FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 23, 2009

BOULDER, Colo. – The Ultimate Players Association, the National Governing Body for the sport of Ultimate in the United States, today announced the coaching staffs for the 2010 U.S. National Boys’ and Girls’ Junior Teams, including head coaches Ben Van Heuvelen (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and John Sandahl (Minneapolis), respectively. The teams will compete in the 2010 World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) World Junior Ultimate Championships from August 3-7 in Heilbronn, Germany. The tournament features the world’s top Ultimate players under the age of 20.

Pauline Lauterbach (Portland, Ore.) and Jody Avirgan (New York City) were appointed assistant coaches on the 2010 U.S. National Boys’ Junior Team, while Miranda Roth (Seattle) and Chelsea Putnam (Portland, Ore.) were named assistant coaches on the 2010 U.S. National Girls’ Junior Team.

Van Heuvelen returns after guiding the 2009 U.S. National Boys’ Junior Team to a gold medal in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was also an assistant coach in 2004 (Turku, Finland) and 2006 (Boston). His international playing experience includes the 1998 WFDF World Junior Ultimate Championships, 2002 World Ultimate Club Championships in the Open Division with New York, and the 2003 beach Ultimate tournament in Paganello, Italy. He also served as head coach of Sidwell Friends School from 2004-06 in Washington D.C., and at Scarsdale (N.Y.) High School in 2003 while finishing ninth in the nation. Van Heuvelen played at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., from 1999-2002.

Lauterbach’s 15-year Ultimate career includes serving as head coach of Scarsdale High School and working as a counselor at the National Ultimate Training Camp. She was the only female player selected to the 1998 U.S. Junior National Team (prior to the existence of a girls’ team), and she earned the 2002 Callahan Award as the top women’s college player in the nation. Most recently she served as captain of Schwa, a top women’s club team in Portland, Ore.

Avirgan returns to the defending gold medalist and Spirit of the Game Award-winning team as an assistant coach. He has competed at every level throughout his 17 years as a player, leading teams in the high school, college and club divisions. As a head coach, he has also led the Sidwell Friends School and Wesleyan University.

Sandahl takes over the reins of the 2010 U.S. National Girls’ Junior Teams after serving as an assistant coach for the 2009 bronze medalists. He was also co-head coach in 2004 as Team USA earned the silver medal in Turku, Finland. Sandahl has been the head coach of the Minneapolis South High School Squall program since 2001. Under his guidance, the boys’ team has never finished lower than sixth in the state, and the girls’ team has never finished below fourth. Sandahl also began leading Misces, a high school-level girls’ club team, as head coach this year after serving as an assistant or advisor with the squad since 2003. He played his collegiate Ultimate career at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn.

Roth’s previous coaching experience includes serving as an assistant coach for the gold medal-winning 2006 team in Boston, as well as at the high school and college levels. Roth played for The Paideia School in Atlanta, and later received the Callahan Award in 2004 with Carleton College (Minn.). In 2004 and 2005 she led Seattle's Riot to UPA Club Championship Women’s Division crowns, as well as two different college teams – Carleton and the University of Washington – to the finals of the UPA College Championships. Roth was also a gold-medalist on Team USA at The World Games in 2005.

Putnam returns to the U.S. National Girls’ Junior Team coaching staff as an assistant and will serve as the defensive coordinator. As a player, Putnam claimed the Callahan Award in 2003 with the University of Oregon. This past year she helped the United States earn a gold medal at the 2009 World Games in Chinese Taipei. Most recently she has played several years of Club Ultimate for Schwa.