PHILADELPHIA – The HEADstrong Lacrosse Club has announced that Becky Elia has been named the new General Manager of the Pennsylvania Girls program, bringing a wealth of lacrosse experience in the local area to the role.
“I’m incredibly honored to be stepping into this role with the HEADstrong organization and thankful for the opportunity to further the program,” Elia said. “I look forward to continuing to build a girl’s program that encourages our athletes to be better players, teammates and individuals both on and off the field.”
The Sun Valley High School graduate played both attack and defense throughout her career. After high school, she earned a lacrosse scholarship to Pfeiffer University and then transferred to Neumann University where she earned Second Team All-Conference honors in 2000 and First Team honors in 2001 and 2002. Never far from the game, Elia started the Little Scoopers division of the Aston AA Girls Lacrosse program and joined the HEADstrong Pennsylvania girls family in October of 2022 as the head coach of the 2027/28 team. A dedicated wife and mother of three, Elia has also been an elementary school teacher for over 15 years.
Elia will be taking over for Mandy Gionfriddo, who founded the club when it was the West Chester Patriots and through the transition following its acquisition by HEADstrong in 2002.
“I’d like to thank Mandy for her dedication to the program,” HEADstrong Director of Lacrosse Jon Knowles said. “We are incredibly excited to have one of our current and dedicated coaches step up into this role. She is a perfect fit and has the experience to continue to grow the club while also furthering HEADstrong’s mission.”
A year-round program, HEADstrong Pennsylvania Girls Lacrosse Club provides a personalized and individualized coaching environment for players in the 2027-2031 graduating classes in the greater Chester County and Philadelphia metro regions. That includes fall team training sessions, fall tournament play, winter skill development sessions, summer team training and tournament play in addition to community service under the HEADstrong Foundation umbrella.