What makes Blaze a rare find in girls basketball in the Northwest? Many believe it is how it came about. We were founded by Marissa Trias-Ruiz who believed that if she could pull together a cadre of top-notch coaches who had played competitively through college, she and the assistant coaches would be able to give each girl the kind of focus they would need to develop their full potential. It's been a great formula for success. Here's a little background on our coaching staff.
Marissa Trias-Ruiz
Marissa, the head coach of our Blaze 7th grade and high school teams, is the
founder of and the driving force behind the Blaze Girls Basketball. She was
a starting point guard for Meadowdale High School, where she was captain for
two years and helped lead the team to three Wesco and Northwest District
championships. She was recruited by Seattle University and enjoyed a
stand-out college career. While at Seattle U, Marissa earned a degree in
civil engineering, with an emphasis on structures and a minor in
mathematics. Marissa's non-basketball career is as project engineer/manager
for a general contractor, having 4 years of design experience as a
structural engineer.
In her first year out of college, Marissa dedicated her evenings to being an
assistant coach at North Seattle Community College. She was struck by how
many of those members weren't complete knowledgable players. Most could do
one or two things well, but clearly had not learned how to be students of
the game. Their potential was limited. Remembering how important solid,
fundamental coaching during her middle school and high school years was to
her game and life skills, Marissa decided to focus on developing school-age
girls as all-around top-performance basketball players. In the spring of
2004, she founded Blaze with one team of mixed 6th and 7th graders. The
girls, and the organization have thrived under her. Marissa and her husband,
Manny, live in Lynnwood.
Wes
Williams
Wes Williams
starts his coaching debut with the BLAZE as head coach of the new 6th grade
team (class of 2014). He began his basketball career as a guard/forward at
Banning High School, (Banning, CA) where he was a three sport letterman
(football, basketball, & baseball). As starter his junior and senior year
(in basketball), Wes was an influential part of the 1982 team which won the
Division 2A California State Championship. After high school, he served four
years in the Navy where they won the Pacific Coast Armed Forces Basketball
Championship in 1986-1987. Wes has been coaching boys and, most recently,
girls basketball since 2000. Wes is very dedicated to the fundamentals of
basketball, as well as, the work ethic of his players. He is very passionate
about coaching and his love for the game. Wes is excited for the opportunity
to join the Blaze coaching staff and help build the BLAZE program.