Coaching Team
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John Child - Technical Director, HC 18U Girls Heat
John is a 3-time Olympian (Atlanta, 1996; Sydney, 2000; Athens, 2004) and Bronze Medalist (Atlanta, 1996) in Beach Volleyball. In addition to playing 15 years of professional beach volleyball, John has played many years of indoor volleyball too. John has coached for many years at various levels from aspiring Olympians to young beginners, including being the head coach of the Havergal College Volleyball program and their 5 teams. John will be the head coach of the Leaside 18U girls team this year. |
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Octavia Wong - AC 18U Girls Heat
Octavia is excited to be back with Leaside for her 6th year. Octavia has also recently joined the York University Women's Volleyball coaching staff, serving as an Assistant Coach for the 2021/22 season! In the past, Octavia played for York University and trained with the beach national team. She was a beach national champion in 2015 and beach provincial bronze medalist in 2017. Octavia was also the recipient of the Jason Seneschal Memorial award. Octavia currently plays for Philadelphia CIA in the 9man circuit. Octavia has a BSc in psychology and an MSc in biostatistics from York University. Currently, she is still at York University working toward a PhD in biostatistics. |
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Melvin Lowe - AC 18U Girls Heat
Melvin is excited to be coaching with Leaside again this season. He started his coaching career with boys and girls volleyball at Sir Oliver Mowat Collegiate Institute, where he has developed and led the volleyball program to 7 city championships in just 5 years. In addition he has spent the last 5 years coaching at the OVA Club level. He has led these various teams to numerous medals at the Tier One level. In the past year, Melvin has worked with the ADP (Athlete Development Program) with the OVA that identifies and trains the top level athletes of their various age groups. He was an Assistant Coach with the Region 5 program when they won a Gold medal at the Ontario Summer Games held in Sudbury during the summer of 2010. |
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Eddie Coleman - HC 18U Boys Warriors
Eddie is a Chartered Professional Coach (ChPC) with international experience coaching at Youth and Junior World Championships, on the Continental (NORCECA) and World (FIVB) Tours, at the World University Games and Canada Games. For 11 seasons, Eddie has led Team Ontario Beach athletes to podium finishes at Provincial and National Championships. In 2013, he was named Coach of the Year by the Ontario Volleyball Association. In 2019/20, Eddie coached the 16U Leaside Thunder Warriors through a successful season and he looks forward to continuing the program this season. Eddie has completed the NCCP Advanced Coaching Diploma program from the Canadian Sport Institute of Ontario. |
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Adam Child - AC 18U Boys Warriors
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Mitchell Neuert - AC 18U Boys Warriors
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Tuck Yiong - HC 17U Girls Flash
The past three years, Tuck has been coaching a 14U girls team medalling in Cups, Provincials and Nationals. Tuck believes in the development of sound volleyball fundamentals through drills and hard work. The rewards are the experiences gained through competition. Tuck is looking forward to the upcoming season, working with Leaside to develop sound fundamentals and build strong relationships. Tuck Yiong - HC 17U Girls Flash
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Briana Vieira - AC 17U Girls Flash
Briana is very excited to start her first year of coaching at Leaside! In the past, she has coached house league programs and beach camps for a few different clubs around Toronto and is also a Local Referee for Volleyball Canada. This past year, Briana finished playing her 18U season and will now be attending University of Toronto to study Engineering. Over the course of her club career, Briana was the recipient of the OVA's Award of Excellence, a beach Provincial silver medalist in 2016 and an indoor Provincial silver medalist in 2019. |
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Larry Tung- HC 17U Girls Lightning
Larry is in his fourth year of working with Leaside Volleyball club having some 40 years of volleyball experience. He has coached various teams at both the school and club level and is enthusiastic about coaching this years Girls U17 Lightning team. As a player, he was a member of University of Toronto Varsity Blues volleyball team, several Provincial teams as well as the playing many years at the club level. He's also had over a decade of beach volleyball experience and continues to play competitively today with his men's indoor team. By day, Larry is a practicing veterinarian at Laird-Eglinton Pet Hospital in...where else but Leaside. He looks forward to passing on some of the knowledge and passion he has for the game to his new team. |
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Jackie Boyle - AC 17U Girls Lightning
Jackie started her volleyball career in Grade 8 at Leaside Volleyball Club under our very own, John Child. After playing club volleyball throughout high school, she joined the Gaels Varsity Volleyball Team at Queen's University from 2015-2019. Jackie played both right side and left side throughout her university career and was the strength captain in her fourth year. Since graduating, Jackie was recruited through RBC Training ground and invited to tryout for the National Bobsleigh Team and Indoor Cycling Team. Jackie is now pursuing her Olympic dream and has joined the Next Gen Sprint Cycling team in hopes of representing Canada in 2024. Jackie is very excited to not only share her knowledge of the sport but the physical and mental aspects of what it takes to be an elite athlete. |
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Brad Willock - HC 17U Boys Thunderbirds
Brad Willock is a former Olympic, professional, and Canadian University volleyball player. Brad played 5 years for the University of British Columbia (winning the Canadian championship in 1983) and played 7 years for the Canadian National team where he played over 400 matches for Canada and participated in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Brad also played and coached professionally in Spain for 4 years. He retired from playing in 1993 but looks forward to getting back on the court and developing a new generation of players on the 17U boys team. For the past 5 years, Brad has coached baseball in the Leaside community. |
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Jose Lafarga - AC 17U Boys Thunderbirds
Jose started coaching with Leaside in 2017 with the 13UB team that won silver at the Provincials. Jose's volleyball career started late in life, learning on the beaches of Vancouver after his university days. Thanks to a great bunch of friends he learned the game and developed a life-long love for the sport. Prior to coaching at Leaside, Jose spent many years coaching house-league soccer and baseball. Jose's other athletic passion is cycling. |
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Chris Dorsey - AC 17U Boys Thunderbirds
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Katie Hutchinson - HC 16U Girls Wildfire
Katie is in her 14th year of coaching and her 9th year as a coach for Leaside. In 2019, Katie was selected as the Female Development Coach of the Year by the Ontario Volleyball Association for her dedication to building strong female centric programs. In 2020, Katie was presented the recognition award from the OVA recognizing her dedication to the sport. Katie is also a Team Ontario Regional program Program Coach for the summer of 2020. Katie is inspired by the strength of female leadership and seeks to create competitive environments where young female athletes can find their voice and confidence and thrive through sport. Katie works hard to create a culture of "Girls Support Girls" which translates off the court so women have the tools to lift each other up. Off the court, Katie runs a charity called VIBE Arts and seeks to support young emerging artists in Toronto. Interested in 16U at Leaside? Contact Katie at coach.katie.hutch@gmail.com. |
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Dasha Ustinova - AC 16U Girls Wildfire
This is Dasha’s fifth year of coaching with Leaside. Leaside has been her go to team from a young age as she started learning in the house leagues and later advanced to play for the 15U team. She continued on to play until 18U where she and her team finished 3rd overall in Ontario. In High School Dasha was a part of the volleyball team for all four of her years, receiving the honour of being captain and MVP for two of them. Dasha has had the opportunity to be the head coach for the Leaside 13U girls team and the assistant coach for the 14U and 15U girls team. She is thrilled to enter yet another year of coaching where she can share her passion and love for volleyball with others. Outside of volleyball, Dasha is finishing off her Undergraduate year at the University of Toronto St. George campus, where she is majoring in English and minoring in Anthropology and Women and Gender Studies. |