Meet the Coaches
ADAM FOLEY
HEAD COACH
MADDIE BUTLER
LILY DOERFLER
GRACE DOERFLER
SETH FREEDMAN
LILAH AL MASRI
ADAM FOLEY
NAVY AC HEAD COACH
Adam Foley was born in Alaska and grew up in Oregon. He is the son of two school teachers and was a competitive swimmer since age 5. As a freshmen in High School Water Polo came into his life and he was hooked.
In college Adam was a two sport All-American, and through his athletic experience made lifelong friends.
After college he went abroad, first working and living in Palau (a small island nation in the Pacific) and then India for a year. From there he moved to Boston, where he started coaching at MIT while pursuing a masters degree.
After living in Boston for 4 years, Adam moved to Trinidad and Tobago, to be their Technical Director of Water Polo Development. After a few years working in Trinidad and Tobago, he returned back stateside, landing in the DMV and coaching at Johns Hopkins first, and then later head coaching at George Washington University.
He stepped away from coaching for a few years to work in the mental health field, and eventually returned to water polo, this time as an assistant coach at University of the Pacific.
Adam has two kids: daughter Neil is 13 and son Jennings is 10. He hope to get them involved in the NAVY AC program shortly.
He joined the NAVY AC Water Polo program as head coach in February 2023.
JILL LAU
Jill Lau returned to the Navy AC Water Polo club in September 2021. Jill last coached Navy AC from 2009-2014 and helped lead Navy AC to multiple titles, including back-to-back American Water Polo National State Challenge championships and Junior Olympic appearances. Jill also served as an assistant coach for the University of Maryland (UMD) NCAA Division 1 Women’s Water Polo from 2010-2011, assisting the team to its highest national ranking (#10) and highest finish at the Easterns Championships. Jill was also the Head Coach for the UMD Men’s Club Water Polo, where she led the Terps to a national ranking, its first CWPA Men’s Atlantic Division Title, and Club Nationals appearance. She was recognized in 2011 as the CWPA Coach of the Year and Maryland Club Coach of the Year. Jill also coached the U.S. Olympic Development Group’s Northeast Zone 18U Girls Team and led the team to a 2nd place finish.
Jill attended the University of Maryland from 2005-2009 and was a four-year letter winner for the Maryland’s Division 1 Women’s Varsity Water Polo Team. She helped lead the team to its highest national ranking since its inception. Jill also played for the Hong Kong Women’s Water Polo team and led the team to a first-place finish in the 12th Asia Pacific Water Polo Tournament.
Jill commissioned in the U.S. Navy in 2014 and is currently assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency. She is married with two children, ages 4 and 6 months. She holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Maryland’s School of Public Policy and a B.S. in Biology from UMD.
LILY DOERFLER
GRACE DOERFLER
Grace began her water polo career at the age of 11, playing for Navy AC Water Polo until she graduated high school in 2015. During her time at Navy, she participated in the USAWP Olympic Development Program and helped lead her teams to titles in Junior Olympics and other national tournaments. After HS she went on to play at Marist College’s nationally ranked Division 1 water polo program. Between semesters she coached Navy Water Polo Camps and the club team.
During her time at Marist, Grace helped lead the team to four MAAC championship appearances. Individually over four years she started in all 137 games of her career and garnered multiple MAAC awards including offensive player of the week, all-conference first and second team honors, and ACWPC Honorable Mention All-American. In 2019 she served as team co-captain and led the team in goals her senior season.
Grace also holds a Masters degree in Museum Studies from Georgetown University and currently works as a graphic designer and artist.
She loves helping cultivate a love of water polo for her players at all ages and guiding position specific skills for centers and center defenders. #CF17
SETH FREEDMAN
Seth was raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he swam and played competitive water polo throughout middle and high school. He led his high school team, La Cueva High School, to victory in the 2006 and 2007 New Mexico State Water Polo championships and was selected for the state Most Valuable Player award both years. As a club water polo player he traveled throughout the west coast area to play in USAWP tournaments. He also participated in multiple Zone tournaments as a representative of the Mountain Zone.
After high school Seth enlisted in the Marines and served for one year before being selected to attend the U.S. Naval Academy. He graduated in 2012 and returned to the Marine Corps where he served on active duty for ten years. Seth and his family recently relocated to Annapolis, Maryland where he works as a consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton and continues to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
Over the years, Seth has maintained his passion for both swimming and water polo and frequently participates in masters level events.
MADASONNE BUTLER
All her life Maddie has been focused athletically around water. Her mother was a swimmer in college and ensured Maddie and her sister followed the same path. By the age of eleven Maddie discovered water polo, a sport that she has been committed to for over a decade.
As a young player, Maddie joined the Olympic Development Program for the California Central Zone while also competing at the Varsity level in high school. During this time, she was selected to attend the National Team Selection Camp from years 2011-2016. In 2016 she was selected to the 16U Cadet National Team. She trained with the best coaches and age group players around the country and learned an incredible amount about water polo.
Maddie continued her water polo career at California State University, Northridge’s Division 1 Water Polo Program. During her first three years on the team she was able to contribute significantly to our programs’ success, playing center position and scoring 12 goals and 28 ejections drawn freshman year, 20 goals and 35 ejections drawn sophomore year, and 34 goals with a team high 77 ejections drawn junior year. Covid impacted the program her senior year as the season was shorted and then canceled due to the pandemic. During her time at California State University, Northridge she received the Team Spirit Award (2018) and set two team records in Goal Percentage and Kick Outs Drawn. Maddie was also named All American Honorable Mention (2020) by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC).
Upon graduating from California State University, Northridge in 2020, Maddie earned a bachelor’s degree in Deaf Studies and Elementary Education. She went on to earn a Dual master’s degree in Deaf Education and Elementary Education from Gallaudet University in 2022. Currently, she is a high school teacher working in Montgomery County with deaf students.
Through her experiences within the water, she has learned how to connect to and coach young players who are currently in the process of what she experienced all those years ago. Her new goals include teaching young athletes how to love and appreciate the sport that has given her everything she has today.