Eastside Empire

Rachel Grasso

Rachel rowed for the University of Washington while earning her Bachelor's degree in Psychology, with Pre-Physical Therapy and a minor in Spanish. Rachel plans to return to school to pursue a Masters degree to become a Physician Associate.

Rachel returned to her hometown of Sammamish, and her first love - basketball, to coach. Over the past several years of coaching at various levels, she has developed a deep passion for mentoring youth through sports.  Rachel founded Eastside Empire Basketball Academy in 2018 to provide a safe, fun, and productive space for young women to compete and grow - not just as players, but also as people.

Rachel's coaching style is: "Demanding, not demeaning, while never forgetting fun." Rachel believes in self-discipline and holding the bar high; kids are capable of so much more than we give them credit for!

Kassia Fortier 

Kassia played basketball for the University of Washington and obtained her Bachelor's degree in Medical Anthropology and Global Health. Kassia is following in her father's footsteps (a longtime Division 1 basketball coach) by crossing over to the "other" side of the game to pass on her basketball knowledge. Kassia is passionate about fitness and traveling the world, with her career as a flight attendant. 

Kassia and Rachel are proof of the incredible friendships that can be formed through sport. Kassia and Rachel played basketball together in the Skyline program for eight years, were college roommates, and are now both thrilled to be working together to give back to the Eastside area.  

SAMANTHA STUART

Samantha is in her first year as a Paraprofessional at Skyline High School and will begin her masters course in June to continue her teaching career. She recently joined the Skyline High School Girls Basketball coaching staff and also happens to be a newlywed to the Assistant Athletic Director at Skyline.

Samantha was a multi-sport athlete at Eatonville High School playing basketball, soccer, volleyball and softball.  Following high school, she attended Green River College on a dual scholarship for softball and basketball. Going into her second year at Green River, she broke her ankle and tore several ligaments which ended her playing days. After graduation and extensive rehabilitation, she decided to give basketball another shot and walked on at Baker University in Kansas.

She loves the game and is looking forward to giving back and passing on what she has learned to the next generation of hoopers. Samantha’s coaching style is to teach the value of perseverance and graditude for the opportunities we are given through this beautiful game.

Andy Matthews 

Andy is the founder of FASST Training (Focused Athletic Speed and Sports Training).  Andy has been a fitness/speed trainer and innovator for over 27+ years, where he has coached thousands of clients using his copyrighted and patented programs.  Andy has an impressive personal resume including:  Certified Fitness Trainer/Specialist, Pneu-Fast Speed Instructor, NFL/NFF Academy Instructor, US Basketball Academy Instructor, Olympic track trials, multi-sport college athlete, semi-pro basketball player, and multi-sport coaching experience at the high school and college levels. 

Andy draws from his expansive experiences to teach life skills, training from the inside out, so that athletes not only prosper on the court but more importantly the field of life. Andy loves to bring humor into his technical lessons to keep the kids engaged. 

Having team FASST training with Andy is an incredible asset to our program! Rachel found her own training with Andy (since the age of 13) to be invaluable - She significantly increased her speed and strength, added 6 inches to her vertical in the first 6 weeks, and drastically improved injury prevention. Most imporantly, Andy proved to be an incredible life-long mentor.

For more information about Andy and FASST please click here.

MICHAEL KNIGHT

Michael Knight finished his collegiate career at Seattle University, where he graduated with his undergraduate degree in Communications while double minoring in Liberal Studies and Global Studies. He has since gone on to obtain his masters degree in Communications. He is currently finishing his working MBA. Michael also has experience in sports marketing spaces, working with Nike and Jordan brand.

While playing at Seattle University, Michael received all tournament team selections at the Debani Holiday classic in California, all tournament team at the Seattle Pacific Oak Harbor classic, as well as the Coaches Award and Mission Award; given to the students/athlete who engages in community outreach/service, and to the student athlete who reflects the mission statement of Seattle University.

Michael has gone on to run many camps, clinics, and training forums internationally, while playing basketball professionally abroad in France, and other European and Asian leagues.

Michael is a part of a revolutionary training team and organization called R3bartraining. The team has launched their flag ship product, in the R3BAR Alpha Pro; a portable training tool, that puts the user at the center of core stability through coordinated awareness heightening, and a therapeutic mentality to strength and condition. Learn more at: www.R3BARtraining.com

In addition to his COO roles with R3bartraining, Michael runs a basketball skill development program that infuses the R3bartraining methodology. We are thrilled to have Michael team up with Eastside Empire to pass along his breadth of knowledge, winning mentality, and various training techniques.

Azra Sunderland

Azra just completed her fourth year playing varsity basketball for Issaquah High School. This past year she was coached by Rachel Grasso (Eastside Empire founder) and through Rachel’s coaching, Azra was named honorable mention All-Kingo in her final season. She loves basketball and is very excited to help foster more love of basketball by helping younger players’ development. Azra has previously volunteered to coach multiple younger teams in both camps and in-season play. She hopes to assist future Eastside Empire players in their development both on and off the court. Starting in fall 2023, she plans to attend University of British Columbia to continue her education and study engineering.

LUCI STEWART

Luci just completed her first year of college basketball as a walk-on at BYU. Luci has been playing basketball since the 4th grade and was a 4-year varsity starter at Newport high school (9th grade) and Issaquah high school (10-12th grade). Luci was selected to the KingCo all-league first team 3 years in a row and selected as the Offensive MVP of her team 3 years in a row. Luci also received the Tutta Bella Scholar Athlete award at Issaquah high school. Luci says, “I love basketball and plan to continue playing in college. I am excited to teach what I know and hopefully help another generation of girls learn to love this sport!”

Morgan Farrar

Morgan attended the University of Washington while earning her degree in Business Administration with a marketing concentration. She currently works in sales at Highspot, a technology start up in Seattle. 

Morgan has always had a passion for coaching; she grew up with her dad as her coach and mentor, teaching her everything from his experience. After playing at Skyline High School with Rachel and Kassia, then ending her playing career with a knee injury, she knew it was her calling to transition to coaching girls. 

She has spent the last two years coaching in the Redmond select program as well as AAU and is so excited to be transitioning over to Eastside Empire Basketball! Her coaching style is high energy, passionate and focused on building a strong foundation while layering on basketball and life skills from there. She lives with the coaching motto—“Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.”