Guest Speaker Bios

The following are the people who have given presentations since the Guest Speaker Series began in Fall, 2022

Christian Merriwether

Christian is a California Warriors alum who played baseball at College of Marin and D-II Rogers State University, where he graduated from in 2021. He has coached for the California Warriors for several seasons, and in 2022, he joined the Trenton Thunder in the MLB Draft League and plans to continue playing professionally.

C.J. Holmes

C.J. is a sports journalist currently covering the Golden State Warriors for the San Francisco Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle after four years at the Athletic, where he covered numerous college and pro teams, and has also written for Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, SB Nation, The Opelika-Auburn News, The Washington Football Team, and The Dallas Morning News. C.J. is a former Auburn University student-athlete.

Elijah “Bear” Smith

Bear is a California Warriors alum who has returned to the program as a coach for several summers. He played baseball at at Contra Costa College and College of San Mateo before transferring to his alma mater Academy of Art University where he is now an Assistant Baseball Coach.

Ethan Guevin

Ethan is the Founder and Executive Director of the non-profit organization, Keep Playing Baseball, which serves as a free source of information and advice for high school baseball players who want to play baseball in college at any level with the goal of helping them succeed as a collegiate student-athlete and graduate from college. Guevin played ball for Carleton College, where he remains the all-time ERA leader, and served as a Graduate Assistant Coach at UC Berkeley.

Joan Ryan

Joan is an award-winning journalist and author who was a pioneer in sports journalism, becoming one of the first female sports columnists in the country. Her sports columns and features earned 13 Associated Press Sports Editors Awards, the National Headliner Award and the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Journalism Award, among other honors. She has been the senior media consultant for the San Francisco Giants since 2008. Learn more.

Joe Slater

Joe is a former California Warriors Coach who founded Slater Admissions Advising, which provides private, comprehensive, one-on-one college admissions advising for students who intend to enroll in four-year universities. Joe has served as an administrator and coach at some of the top universities in California, including University of San Francisco, UC Berkeley, and University of the Pacific where he coached alongside FBF founder Noah Jackson as a coach at University of the Pacific for two years and then moved into administration at UC Berkeley.

Mack Meyer

Mack Meyer, the founder of Steelemack Strategies, is a California Warriors alum who pitched for the University of San Francisco and the University of Virginia. He graduated from UVA in 2018 with a Master’s Degree in the field of Higher Education before signing as a free agent with the San Francisco Giants and playing minor league ball for two seasons. As someone with first-hand experience on the matter, Mack understands that the baseball recruiting process is challenging and stressful for families who are unfamiliar with how the recruiting timeline functions and how best to approach communication between players and college coaches.

Marcus Chiu

Marcus is a California Warriors alum who currently plays Double-A ball in the Miami Marlins organization. The former College of Marin standout has coached for the California Warriors during past Winter Ball seasons and brings a valuable perspective of a professional ballplayer to the program.

O’Koyea Dickson

O’Koyea is a California Warriors alum who currently is a hitting coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers Single-A Affiliate. O’Koyea attended and played ball for College of San Mateo and Sonoma State before being drafted by the Dodgers in the 12th round of the 2011 MLB Draft. When Dickson was called up to play in the big leagues, he got his first MLB hit off of San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner. In addition to his time playing in MLB systems, O’Koyea has played professional baseball in Mexico, Japan, and Venezuela.

Peer Health Exchange

Peer Health Exchange is an organization that strives to build healthier communities with young people by creating education opportunities for peers to share the tools and resources young people need to make healthy decisions. Based in Oakland, CA, the organization trains college student volunteers to teach skills-based health education in public high schools in low-income communities that lack comprehensive health education.

Stefen Henderson

Stefen played Minor League ball in the Dodgers system before joining the California Warriors as a coach in 2018. Stef has worked as an Assistant Coach at College of Marin, Academy of Art University, and Contra Costa College and holds a Masters Degree in Sports Management from University of San Francisco. He aspires to become a Scouting Director for an MLB organization.

Steve Berringer

Steve has been the Head Coach for the College of Marin Mariners since 2000, helping countless student athletes – including many California Warriors alumni – make the jump from a 2-year college program to 4-year programs and professional ball. With numerous conference championships and a stellar list of alumni, COM is considered one of the premier junior college baseball programs in Northern California, largely thanks to Berringer’s leadership. A graduate of University of San Francisco, Steve has decades of invaluable experience to share with aspiring college baseball players and their families.