USA Ultimate

Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sept. 23, 2016) – USA Ultimate, the national governing body for the sport of ultimate in the United States and proud member of the U.S. Olympic Committee, announced today the head coaches for the three teams that will represent the U.S. at the World Flying Disc Federation’s (WFDF) 2018 Under-24 World Ultimate Championships.

Bob Krier (Boulder, Colo.) will lead the men’s team, Martin Aguilera (Atlanta, Ga.) will coach the mixed team, and Alex Snyder (San Francisco, Calif.) will lead the women’s team. Krier and Aguilera are returning to their respective teams after gold-medal runs at both the 2013 and 2015 U-23 Championships. Snyder was an assistant coach for Aguilera’s gold-medal-winning mixed team in 2015.

"The applicant pool this year across all teams was deep and impressive," said Mike Whitaker, a two-time U-24 national team coach and member of the USA Ultimate coaching committee. "We are excited to see the continued increase in quality coaches who are eager to lead our teams in international competition. Alex, Martin and Bob are exceptional leaders, and we are excited to name them as head coaches in this cycle. We also want to encourage other aspiring national team coaches to apply for assistant coaching spots, as there is no better training to prepare you for eventually leading a national team than serving as an assistant coach under the mentorship of this strong group of head coaches."

Krier has been an active member of the ultimate community for 20 years. He helped found the men’s team at UCLA before becoming a member of the University of Colorado Mamabird. He moved on to play with Boulder Johnny Bravo in the club men’s division and has since also competed at the masters and grand masters levels. Krier has been coaching ultimate for over a decade. In addition to his two gold medals with the U.S. U-24 men’s teams, he coached Johnny Bravo from 2010-2015 and led them to the program’s first national championship title in 2014. Krier also spent many years as an assistant for the University of Colorado men’s team as well as working with Colorado youth teams.

Aguilera started his playing career at Paideia High School in the early 90s before playing at Georgia Tech and on various club-level mixed teams in Atlanta. He has also competed at the masters level with Atlanta Reckon. Aside from this two U-24 gold medals, his coaching credentials include positions with the Georgia Tech men’s team and the Emory University women’s squad during their rise to prominence on the national level. More recently, Aguilera returned to Paideia High School as part of the coaching staffs for both the boys and girls teams and is working with Atlanta Ozone in the club women’s division.

Snyder is one of the most decorated athletes in ultimate history. After picking up the sport in high school, Snyder played college ultimate at the University of Colorado where she won the Callahan Award. She spent two years playing at the club level in Colorado with Rare Air and has been a member of San Francisco Fury for the past 11 years. Among other titles, Snyder has seven won seven National Championships with Fury, as well as gold medals as a member of U.S. National Teams at the World Games in 2013 and the World Ultimate and Guts Championships this summer. She has coached ultimate across multiple levels and for various age groups. She coached Wisconsin Bella Donna to two College Championships appearances, has worked at clinics around the world for athletes of all ages and skill levels, and as mentioned above, served as an assistant coach for the 2015 U.S. U-23 Mixed National Team.

With the head coaches in place, applications for assistant coaches are now being accepted. Interested coaches should apply by October 17. 

Assistant coach application: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/U24Assistant 

The 2018 U-24 World Ultimate Championships will be held January 7-13 in Perth, Australia. The event, previously the U-23 Championships, will be the third such event. The U.S.A. swept the gold medals in all three divisions in 2013, at the inaugural event held in Toronto, Canada. In 2015, in London, the U.S. won gold in the men’s and mixed divisions, while the women earned the silver medal and their division’s team spirit award. 

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