December
Shawn has been a consistent presence throughout the Fall Indoor Season, helping lead our u16 & u19 programs, as well our adult mixed and women’s programs. He’s also stepped up to help with younger classes when called upon.
Shawn started playing ultimate 12 years ago, but began to put more time into the sport around 2013. He enjoys the game as both a coach and player; this past summer he co-coached the open touring team Roy, and trained with Re-Union.
Shawn’s knowledge, speaking skills, willingness to learn, and detailed practice plans have all combined to make him a fantastic contributor as a TUC coach.
November
James has played recreational ultimate for 10 years, and joined our coaching roster as a way to keep busy while his kids played.
After playing in the TUC Parity League, James realized how much he liked competitive ultimate, and decided to venture into the world of touring.
“I think I am the oldest player ever to make Roy. My nick name was grandpa”, say James (every team needs one). James will be GMing his 3rd season of TPL, and he loves playing in masters and the Thursday hat league at downsview.
October
Krystal was a leader on a great team of coaches that led our Fall Outdoor u19 program at Monarch. She also coaches junior touring teams in the summer, and is always eager to give back to the ultimate community.
Krystal has also had a huge year on the field, winning Gold at the Canadian Ultimate Championships with the 6ixers, and playing with team Portugal at the European Beach Championships. All of this continuing on a tradition of great play at university, club and international competitions.
We’re very proud to have her as a member of our community - if you see her around the fields, say hi, and hope that she’s playing on your team!
September
Rhyin Newell
Big thanks to Rhyin who used his extensive knowledge from years of league and touring to help out the next generation. All summer long, for both our Summer 1 and Summer 2 sessions, Rhyin lead our u19 program at Cedarvale, overseeing player development, drills and a lot of fun scrimmages.
August
Our Volunteer of the Month for August 2019 is Ben ElzingaCheng. Ben started playing ultimate in Vancouver in 1999 ("Way too long ago", in his words).
This year Ben has shown his range as a coach, working with our U10's in Agincourt, the U19 program at Felstead Park in July and August, and he is now one of our enthusiastic coaches running Adult Scrimmage 1010 program at Monarch. Everywhere he's gone, enthusiastic and confident athletes have emerged. Thank you, Ben.
Are you interested in helping out and volunteering your time? If so, please contact volunteers@tuc.org for more information about upcoming opportunities.
July
Our July 2019 Volunteer of the Month is Michael Pezzack. Mike has been a long-time coordinator of TUC's Summer Tuesday West league. This year he organized and ran pick-up on Tuesday's at Eglinton Flats for our Tuesday West teams that were unable to move to the Tuesday East league, when the West league was cancelled. As Mike's nominator stated, "Him doing this helped me enjoy this season a lot better then if I had been left with no game on Tuesdays." Thank you, Mike for ensuring a fun summer was had for out TUC west-enders.
Are you interested in volunteering? Contact volunteers@tuc.org for more details about upcoming opportunities.
June
Our Co-volunteers of the Month for June 2019 are Celine Nguyen and Jim Hui for their work with our juniors' program at Agincourt. Celine continues to be a huge contributor to the Toronto Ultimate Community (she was also Volunteer of the Month in January 2018) and continues to grow as a dynamic youth coach. Along with fellow Volunteer of the Month, Jim Hui, Celine was a much-loved leader at the Agincourt U10 program throughout both Summer seasons in 2019.
Jim is a highly-respected and involved community member with a warm personality,, and also brings over 20 years of Ultimate experience with him. We are thrilled to have Jim step forward as a Head Coach for our Agincourt Summer programs all summer. Jim is still an active player, but say "I have shifted more focus on the next generation to give back to the ultimate community and I love to see youths thriving in this great sport."
If you are interested in volunteering with TUC, please contact volunteers@tuc.org to find out about our upcoming opportunities!
May
Our Volunteer of the Month for May 2019 is Patrick Russell. Patrick is the chair of TUC's Women's Committee and sits on our Board of Directors. In his role as Chair of the Women's Committee, he and his committee are responsible for the Pick-It-Up month initiative that runs throughout June. He is passionate about this initiative which strives to provide a more inclusive playing environment for our female membership. His work included reviewing and integrating feedback from previous year's Pick-It-Up initiatve for 2019, and liaising with our teams throughout June to ensure that Pick-It-Up month is a success.
Are you interested in helping out and volunteering your time? Contact volunteers@tuc.org to find out about upcoming opportunities!
April
Our Volunteer of the Month for April 2019 is Misiu Godfrey. Misiu is a compiler developer by day, and ultimate athlete by evening. Known as “Meesh” or “Shoe”, he has spent his Fall, Winter and Springs coaching juniors, and helping to run junior and mixed tryouts when they come around. Meesh has also found time to stat-keep, GM, and even help with some app development for the raucous Parity League. He’s also helped out at some tournaments (“Only when I am not able to play!”).
Interested in hearing about volunteering opportunities? You can email volunteers@tuc.org to find out where you can help!
March
Our Volunteers of the Month for March 2019 are Jeremy Roedde, Chris Loat, and Agatha Hodsman. This trio coordinated both the Fall and Winter Indoor Wednesday Parity Co-ed HAT League, better known as TPL. In their roles, they are responsible for overseeing all aspects of the league including draft day, weekly stats and trade updates, and the end of season awards. With so many moving parts and constant changes being made the Parity League is extremely demanding. These three individuals have done an outstanding job and we certainly need to recognize the commitment to what has become the most popular TUC indoor league.
Are you interested in volunteering? Contact volunteers@tuc.org for more details about upcoming opportunities.
February
Our Volunteer of the Month for February 2019 is Rob Grundy! Rob is one of the main coaches for our Co-ed u19 Monarch league, but this isn't his first time doing so. Rob was instrumental in shaping the program into what it is today, and continues to put in hours to develop the program to be the best experience it can be. If you're curious to know where you might bump into Rob on the field, you can find him playing with Max Power on Thursdays in our Winter Elite league, right after he's done coaching the u19 program.
Contact volunteers@tuc.org for more details about upcoming volunteer opportunities.
January
To kick off the 2019 year, we have our first Volunteer of the Month: Lucy Chu! Lucy was a huge help at this year's indoor overnight tournament, From Disc Till Dawn. She was the first one at the venue to help with food setup and unloading the van, and the last one to leave to make sure everything was cleaned up at the end of the night (morning?). Lucy tours with Tox6ixs in the summer, and plays in several TUC leagues throughout the year. If you see her around, be sure to say hi and thank her for her willingness to give up so much sleep!
Interested to hear about volunteering opportunities? You can email volunteers@tuc.org to find out where you can help!
