Colorado Springs, Colo. (Oct. 2, 2020) – USA Ultimate, the national governing body for the sport of ultimate in the United States and proud member of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, is excited to announce the assistant coaches selected to help lead the national teams that will compete at the 2021 WFDF World Under-24 Ultimate Championships.
Darryl Stanley (Washington, D.C.) and Hector Valdivia (Madison, Wis.) will join Head Coach Bob Krier in leading the men’s team. Lauren Boyle (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Hannah Baranes (Somerville, Mass.) join Head Coach Patrick Sherlock as the mixed team’s coaches. Alex Snyder (San Francisco, Calif.) and Courtney Kiesow (Saint Paul, Minn.) complete Head Coach Nancy Sun’s coaching staff for the women’s team.
Selection assistants were also chosen for each team. The men’s, mixed and women’s coaching staffs will be assisted in selecting their teams by David Allison, Isaiah Bryant and Anraya Palmer, respectively. All three selection assistants have extensive coaching experience at multiple levels of the sport.
The 2021 U-24 coaching staff once again includes an abundance of coaching experience, with seven coaches having multiple years of experience coaching U-24 and other National Teams. Stanley returns after his first U-24 National Team stint in 2019 as an assistant coach, while Boyle and Snyder begin her third consecutive iteration with the mixed and women’s teams, respectively.
Last year, Stanley followed in longtime U-24 assistant coach Joe Durst’s footsteps and helped Bob Krier lead the U-24 men’s team to a gold medal at the U-24 World Championships. Additionally, he continued to put Washington D.C. Truck Stop on the map in the club men’s division, coaching the team to a regional championship and a Top-5 finish at both the U.S. Open Club Championships and the National Championships. Returning to the U-24 coaching staff since 2013 when he coached the inaugural team, Valdivia brings extensive experience coaching men’s ultimate. Since 2004, he has coached at the high school and college level, serving as head coach for the Wisconsin Hodags for the last 11 years and leading them to two championships in five finals appearances during his tenure.
Boyle returns for her third year with the U-24 Mixed National Team, helping lead them to gold medals in 2019 (Germany) and 2018 (Australia). Prior to joining the U-24 team, she was an assistant coach for the U-24 women’s team that took second place in 2015. She’s also coached at the club, college and high school levels. Meanwhile, alongside a 10+ year playing career starting at Dartmouth and later Boston’s elite club teams Wild Card and Slow White, Baranes has given back to her community through coaching high school and college ultimate. Since 2014, she’s coached the Amherst Regional High School girls’ varsity team, becoming the head coach in 2017. She also coached the Harvard women’s team in 2016 and early 2017 before leaving to head up the mixed team at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Snyder also arrives for the third straight iteration with the U-24 Women’s National Team, serving as a head coach in 2018 and an assistant coach in 2019 of both gold medal winning teams. Prior to joining the women’s team, she was an assistant coach for the U-23 mixed team that won gold in 2015. Snyder has also coached ultimate across multiple levels and for various age groups, helping Wisconsin BellaDonna to two College Championships appearances. Kiesow makes her national team debut as an assistant coach for the women’s team, but brings vast experience as a captain and coach for multiple teams. Recently, she’s been a co-coach for Carleton Syzygy since 2017, and she’s also been a leader for the Minneapolis Pop club women’s team, serving as captain in 2018 and co-coach in 2019.
Player applications for the U-24 National Team are expected to be made available in late October. Dates and the location of the 2021 WFDF World Under-24 Ultimate Championships, hosted by the World Flying Disc Federation, have yet to be announced.
