and coordinated at Zone Cheer Allstars Inc. Coach Moltisanti is currently the owner of Ohana Lacrosse Company where he has been developing youth lacrosse in our area since 2016.

Throughout the interview process, Moltisanti expressed a commitment to developing the fundamentals first, stressing the importance of the “little things”, student leadership, and being “responsibility driven” as keys for his players to focus on. Team culture is everything and will be developed from the top down, togetherness, buy in, and the “love of the sport” will determine the success of TCHS lacrosse.

Coach Moltisanti is extremely excited about the opportunity to lead Toro Lacrosse from the beginning stages and the opportunity to build a community full of new traditions and experiences that will take all Tocoi Creek students to the next level both academically and athletically. His goal is to be a positive force that helps turn TCHS into a place the community is proud of.

Keep Laxin

Tocoi Creek High School is excited to announce the hiring of Billy Blackmon III as Head Girls Basketball Coach and Social Studies Teacher for the newest high school in St. Johns County Florida.

Billy Blackmon III joins the Tocoi Creek faculty after spending three years in San Antonio, Texas. During his time in Texas, Coach Blackmon served as Athletic Director at St. Gregory the Great Catholic School 2019-2021, Head Coach at San Antonio College Men’s basketball team 2019-2021, and Director of Women’s Basketball Operations at the University of the Incarnate Word 2018-2019. Prior to Texas, Coach Blackmon had stops in Florida at Newberry HS (2011) and Baldwin HS (2012) before moving into the Head Boys basketball coach at PK Yonge Developmental Research School in Gainesville, Fla. (2013-2018). His teams were 96-48 during his tenure as the Blue Wave head coach, including four district championships and a final four appearance. He was selected the Gainesville Sun “Coach of the Year” in 2018 and was voted three times the Florida Athletic Coaches Association regional “Coach of the Year” by his peers.

Prior to his days in the coaching world he was a graduate of Sebastian River HS, he played collegiately at Indian River State College, winning two conference championships, and being named twice All-Conference for the Pioneers. Charleston Southern was the next stop where he was named team captain, earned the “Sportsmanship” award, and was a scholar athlete for the Buccaneers all in 2009. Upon leaving CSU, Blackmon played basketball professionally in Europe with the Horsholm 79ers Basketball Club 2010-2012 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Off the court for the 79ers, he took to the sideline, beginning to develop his coaching style with a U18 club basketball team. This overall experience allowed him to make international recruiting connections and a passion for coaching basketball. Coach Blackmon earned his degree in Social Science from Charleston Southern in 2012, then went on to earn his master’s degree in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University Irvine in 2018.

Throughout the interview process, Coach Blackmon expressed that “investing into the student/athlete as a person”, building the “all in together” team atmosphere, “challenging” athletes to reach new levels of success, while being “relatable and real with his athletes” has helped him be a successful coach. He will provide support for his players on and off the court and clearly communicate the expectations while motivating them to be great teammates. His background of successful coaching and developing well-rounded student athletes who are committed to excellence aligns with the vision for Tocoi Creek HS.

TCHS Principal, Jay Willets shared “Mr. Blackmon is bringing a unique set of teaching skills to TCHS that will allow for students to flourish in the classroom and on the court. He will be a leader in our building from day one.” We would like to welcome him, his wife Ziva Recek Blackmon and two sons, Brody 4, and Bryce 2 to our community.

Coach Blackmon is extremely excited about the opportunity to build a community full of new traditions and experiences that will take all Tocoi Creek students to the next level both academically and athletically. His goal is to be a positive force that helps turn TCHS into a place the community is proud of.

Lee McCool has been a St. John’s County resident for the past 8 years with his wife of 17 years Jessica and his two children, Tatum 15, and Nolan 12. After graduating from Palatka HS in 1997, he received a scholarship to play baseball at the University of North Florida where he earned All-American honors in 2000 as well as being drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 7th round of the 2000 MLB draft.

After baseball, Coach McCool returned to Putnam County and followed a family tradition of coaching. He began as an assistant coach for the Panthers and has been around the game of softball since 2004. That has led to a 17 year coaching career, four of those as the head baseball coach in between St. Augustine HS (2011-12), Palatka HS (2013), and St. Joseph Academy (2016), with the rest as a softball or baseball assistant. His coaching stops have included multiple successful teams, these teams have made 12 FHSAA playoff appearances, won 7 FHSAA District Championships, 2 FHSAA Regional Championships and with 2 ending in the final four. Currently he is an assistant coach for the Nease Panther softball team and is also a current coach for Pro Impact’s nationally ranked 16u travel softball team since 2017. These experiences of a high level of success has shaped his coaching philosophy of “building a confident player that can go and perform at a high level in the most pressure packed situations. “

Throughout the interview process, Coach McCool expressed a confident commitment to developing a highly successful softball program based on instilling a solid work ethic, mental toughness and player confidence that will prepare his players for any level of competition. Coach McCool takes pride in doing whatever it takes to help student/athletes achieve their dreams on and off the field. He knows what it takes to win the right way and will push athletes to a level they did not think was possible. His background of successful coaching and developing well-rounded student athletes who are committed to excellence aligns with the vision for Tocoi Creek HS.

TCHS Principal, Jay Willets stated, “Coach McCool’s confident leadership style has been developed through a highly successful playing and coaching career, he has a unique ability to empower his players to perform at a high level when the spot light is on.”

Coach McCool is extremely excited about the opportunity to build a community full of new traditions and experiences that will take all Tocoi Creek students to the next level both academically and athletically. His goal is to be a positive force that helps turn TCHS into a place the community is proud of.

Tocoi Creek High School is excited to announce the hiring of Patricia Long Dance Coach for the newest high school in St. Johns County Florida.

Trisha Long is a lifelong St. Johns County resident, an alumnus of Bartram Trail High School and the University of North Florida in 2014. Ms. Long has over 20 years of dance experience with 15 of which includes instruction and choreography with an elite dance company. Her passion for dance began at a young age within in the Extended Day Vender Activities program at Cunningham Creek Elementary School. As a young adult, she was proud to bring that experience full circle, as an instructor for that same program. While the need for full time employment removed me from the dance floor, I have continued to stay involved by managing annual recitals for my alma mater. She has been teaching 7th grade Civics at Pacetti Bay Middle School since 2016, where she has been blessed to continue her love of instructing children, while giving back to my hometown community.

The experience and development as a “Dance Teacher and Choreographer” with Debbie’s Dance Company (2005-17) helped to shape and develop her teaching style on the dance floor and classroom. Classical Technique Instructor, Choreographer, Curriculum Planning, and Procedures were her focus at DDC. This experience allowed her to be proficient at creating engaging lessons, establishing classroom procedures while enhancing student achievement through feedback, motivation, and relationship building. Ms. Long also is a classically trained dancer that has excelled in advanced level training in jazz, tap, ballet, pointe, modern, hip-hop, contemporary, and baton. Five years of her dance training were spent as member of an elite local competitive dance community, Advanced Level Competition Team – DDC (2002-07), where she performed in the individual and team categories. As part of the ALCT-DDC she attended community events, conferences, and State /Nation competitions where we frequently placed in the top three.

TCHS Principal, Jay Willets stated, “Ms. Long will bring an experienced quality instructional background with a life-long passion for dance to TCHS and Trisha’s tenure with SJCSD proves her dedication to both student’s achievement and character development.”

Ms. Long is excited for the opportunity to build a program from the ground up. She is looking forward working with the World Golf Village Community and having the opportunity to be the first to set traditions that raise the bar of success for athletes that come to TCHS is a challenge that she is looking forward to.

Horns up!

Tocoi Creek High School is excited to announce the hiring of Darick Dunham as Head Wrestling Coach for the newest high school in St. Johns County Florida.

Originally from Cincinnati, OH Darick moved to Jacksonville, FL. as an adolescent and graduated from Terry Parker High School in Duval County. He played multiple sports during his youth and was a high school varsity athlete in golf and wrestling. Coach Dunham went on to pursue a degree in Sport Management at Florida State University where his focus shifted to Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling. After graduating from Florida State, he relocated back to Jacksonville and accepted a teaching position at Terry Parker High School. After returning to his alma mater, he held roles of assistant wrestling coach and head coach of the boy’s golf team where he coached several state qualifiers in golf and wrestling for TPHS and has coached student athletes to NHSCA All American status (wrestling).

Coach Dunham relocated to St Johns County in 2004 and began teaching Physical Education and coaching at Murray Middle School. He spearheaded the first middle school wrestling program in St. Johns County, Bulldog Wrestling Club, which has been active since 2004. During his tenure at Murray MS, he has served as the Athletic Director since 2011, he has worked to build programs that support the community, helped prepare student athletes to advance to the high school level and beyond. Some of those programs include, director and head coach of Ancient City Wrestling Club, founded in 2006, which focuses on training at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Darick also is a founding member of the St Johns branch of North Florida’s “Beat the Streets” which, through a partnership with USA Wrestling, serves to empower urban youth through the sport of wrestling.

Coach Dunham was the Head Wrestling Coach at Pedro Menendez High School from 2006-2012 and coached multiple Falcons to “All St Johns County”, district, region titles, and state wrestling finishers during the FHSAA Tournament. He has coached his athletes to “All American” finishes at the Greco and Freestyle FAWA state championships, Asics Cadet and Junior National (Fargo) and a Sunkist Kids Ultimate Challenge Champion.

Throughout the interview process, Coach Dunham expressed a commitment to developing a highly successful wrestling program based on instilling a foundation of solid wrestling fundamentals, continue holding his athletes to a high standard of success, and coaching to get the most out of his teams of athletes at TCHS. His background of successful teaching and coaching, a vision of developing well-rounded student athletes who are committed to excellence, and a constant positive approach aligns with the vision for Tocoi Creek HS.   Principal Jay Willets said, “Coach Dunham has been a long-time asset to the SCJSD and to the students that he has served, we are fortunate to have him be apart of the inaugural athletic department at TCHS.”

Coach Dunham is extremely excited about the opportunity to build a community full of new traditions and experiences that will take all Tocoi Creek students to the next level both academically and athletically. His goal is to be a positive force that helps turn TCHS into a place the community is proud of.