Band of brothers: Five Ormond siblings form part of Seabreeze's football team

Lori and Mark Spada encourage their five teenage sons as they start their second year at Seabreeze together.

  • By Michele Meyers
  • | 11:00 a.m. July 16, 2026
  • Ormond Beach Observer
  • Sports
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Five Miller and Mellen-Spada brothers will stroll into Seabreeze High School on the first day of school, Aug. 10: two seniors, one junior, and two sophomores. Their presence is also known on the Sandcrabs’ football roster—two wide receivers, two linebackers, and a running back, with a couple of them playing dual positions.

They are brothers — they share meals, jokes, and sprints to the laundry basket under the same roof with the same mom and dad.

Lori and Mark Spada both agree they are proud to be the parents of this crew — seniors Daniel Mellen-Spada and Tristan Miller, junior Kamden Miller, and sophomores Austin Miller and Zachary Mellen-Spada.

“They’re a band of brothers, that’s for sure,” Lori said. “They support each other; they reach out to each other, even before they reach out to Mark or me. They’ve learned to try to problem-solve because they know we’re still working full time.”

In 2017, Lori moved to Ormond-by-the-Sea from Atlanta, Georgia. She was a single parent to three boys—Tristan, Kamden and Austin.

“I decided to move to the beach and never work for corporate America again,” she said.

By that time, Mark had adopted his nephews, 6-year-old Daniel and his brother, 4-year-old Zachary. He also has four children from a previous marriage: Sebastian, Giovanni, Vanessa and Maximus.

All five boys attended Osceola Elementary School, where they met. Tristan and Daniel were in the same class and became best friends, and their brothers, Austin and Zachary, were also in each other’s class and became best friends.

Lori invited Mark’s kids to Austin’s birthday party in May 2021. Afterward, Daniel told Tristan that his uncle Mark should “go out with your mom.” Tristan agreed it would be a good match. Mark called Lori to thank her, and on Mother’s Day, Lori invited him to the beach.

“Mark said I had the best pickup line,” she said. “I asked him if he wanted to touch toes in the sand.”

On Nov. 11, 2022, at 1:11 p.m., the Spadas were married. They joined forces and became a family of seven, living in a modest home on River Beach. Tristan was happy his best friend, Daniel, would be his brother, and Kamden asked if he needed to change his name.

Lori said she already had a chore chart on the refrigerator for her sons. It was just a matter of adding Daniel and Zachary. Over time, they worked through the dynamics of parenting.

“We started a partnership,” she said. “Blending the family and blending the chores, so they learn to work and communicate together and build a bond other than just friendship.”

After the family logistics, they had to navigate the cost of everyday living. One week of groceries and toiletries for the family of seven costs $500, and with three teen drivers, their automobile insurance exceeds the household expenses combined.

“It’s crazy, but we make it work,” Lori said. “Luckily, we don’t have a mortgage, and the three older boys work, which helps.”

Tristan has been working at Oceanside Beach Bar & Grill in Ormond-by-the-Sea for two years; Danny works at Neighborhood Scoop in Ormond Beach; and Kamden works at Riptides.

Lori is a licensed Realtor, and Mark is a licensed general contractor. Schedules can be a challenge, with five family members working, Monday-through-Friday summer football workouts, and monthly appointments. Last month, Lori shuttled the boys to 16 doctor, dental, orthodontic, and dermatology appointments. They had 31 in December, which included physical therapy following Kamden’s injury. But the Spadas always manage to attend church every Sunday, touch a football daily, and fish and surf whenever they can.

Fifteen-year-old Austin recognizes how much work his parents put into raising him and his siblings.

“My parents are great people,” he said. “Five kids are a lot of work. It’s been exciting, though, because I already knew Zach and Danny from school and being friends, so it was just exciting to be in the same house with them.”

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mark played volleyball for the United States circuit while attending Elizabethtown Area High School and playing basketball at the University of Pittsburgh. Twenty-eight years ago, he started his coaching career as a high school girls’ volleyball coach in Rialto, California.

From 2006 to 2016, Mark worked in the security department at Daytona International Speedway. He got involved with the city of Ormond Beach’s youth recreational baseball league, the Golden Spikes, took over the basketball league, and eventually joined Pop Warner football as an assistant coach. Eventually, he became the commissioner and then the president. He stepped down last season.

“Your sacrifice isn’t for you, it’s for the greater good,” he said. “Lift our community, lift our program, our school, lift these students up, make them great young men. That’s the goal you have to keep.”

He has been an assistant football coach at Seabreeze for the past three years. Currently, he is the JV head coach and defensive coordinator and will also assist coach Mike Klein with the varsity linebackers this season.

“He’s Mr. Get Things Done,” Klein said. “As a football coach, you wear a lot of different hats, they say. Mark is not above any of it. He can do handy work. If we need something built, he can build it. If we need something fixed, he can fix it. He’s kind of like a right-hand man type of guy, where he’s always there; he’s always accountable.”

All five brothers played basketball and soccer before committing to football. Kamden will be a junior this year and is a running back for Seabreeze. He has played a variety of positions and goes wherever the coaches need him.

“My parents are great, especially my stepdad, Mark Spada,” Kamden said. “He’s my football coach and kind of yells at me a lot. Makes me a 100% better player. Without him, I don’t know where I’d be right now, especially on this football team.”

As the disciplinary coach, Mark stays on top of the players’ academic progress. He does whatever it takes to help the kids be successful. Klein said Mark is the perfect example of what he wants the football program’s ideology to be about: It takes a village to raise kids.

“That’s why I love him,” Klein said. “He’s all go, no show. He works hard, he’s extremely dependable, he’s extremely trustworthy, and, above all of it, he just has a true servant’s heart, and he loves the kids. He treats every kid like they were his own.”

As rising seniors, Tristan and Daniel have really come into their own, Klein said, and have matured into the type of leaders the team needs this season. Both brothers said they want to lead their younger siblings and motivate them to perform at a higher level. When they are at home, they said they always talk about football.

“I hope talking football helps,” Tristan said. “I want to make sure they know all the plays and the techniques, and make sure they run it right and learn from their older brothers before they graduate. They’ve been getting better. They’re just young.”

Fifteen-year-old Zachary said Daniel helps with everything since they are both wide receivers, and Tristan shows him how to work out in the weight room.

“It’s cool when Zach and I are both on the field, and I don’t get the ball, and he catches it. It’s cool,” Daniel said.

Klein said there are usually more than just the Spada family hanging out at their house. Sometimes there are enough players there to have their own football team.

“Even though Ormond Beach is a small community, it’s still a large community to us, because we want to love everybody,” Mark said.

 

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