Mario Enea

Considered a pioneer in California Lacrosse, Enea has been active in the sport for over 30 years. He grew up in Carmel, California playing high school football, baseball and lacrosse at Robert Louis Stevenson School in Pebble Beach, CA. A starter for Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, Enea led the Rangers to the NCAA tournament before transferring to the University of California at Berkeley in 1992. He helped the Bears win a pair of Western Collegiate Lacrosse League championships, while twice being selected all-conference. Enea was a two-time captain and voted "Most Inspirational Player" by his teammates.

In February of 1995, Lacrosse Magazine featured a cover of Enea and his Cal classmates with the title "Is Cal the Best in the West?" Enea helped Cal post a 56-5 record during his time in Berkeley.

Enea represented the West Coast in the Division I North vs South Senior All-Star game hosted at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1996, he was drafted into the Major Indoor Lacrosse League, and played professionally for one season before launching his coaching career in 1997. He also played club lacrosse for fifteen years for the Monterey Sharks, Marin and Olympic Club Lacrosse teams.

Enea began his coaching career as an assistant at his high school alma mater, Stevenson School in Pebble Beach, California. He has also been the head coach at Santa Clara University and the University of Oklahoma, along with prep head coaching positions at Santa Catalina, Carmel and Palma High Schools. He also helped found numerous programs to introduce thousands of kids to the sport. Enea has coached and developed over 150 high school and college All-Americans.

Enea founded BraveHeart Lacrosse, a training center for players, coaches and officials. BraveHeart Lacrosse is based on the principles of Honor, Integrity and Passion.

Honors and awards include US Lacrosse High School Coach of the Year in 2013. Lone Star Alliance College Coach of the Year in 2017. Lone Star Alliance Offensive Player of the Year (Matt Hammond ‘17) and Lone Star Alliance Offensive (Eddie Arnold ‘18) and Defensive Players of the Year (Nicholas Johnston ‘18). Coach Enea had over twenty players make the Lone Star Alliance All Conference Teams.

In 2017, Enea was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the University of California at Berkeley. In 2020, Enea was inducted to the Stevenson School Hall of Fame.

Coach Enea lives in Nichols Hills, Oklahoma with his lovely wife Whitney and two children, Sofia (18) and Ritter (10).