USA Ultimate Announces Assistant Coaches for 2015 U-23 National Teams
Posted: September 15, 2014 11:15 AM
Boulder, Colo. (Sept. 15, 2014) – USA Ultimate is pleased to announce the assistant coaches selected to help lead the U.S. U-23 National Teams at the 2015 World Under-23 Ultimate Championships hosted by the World Flying Disc Federation.
Alex Snyder (San Francisco, Calif.) and Nancy Sun (San Francisco, Calif.) will join head coach Martin Aguilera on the mixed team’s coaching staff. Jody Avirgan (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Joe Durst (London, U.K.) will assist open team head coach Bob Krier. Jit Bhattacharya (San Francisco, Calif.) and Carolyn Matthews (Boulder, Colo.) will again serve as assistants for head coach Mike Whitaker on the women’s team.
All coaches were selected after an extensive application and interview process conducted by the USA Ultimate Coaching Committee. The 2015 U-23 coaches have each competed and coached at the highest levels of the sport and bring extensive experience to their respective teams. Joe Durst, Carolyn Matthews and Jit Battacharya were also assistant coaches for the 2013 gold-medal winning U-23 National Teams. Jody Avirgan is a former U-19 National Team assistant coach.
"USA Ultimate is not only thrilled with how well the expanded selection process was implemented, but also thrilled with the depth of experience from the coaching candidates who applied, interviewed, and ultimately received coaching positions for next year’s U-23 squads," said Mike Lovinguth, USA Ultimate’s Manager of Youth and Education Programs and staff representative on the USA Ultimate Coaching Committee. "This couldn’t be done without countless hours on the phone from our Coaching Working Group, and we’re very appreciative of how well they’ve set up our teams to succeed. Our coaches exemplify the peak of U.S. achievement in ultimate, but all also spoke of the importance of the player experience throughout the process. We’re excited for them to lead these young men and women into one of the best opportunities WFDF offers."
"The selection committee extends its gratitude to all applicants for the U-23 coaching staff," said Sangwha Hong, member of the USA Ultimate Coaching Committee. "The assistant coaches ultimately selected by the committee, following extensive review and deliberation, reflect the high caliber of all those who applied for these positions. We are confident these coaches are the best the United States can offer in terms of coaching our national teams in this age range."
Head coaches for each of the three U-23 National Teams were selected and announced earlier this summer. All members of the coaching staffs will travel to November’s tryout camps to evaluate the athletes selected to attend the camps and select rosters for next year’s Championships.
The exact dates and location of the 2015 World U-23 Ultimate Championships are still TBA.
Update (June 16, 2015): Assistant coach Jit Bhattacharya stepped down for personal reasons, and has been replaced by Lauren Boyle (Boulder, Colo.). The event will take place July 12-18 in London, UK.
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