Coaches Bios

2019-2020 Coaching Staff

John Child - Technical Director & Coach 18U Girls

John is a 3-time Olympian and Bronze Medalist 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.

Octavia Wong - 18U Girls Coach
Leaside 18U Girls Assistant Coach 2018-2019 (National Champions)
Leaside 17U Girls Assistant Coach 2016-17 (17U Provincial Gold Medalist, 17U National Silver Medalist)
Leaside 17U Girls Assistant Coach 2017-2018 (17U Provincial Bronze Medalist, 17U National Bronze Medalist)
Player Bio:
York University Women's Varsity 2013-15
Jason Senechal Memorial Award Winner 2014
22U Beach Volleyball National Champion 2015
Adult Beach Volleyball Provincial Bronze Medalist 2017
Trained with Team Canada Beach Volleyball 2015-16, 2018-present
9man - Connex, Outtahand, Toronto Storm (NACIVT Bronze Medalist 2013), Philly CIA (NACIVT Bronze Medalist 2017)
Education:
BSc Specialized Honors in Psychology
MSc Candidate in Kinesiology with a focus on quantitative methods

Melvin Lowe - 18U Girls
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

Adam Ward - 18U Boys Coach

Adam is now in his 7th full year as a coach with Leaside Volleyball. As an athlete, Adam was a member of the University of Toronto Varsity Blues volleyball team. He holds both a Bachelors degree in Physical Education and a Masters degree in Human Kinetics. Adam is currently finalizing his Advanced Development Coach Certification. He focuses on developing good human beings with a competitive and fun sport environment.

Jake Gallo - 18U Boys Coach

Jake is excited to be continuing coaching at Leaside on the Leaside 18U Boys team season. Jake is a Health and Physical Education teacher at Northern Secondary School, where he coaches both the Junior Boys and Senior Girls Volleyball teams. Over the last seven years, Jakehas led numerous TDSB high school volleyball programs to successful seasons, including a City Championship and OFSAA appearance in 2013 at C.W. Jeffreys C.I. Jakecurrently coaches the University of Toronto baseball team where he pitched from 2005-2010, and also enjoys running the Multi-Sport program at True North Sport Camps in the summer.

Maria Krahn - 17U Girls Coach
Maria is going into her third year coaching at Leaside after coaching with the Jr. Wesman in 2014/15. Maria's mission statement is to inspire the next generation of young female leaders by cultivating a positive, elite sport experience through hard-work and determination to find meaning and importance in everything you do. To build capacity to transfer skills gained from elite sport experience to the workforce. Born in Winnipeg, Maria competed with elite indoor club volleyball teams throughout middle school and high school, culminating in a gold medal finish at the 17u National Championships in 2006 in Abbotsford, BC. Maria competed for the Brandon University Bobcats in the Canada-West USport Conference for one year before transferring to Western University to finish her playing career as a Mustang, winning the OUA championship in the 2011-2012 season. Maria has played and competed in beach volleyball tournaments as a junior athlete from age 15 -18 and continues to play on a competitive indoor Sr. Women’s volleyball team in Toronto. Maria has earned a BSc in Medical Sciences from Western University and MSc in Health Informatics from McMaster University. Maria currently works as a Senior Program Consultant in the Digital Health Secretariat Branch of the Ministry of Health. Contact Maria at: mariakrahn@icloud.com

Garrett May - 17U Girls Coach
Garrett has been coaching with Leaside for the past five years and is entering his 4th year as Head Coach of the George Brown College men's volleyball team. Coaching highlights include: the 2017-18 OCAA Coach of the Year award and multiple tournament wins at various age groups highlighted by a T3 gold medal at the 2019 18u boys national championships. As an indoor and beach player, Garrett has had a long and illustrious career. He was a part of Canada's National Beach Volleyball team for nine years and represented Canada at over 35 international events. In 2010 Garrett won the gold medal at the U21 World Championships; the first of its kind in Canadian history. Garrett attended Western University and led the Mustangs for four seasons. His indoor accomplishments include: 4 OUA silver medals, 1 CIS/U Sport silver medal, 4 OUA all-star awards, 2013 OUA player of the year, 3 CIS all-Canadian awards and the 2011 CIS/U Sport rookie of the year award. His mission is to help develop champions in the sport of volleyball and in life to the Leaside Volleyball Club. When not coaching volleyball, Garrett works as a video game developer and part time YouTube personality on his channel Yes Guy Gaming.

Josh Nichol - 17U Boys Coach
Likes: Skateboarding, comic books, itchy and scratchy, saying cowabunga
Dislikes: submitting a coach's bio, Homer and Principal Skinner

Clara Tse - 16U Girls Coach
Clara is looking forward to her second 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.

Bob Armstrong - 16U Girls Coach

Bob is back for his 8th year coaching at Leaside! He's excited to be back to coach with the 16U girls team for the upcoming season! Having coached the team last season to a 5th place provincial finish, he's excited to help push the team even higher. As a certified Level 1 coach, Bob is currently taking his Level 2 coaching certification.

Bob has coached many teams at the club and school level as well as beach teams for the 2018 Ontario Summer Games. Bob will also be the head coach for a 5th year at Havergal College where he helped the Junior team to win the CISAA championships 3 of the last 4 years.

With over 20 years of experience as a beach and indoor player, Bob is constantly striving to be a better coach and to help his athletes push for excellence. You can reach Bob at 416-606-1555 or bob.armstrong22@gmail.com

Djordje Ljubicic - 16U Boys Coach

Djordje Ljubicic was a tremendous setter for the York men’s volleyball team in the early ’90s. He earned first-team OUAA all-star honours in each of his five seasons with the program (1991-96) and was the OUAA East rookie of the year in 1992. He helped the team win back-to-back conference titles in 1993 and 1994, earning the championship match MVP award in 1994, and he competed at the CIAU championships in each of those seasons. A team captain and a three-time team MVP, Ljubicic went on to compete on the FIVB World Beach Volleyball Tour for 10 years and represent Canada at the 2001 World Championships and the 2003 Pan Am Games. Djordje is a Toronto Firefighter and he still competes in the Masters’ division. He enjoys coaching young athletes in the Leaside Volleyball Club. In 2015, Djordje was inducted into the York University Sport Hall of Fame.

Adam Billedeau - Coach 15UG Red

Strengths: Coaching and being an all around great guy
Weaknesses: Submitting a Bio for the coaches page

Brad Willock - 15U Boys Coach

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 15U boys team. For the past 4 years, Brad has coached baseball in the Leaside community..

Katie Hutchinson - 14U Red Girls Coach
Katie is in her twelfth year of coaching and her seventh 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. 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 14U at Leaside?
Contact Katie at coach.katie.hutch@gmail.com.

Dasha Ustinova - 14U Red Girls Coach
Dasha has been playing volleyball both rep and in school since she was 13! Leaside Lightning has been her team and my family since 15U where I played all the way through 18U (finishing third in the province). This is her second year coaching at Leaside, as she has had the opportunity to both assist and head coach the 12U and 13U girls. She is so excited to enter yet another year where she can share her passion and love for volleyball with others. Dasha enjoys working with kids and aspires to be involved in teaching in the future, and what a better way to connect with kids than through volleyball

Ananda Singh - 14U White Girls Coach
Ananda is going into her 2nd year coaching with Leaside. She is excited to be working with young athletes and empowering them to continue their development in this sport. As an athlete, Ananda competed for Aurora Storm Volleyball Club through elementary and high school, with several gold medal finishes at Nationals between 2010-2012. She continues to play on court and on the beach in Toronto. Outside of volleyball Ananda has various interests in music, art, health and wellness, and possesses a strong passion for Public Health. She has completed a BPH in Public Health and a BASc in a Public Health and Safety with hopes for further education down the road. Ananda is looking forward to another season of hard work and fun here at Leaside.

Maria Pao - 14U White Girls Coach

Rob Dyba - 14U Boys Coach

As a libero at York University from 2004-09 he was a member of the OUA championship team of 2005 and was an OUA all-star and the OUA’s libero of the year. He spent the first season after graduation as an assistant with the Seneca College Sting before serving as a graduate-student assistant coach at the University of Alberta for two years while completing graduate school. Upon his return from out west he was an assistant coach with York and eventually assistant coached with the Lions and took over as interim head coach at York in 2013-2014. Rob has also coached at the club level with the Aurora Storm and the NAVC under-17 and under-18 teams in Alberta. He previously served on the coaching staff with the national beach team program from 2009-2011. Rob has his NCCP level 3 for beach and indoor volleyball, as well as a Masters degree in coaching from the University of Alberta

Edilson Chimilovski (Coach Eddie) - 13U Red Girls Coach

Edilson is a President of a large Building Materials Company and even with his busy agenda he dedicates his free time to support develop kids in the sport he loves the most, volleyball.
He has played school and competitive volleyball in Brazil for 12 years. This is his second year with Leaside and he is excited to bring the 12U girls to a different level and prepare them for their future in the sport.
Coach Eddie strongly believes in developing team players and that hard work and that dedication can achieve great results. He currently has Volleyball Canada Development Coach Certification.

Carli Yim - 13U Red Girls Coach
This will be Carli's second year with Leaside but has been coaching club for the last 4 years. Before that she played 4 years at Ryerson University . Carli currently plays for Connex in the 9-Man circuit.

Steven Wong - 13U Girls White Coach
Steven is excited to continue as a Leaside coach for a second season. He is trained as a Volleyball Canada Development Coach Level 1. Steven brings an enthusiasm for teaching and passion for sports, and besides volleyball, he also enjoys playing softball and soccer. He earned his BSc in Computer Science at Western and his MA in Environment and Development at King's College London, and has lived abroad in Germany, the United Kingdom, and China.

Stephane Vlachos - 12U Girls Coach

Stephane is excited to return to Leaside as a coach to take on the 12U Girls Program. As a teacher at Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute, Stephane has helped to coordinate the volleyball program there for the past 7 years, while coaching both junior and senior boys, girls, and coed teams. After several years of very successful teams at Lawrence Park, Stephane is looking forward to bringing the same level of excellence and success to his Leaside team again this season. Stephane provides a great deal of knowledge, experience, and energy, which he looks forward to using in helping the 18U Girls White team develop their technical, physical, and mental skills this season.

Jenna Child - 12U Girls Coach
Jenna is very excited to join the Leaside coaching team for a second year. She has a BSc degree in Human Kinetics from the University of Guelph and is currently taking her second degree in accelerated Nursing at the University of Toronto. She is a Leaside club volleyball alum, having played for Leaside from 2008-2014. Jenna fell in love with the sport at a young age through watching her Dad play. She has a warm, energetic and encouraging coaching personality and is looking forward to joining the fantastic 12U girls coaching team for the 2018-2019 season!
Fun Fact: Jenna was a multi-sport athlete and along with playing many years of club volleyball she also represented Canada at the 2014 Synchronized Skating French Cup in Paris and numerous other international competitions throughout her athletic career.

Bart Arsenault - 12U Girls Coach
As the Lead Coach for the 12U Development Program, Bart is looking forward to working with a great coaching team of young and enthusiastic coaches. Bart will share his knowledge as a two-time Tier 1 National Indoor Champion in 14U and 18U to provide a developmental pathway for young players who wish to compete at a high level in the future. Bart is a Certified Advanced Development Indoor Volleyball Coach and a Certified Development Beach Volleyball Coach. He is a recipient of the OVA Recognition Award for his work as a club coach, OVA Spikes Clinician, Camp Director, OVA High Performance Beach Development Coach, community coach and FIVB volunteer. This past summer, Bart was a coach at the OVA Team Ontario White Integrated Development Program. He has been a Lead Junior Beach Development Coach at Leaside Volleyball and was a Regional Head Beach Coach at the 2018 Ontario Summer Games. Bart’s Coaching Philosophy is Respect, Learn, Plan, Teach and Develop. His practices are well-known as being athlete-centric with a balance of technical skill development and learning team concepts. The goal is to provide fundamental building blocks to help each player improve over the course of the season and from year-to-year.

Nerissa James - 12U Girls Coach
Nerissa is excited to join the Leaside coaching team and is looking forward to sharing her passion for volleyball with the athletes. She is a true believer in the "Power of Sport” and wants to encourage her athletes to be the best that they can be. Nerissa is a graduate of Brock Universities Sports Management program. She has worked as a Programs Coordinator and as a Lead Coach at various sports organizations. There she developed implemented and coached Multi-Sport programs for youth. Nerissa has participated
in a variety of sports her entire life. She fell in love with volleyball at a young age and has been involved with the game ever since.
She is in training for the Volleyball Canada Development Coach Level 1 certification and has her Ontario’s Volleyball Association Level 1 Local Official certificate. Nerissa is currently involved
with Ontario Coaches Association program called"Changing the Game – Changing the Conversation" which is working towards supporting and developing women in coaching. This program has brought her to Leaside Volleyball and she hopes to improve her coaching with the club.

Jill Eisenhauer – 12U Girls Coach
Jill started her volleyball career playing with Leaside when she was in Grade 9. Her first coach was our very own John Child which also happen to be the first ever Leaside volleyball team. After playing club volleyball, Jill played varsity volleyball for McMaster University wearing lucky number 7. Jill played both Middle and Right Side during her four year collegiate career with the Marauders while capturing an OUA Gold Medal and OUA Silver Medal in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Jill graduated from McMaster in 2018 and is excited to share her playing experience and knowledge with the young aspiring players at Leaside.

Jasmine Jane (J.J.) Salamat – 12U Coach
Jasmine has been a member of the Leaside coaching staff in the House League and Competitive Beach Training Programs. As a former Libero for the University of Toronto, Jasmine will be sharing a wealth of volleyball experience with our young developing players. Prior to playing for the Varsity Blues, Jasmine was selected to represent her region at the 2014 Ontario Summer Games (Windsor) and 2014 Ontario Winter Games (Muskoka). She was a four-time MVP for her high school team and former York Catholic District School Board Champion. She has also been playing in the North America 9-Man Circuit since 2014 with Toronto Connex.

Alina Dormann - 12U Coach
Alina Dormann is a current 5th year rightside hitter for the University of Toronto Varsity Blues. She is a 3-time OUA East Player of the Year and a 4-time USPORTS All-Canadian. Throughout her OUA career she has been a member of two provincial championship teams, and and has also won a national championship. She is super excited to share her experiences and volleyball knowledge with the 12U Leaside Athletes! As a member of Team Canada, Alina has competed at the 2016 Pan Am Cup, as well as the 2017 and 2019 FISU World University Games. This will be her third year as a member of the Leaside staff, having previously helped out with the Sunday House league and Competitive Beach training programs.

Heather Bansley - Guest Coach

This will be Heather's 6th year assisting with Leaside Volleyball Club, and she is excited to continue her development as a coach.

Heather is a current member of the Canadian Beach Volleyball National. She first represented Canada internationally in 2008, and after graduating from university in 2010 Heather started competing full-time on the Senior FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. In 2012 Heather earned Canada a birth to the London Olympic Games, but narrowly missed out on qualifying after losing in the Canadian trials. In 2016 Heather represented Canada at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where her and her partner finished in 5th place. Heather was awarded FIVB World Tour Best Defensive Player in 2015 and 2016. At the beginning of 2017, Heather teamed up with Brandie Wilkerson, and together are targeting Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Heather graduated from the University of Toronto in 2010 with a degree in English and Linguistics, where she was a member of the Varsity Women’s Volleyball Program. During her CIS indoor career, Heather was a five-time OUA All-Star, a two-time CIS All-Canadian, OUA Player of the year, and led the country in kills, aces and points-per-set.

Teresa Valiquette
Teresa returns to Leaside for her second season coaching with us. As a former national level gymnast, Teresa moved into team sports in her teenage years starting with soccer, and onto volleyball. After playing for the Humber Hawks Volleyball team and winning provincials, she decided to move to a different side of the bench and start her coaching journey. Teresa is an Advanced Development Coaching course graduate and a certified Yoga Teacher who has mentored a wide range of athletes including collegiate and professional level players.
This season Teresa looks forward to developing strong mental and physical skill sets in her athletes.

Marissa Thomson
Marissa played both varsity volleyball and softball at the University of Windsor where she completed her BSc in Kinesiology. She is currently working through her fourth and final year ofher second degree in Naturopathic Medicine. Marissa has been coaching with the Leaside volleyball club for the past 3 seasons as both an
assistant and a head coach. Marissa has been involved in the volleyball coaching scene prior to moving to Toronto as she was an assistant coach for the St. Clair College Varsity Women’s Volleyball team in Windsor, assistant with the 16U Female Region 3 Beach Volleyball team, as well a head coach to the senior girls’ volleyball team at Assumption Highschool. Marissa has many interests outside of volleyball including music, spending time with her
animals, recreational sports and pursuing a lifestyle of health and wellness. She loves combining her passions for health, nutrition and the sport of volleyball to empower young athletes to
achieve their personal goals both on and off the court!