Meet Our Team
Our team has collectively been involved as volunteers for 36 seasons with FIRST®.
Brady
Merkel
Brady has been involved with FIRST since his daughter brought home a team sign-up sheet in her 4th grade. Brady coached a few teams since then — the LEGO Bosses, LEGO DestroyerZ, and the 2016 Regional Champions, team Neon Supernova. Brady and his teams have travelled the nation — World Festival Houston, LEGOLAND California, Razorback Open Invitational, and Florida State Championships in Oviedo, West Palm Beach, Polk County, and St. Augustin. His bookshelf is full of trophies, plaques, emblems, and plenty of team buttons. He recalls those days fondly now that his team members have all graduated high school and moved on to college.
Since those early days, Brady has moved up to impact even more kids — to the regional leadership level… and volunteered as Tournament Director, Judge Advisor, Head Referee, and Robot Design Judge, and recently as a member of the Northeast Florida Regional Planning Team. He also coordinated much of the INTO ORBIT season kickoff at Kennedy Space Center.
In his spare time, you can find Brady toiling away earning a living at Bank of America as a Sr. Software Architect, devising a way for robots to make our financial lives better.
Ryan
Clark
Ryan is an innovative entrepreneur with a passion for driving growth and delivering impactful solutions. With over 20 new products launched under his leadership, he has established himself as a forward-thinking innovator in the tech industry. Recognized as a tech leader by the Jax Biz Journal, Ryan’s growth-oriented mindset has propelled him to excel, achieving double the industry standard in tech leadership accolades.
Through Code Coast Consulting, Ryan leads Code Ninjas, a network of premier coding education centers spanning Northeast Florida with locations in Baymeadows, World Golf, Fleming Island, and Ponte Vedra. Ryan has established Code Ninjas as the go-to destination for children and teens eager to learn valuable coding skills in a fun and engaging environment. Through his dedication to fostering a passion for technology in young minds, Ryan is shaping the future of the tech industry one student at a time.
With over 20 years of leadership experience across various industries, Ryan is a seasoned expert in product and experience management, boasting an MBA and certifications in CPM, CPMM, and CTP. His user-centric approach and data-driven strategies ensure that every project he undertakes is tailored to meet the needs of its users while maximizing business outcomes.
Outside of the boardroom, Ryan enjoys playing soccer, a good hike, and spending time with his wife and family. We have 3 children, a Biotechnologist, Architect in training, and our youngest will be attending college next year to pursue an engineering degree. Family and community remains at the center of Ryan’s life, driving his commitment to shaping a better future both personally and professionally.
Bill
Combs
Bill joined the Builders of Tomorrow Board of Directors in 2025 and serves as Treasurer. He previously served as President of Delaware Creative Activities & Problem Solving (DELCAPS), a nonprofit which coordinated creative problem solving competitions for the international Odyssey of the Mind program for the state of Delaware. He served on the Florida Odyssey of the Mind (FLOMA) board of directors as Treasurer after relocating to Florida in 2017. Bill’s involvement with FIRST began just a couple of years ago through community volunteerism. He has served as a LEGO League volunteer judge and quickly assumed greater responsibilities as lead judge and judge advisor.
Bill is retired US Navy/US Naval Reserve and has more than 30 years experience with three different financial institutions. He most recently served as a vice president with JP Morgan Chase’s payments processing division with a focus on internal audit, operational risk management and risk mitigation controls.
Bill enjoys an occasional round of golf with friends and traveling adventures with his wife.
Lesley Hamilton
Lesley, a home educator, discovered the perfect program for her boys when she stumbled upon FIRST. Since 2016, when she started coaching, she leads her Mavericks through FLL Explore, FLL Challenge, & FTC competitions. The Mega Mavericks became 2021 Regional Champions. Over the seasons, they have competed at multiple Florida State Championships, the Razorback Open Invitational, & the South Asia Pacific Open Invitational. Her FTC team, all FLL alumni, have successfully reached the Florida State Championship in both seasons. Lesley aims to make competitive robotics more accessible to Northeast Florida’s homeschool community.
Inspired by Brady, Lesley delved into volunteering. She has served in various roles since 2018, with her favorite being Head Core Values Judge. Additionally, she has served for many years on the Regional Planning Team and is now thrilled to step into the role of Program Delivery Partner for FLL Explore and FLL Challenge in NEFL.
Beyond robotics, Lesley embraces her role as a home educator for her three boys. She is the President & Founder of Edison Kids Inc, a non-profit homeschool program, & CEO of STEM Training LLC, where she created a homeschool STEM curriculum. In her free time, she indulges her creativity in hobbies such as quilting, watercoloring painting, & knitting.
Jason
Sweat
Jason is a local entrepreneur with several successful business ventures under his belt. He started in the business world in 2004 at the age of 24 where he owned and operated his first successful business. Jason has always been humble about his successes and desired to serve those of his community more so than create more personal success. He began volunteering and coaching youth baseball at the age of 22 and served as the league president for his local youth sports league for 3 years.
Jason discovered FIRST in 2020, when his kids were invited by some friends to a community robotics class. 4 months later, he found himself volunteering to help coach the team during another coaches absence and never looked back. Jason has mentored and led more than 12 teams since he started coaching in 2020, but his original team, The Frogmen, will always hold a special place in his heart. A championship team that has competed not only at the local and state level but on the international stage as well. The joy and excitement that he saw from the kids on that team was the driving force behind Jason taking an even greater role in the local STEAM and Robotics community. In 2022, Jason founded SwampBots, Inc, a local non-profit organization that aims to provide STEM opportunities to children all throughout the rural communities of North Central Florida. Since its beginning, with just one single team serving 9 young engineers, Swampbots has now grown to more than 10 teams and serves more than 70 young engineers throughout the community.
Jason took to volunteering in FIRST and the NE Florida Region in style by joining the BOD of Builders of Tomorrow and hosting the 2023 Regional Championship with a flare and style that further excited the kids and the parents and thrust NE Florida to the forefront of FIRST Robotics in the state of Florida. His desire to see these kids excel and compete and defy all the odds at every level is only eclipsed by his desire to see them all have fun and grow as good humans that will one day change our world!
54 Combined Seasons of Coaching
