Leaside Volleyball Club Coaches

Coaching Team

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Larry Tung- HC 18U Girls Lightning

Larry is in his fifth 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 U18 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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Brad Willock - HC 18U 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 18U boys team.

For the past 6 years, Brad has coached baseball in the Leaside community.

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Jose Lafarga - AC 18U Boys Thunderbirds

Jose started coaching with Leaside in 2017 with the 13UB team that won silver at the Provincials. He is excited to return to help this year's 18UB team through their Club volleyball "graduation"!

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 18U Boys Thunderbirds

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John Child - Technical Director, HC 17U Girls Wildfire

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 17U girls team this year.

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Octavia Wong - AC 17U Girls Wildfire

Octavia is an Assistant Coach with the York University Women's Volleyball team and is excited to be back with Leaside for her 8th year!

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 17U Girls Wildfire

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 7 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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Kayla Clennon – HC 17U Girls Fury

Kayla is a graduate of York University with a BA with Specialized Honours in Sociology. A five-year veteran of the York U Lions, Kayla was recognized as an aggressive right side hitter who had a dominant attack from both pins. During her Club career, Kayla also played the position of middle blocker, bringing a wealth of experience to share with her team at Leaside.

With her love of volleyball, Kayla is passionate about helping youth strive to achieve their goals and help develop their skills for maximum physical and mental performance.

Victoria Vogel - AC 17U Girls Fury

This will be Victoria's first year as part of the Leaside coaching staff. She coached at the Sunday House Leagues this past fall and winter and is excited to continue working with incredible coaches and motivated players.

Victoria signed herself up to play volleyball as a 6-year-old in Germany. She has been playing volleyball and has been in love with the sport ever since. She coached numerous camps, clinics and school teams in Victoria, BC as well as coaching Varsity Blues Academy sessions during her three years as part of the Varsity Blues Women's Volleyball program. Victoria is currently in her fourth year of undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, where she is studying Criminology, French and Political Science.

Victoria is extremely excited to work with passionate volleyball players and contribute to forming a dedicated, skilled, cohesive, and successful team! She hopes the players can learn as much from her as she does from them.

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Eddie Coleman - HC 17U Boys Thor

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 2021/22, Eddie coached the 18U Leaside 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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Jasmine Safar - AC 17U Boys Thor

Jasmine (Jas) is a recent graduate from the University of Arizona where she competed as an NCAA athlete on a scholarship for beach volleyball. She recorded one of the best Freshman seasons in UA history by impressively going 26-5. Jas has represented Canada at two Junior/Youth Beach Volleyball World Championships (China 2018 and Thailand 2019).

Prior to university, Jas played indoor volleyball with Defensa Volleyball Club.

A fierce competitor with a big heart, when not training or competing, Jas has spent the 2022 summer coaching alongside Eddie with the Team Ontario Beach program.

Adam Child - AC 17U Boys Thor

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Carli Yim - HC 16U Girls Bolts

This will be Carli's fourth year with Leaside but has been coaching club for the last 6 years.

Prior to coaching, Carli played 4 years at Ryerson University and currently plays for Connex in the 9-Man circuit.

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Mark Heese - AC 16U Girls Bolts

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Clara Tse - AC 16U Girls Bolts

Clara is looking forward to her fourth season of coaching at Leaside.

She has competed in many Asian and International indoor and beach volleyball competitions such as the Asian Games and the FIVB World Championships as a member of Team Hong Kong. She also played for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, as well as the University of Waterloo. Locally, she has played for Toronto Connex on the North American 9-man circuit since 2014.

She is currently studying her Master's in Social Work at Laurier.