Head Coach - Hakan Ozdemir

Email: hakanozdemir.ca@gmail.com  Cell: (780)-297-5937

This will be Hakan's third year of coaching with FOG.   He played 10 years of club volleyball including 5 years professional in various clubs and leagues in Turkey.   Hakan coached a High School Senior Girls Team from 1981 to 1982,  a 17U Men’s Team from 1982 to 1984, and a U15 Girls Team from 2000 to 2002 in Turkey.   He was an assistant coach for NAVC Men’s 14U in 2013 and the head coach of FOG Red Men’s 16U in 2016.   He was also the coach for FOG Black U16 for the 2018-2019 season.

Hakan Ozdemir was also part of the team delegates for, Turkish Women’s Volleyball National Team in Euro League Qualification Tournament in 1995 in Netherlands, and for, 17U Turkish Men’s Volleyball National Team in European Championship Qualification Tournament in Slovenia.

He likes sharing his experience and passion of the game with the athletes.

Coaching Philosophy:  Hakan believes that volleyball skill development and growth of an athlete is more important than the results measured by medals and trophies. Improving, having fun and making good memories are the most important goals of a season all of which comes with being a team.

Assistant Coach - Batuhan Ozdemir

Email: batuhanozdemir.9@gmail.com Cell: (780)-297-5914

This will be Batuhan's second year coaching for FOG.  He was an assistant coach for FOG Black U16 Boys for the 2018 season and was the assistant coach for J. Percy Page Sr. Boys Volleyball during the 2019 school season.

Batuhan started playing volleyball in Turkey when he was ten years old and have played competitive volleyball since. In Turkey, he played for TOFAS Sports Club for three years and in Canada, he played for NAVC U14, FOG U15 and FOG U16. He is also a Level 2 volleyball referee and have been officiating for the past three years. He is currently in my third year of Bachelor of Sciences in Psychology at the University of Alberta

Batuhan is very passionate about volleyball and it is a big part of his life.  He is excited to be a part of the FOG family once again and share his experience with the athletes.

NCCP CERTIFICATION:

Level 1: Development Coached - Trained
Level 2: Advanced Development Coach - In Training

Head Coach - Arielle Gansan

Email: dgansan@gmail.com Cell: (780) 868-3990

This will be Arielle's second year coaching with FOG. She started playing volleyball in grade 7 at St.Hilda Junior High with the Fog Hawks from 2010-2013 for school season and club. She then continued to play throughout high school for the Holy Trinity Trojans.  Arielle has been an assistant coach for the FOG Hawks with George Gibney as her mentor for the last 3 years. 

Arielle is excited to be working with the players, parents and other coaches again this year! Her goal as a coach is to make sure the players enjoy themselves but to also push them to reach their full potential on the court. She can't wait to share her love and experience she has for the sport with the athletes. 

Assistant Coach - Donovan Nguyen

This will be Donovan's first year coaching under FOG. He has been playing volleyball since a young age and was part of the Archbishop   O'leary High School team. He continues to play the sport he loves on a frequent basis. Donovan has been engaged in sports his whole life and has always had a leadership mentality which has led him to taking on a role as a coach. 

With prior background knowledge in personal training, he hopes to keep the young athletes healthy while teaching them the proper skills. He Is excited to bring his knowledge for the sport into club and to share with the athletes. He looks forward to being a mentor and a friend to the players. He believes that in competition there should be hard work but also fun!

Trainer - Kevin Luna

This will be Kevin's second year helping out with FOG. He has been playing volleyball since Junior High and played all throughout High School.  Currently Kevin has graduated from NAIT as a Personal Fitness Trainer.  He is very excited to help the athletes develop and play to their fullest potential. 

Kevin is also very excited for another season with the team. His goal as a coach is not to only develop their skills in volleyball but to also develop their physical performance and condition on and off the court. 

Ollie Semonis - Head Coach & Age class coordinator

Contact: 780.907.8007 or osemonis@gmail.com 

COACHING background 

Over the last 4 seasons with FOG, Ollie has been Head Coach and Coordinator of the U13, U14 and U15 programs with multiple top 3 finishes in Alberta over that time including winning the U13 Provincial Championship in 2017 and finishing 4th at Nationals in 2019 at the U15 level. In addition to FOG, he helped coached at Grandview Heights Jr. High from 2016-2018, winning City Championships in ’17 an ’18. Ollie also previously assisted with the Strathcona High School Sr. Boys in the 90’s for several seasons.

PLAYING EXPERIENCE

Ollie began playing volleyball in Alberta in the mid 80’s and enjoyed success at multiple levels including playing for Strathcona High School (1985-88), Team Alberta from 1986-89, Canada Games Championship in 1989, University of Alberta Golden Bears (1988-1993), Professionally in France with AS Monaco in 1994, multiple Senior Men’s competitions with Volleyball Alberta and the World Master’s Games in 2005. He continues to play recreationally with the Edmonton Volleyball Association for many years at beach and indoor until 2018 and now spend more time sharing his knowledge and coaching.

COACHING PHILOSOPHY

Sports should always be about having fun and making lifelong friends along the way. Success in not measured in the medals we win but rather the lessons we learn in our journey.

NCCP Certification: Level 1 – Development Coach, trained (certification pending)

Assistant Coach - Boris Luc

Assistant Coach - Pierre Baudin 

David Desmeules- Head Coach

Coaching background 

Dave is in his second season with FOG volleyball and his 4th coaching club volleyball, and 16th year coaching volleyball.  While coaching club he has guided his teams, both as a head coach and an assistant, to multiple top 3 finishes throughout that time including a Provincial Championship with U13 in 2011, and a 4th place finish in 2018-19 at the U15 level at Volleyball Canada Nationals.  In addition to FOG, Dave has previously been an assistant coach with the Cambrian College Golden Shield in '06 in Sudbury, Ontario, along with coaching various school teams. He is currently the assistant coach with J. H. Picard Junior Varsity Men's high school team.  

COACHING PHILOSOPHY

Have fun, make friends, enjoy and respect the game. "The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand." - Vince Lombardi

NCCP Certification: Level 2 - trained (certification pending)

Assistant Coach - Gallen Donaghy

Gallen will be joining  FOG this season after playing in Red Deer from U16 to U18 with CAKVC Kings club and most recently with the Red Deer College Men's program in 2016-2017 where they were CCAA National Champions. Over the past 5 years, he has been involved coaching in Red Deer with the CAKVC Kings club and as Zone 4 beach volleyball coach for the Alberta Summer Games.

Mitch Foisy- Head Coach

Email: mrf@ualberta.ca  or (780)-953-7886 

Background: This is Mitch's first season coaching with FOG, and his 5th season coaching club volleyball in Alberta.  Mitch has coached various boys programs in the u14-u16 age class, and look forward to another exciting season.   He also worked with the GPRC’s Men’s Volleyball Program (ACAC) as an Assistant Coach. Mitch holds a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology, as well as a degree in Education, obtained from the University of Alberta. As both an educator and a coach he has a passion for developing a growth mindset, athletes should be  “students of the game”, who are always working towards self improvement on multiple levels.

Coaching Philosophy: Mitch believes that the PROCESS determines the OUTCOME. Rather than focusing on the end result, he encourages athletes to concentrate on the things they can control such as preparation, attitude, and effort.  "What we do both on and off the court illustrates who we are. We should hold ourselves to a high standard of excellence that fosters continual growth in terms of character and competency."

NCCP Certification: Level 1 & 2 Trained

Wes Henschel- Head Coach

Email: wes.henschel@gmail.com

Coaching:

Head coach: 5 years Alberta Club Volleyball (U13- U15) 
2019 U13 FOG Black Boys, Provincial champion,
Div. 2 Nationals gold medal U15 Girls
Metro Edmonton Jr. High School team coach 2015 and 2018

Playing:

NAIT Men's Ook's Volleyball team 1991-1994 
Member of the FOG Wolves Men's Volleyball team 1997 – 1999
20 years competing in both EVA/MWVA Men's and Mixed Volleyball - Division 1 Men's Champion, Division 1 Mixed Champion

The sport of volleyball has provided Wes with many amazing experiences and friendships.  He believes that the team work and preparation required to win on the court are great lessons that can be transferred into a successful life.

NCCP Certification

Level 1: Development Coached - Trained 
Level 2: Advanced Development Coach - In Training

ASSISTANT COACH – Levi hennig

This will be Levi’s second year coaching with the FOG Boys Club. Levi played club volleyball with FOG and High School volleyball at J. Percy Page and is currently enrolled at the University of Alberta. Levi is also the head coach of the J. Percy Page men’s senior volleyball team

NCCP Certification:

Level 1: Development Coached - Trained
Level 2: Advanced Development Coach - In Training

ASSISTANT COACH/Training – Craig wourms

2015 – 2019: Team Alberta Coach (18U Boys,17U Boys,16U Boys/Girls) 
2018: Team Nimbus V-League Head Coach 
1992- 2007: Head Coach: NAIT

Holds Master of Science in Human Movement - Specialization in Sport Conditioning 
College Instructor: NAIT School of Health - Personal Fitness Trainer Program

NCCP Certification 

Level 3: Performance Coach - Trained