updated August, 2009

 

Susie James, Assistant Coach

The 2009 season will be Susie's fourth year coaching water polo at New Trier. She volunteered as a varsity assistant her first year, then led as the freshman team coach, followed by JV coach last year. She is a Glenbrook North alumna as well as a 2006 graduate of Northwestern University where she earned a B.S. degree in materials science and engineering and played water polo for four years. At Northwestern, Susie was a 4 year starter, 3 year All Big Ten selection, 2 year captain, and 2 year team MVP.  She is currently working as an R&D engineer at NanoInk, Inc., a Skokie based nanotechnology start-up company. She also helps run the Intramural and Summer Fun water polo programs at New Trier, can be seen occasionally playing on a couple of area masters teams, and is also helping to resurrect the Northwestern club team.

Bruce Kimball, Freshman Coach         

Bruce Kimball is bringing his extensive aquatic background and experience back to the New Trier Girls Water Polo Team! During his first two seasons, he was the lead coach for the freshmen team one year, and JV the other. During the 2007-2008 school year, he piloted a school board initiative called the PEP program. This leadership role combined with his recently expanded family meant not enough time for water polo. We are so glad to have him back with the water polo program and he will return to his roots to lead the freshmen team again. Bruce has been a Kinetic Wellness teacher at New Trier since 2000 and a diving coach here since 1994.

When not teaching or coaching, Bruce spends as much time as he can with his wife and three children.

 

Erik Lindstrom, Freshman CoachNTGWP logo

Erik has coached at New Trier the last two years with the boys JV swimming team and the freshman girls water polo team. While he will be coaching with the freshmen most of the time, he will also use his vast aquatic and technical experience to help with varsity and JV as needed, especially helping us implement the use of our Dartfish video software.

Erik and his wife and daughter moved to a nearby rival neighborhood last summer, and is very happy with the reduced commute time!

 

Shannon Shamoon, JV Coach NTGWP logo                                 

Shannon is also a Glenbrook North alumna, as well as a 2006 graduate of Purdue University where she majored in Law and Society and minored in Forensics and Psychology. In the pool at Purdue, Shannon was a 4 year starter, Vice President her Junior year, Captain her Senior year, and First Team All-Big Ten selection as a center (she plays the two-meter offensive position). Shannon also played water polo on a club team in Sydney, Australia where she attended the University of New South Wales for a semester of college.  She is now working as an investigator in the Chicago area. She also still plays on a couple of area masters teams.  2008 will be her second year coaching at New Trier, and she will lead the JV team this season, and help with varsity as needed.

 

NT Water Polo Coaching Alumni:

Angela Burns (formerly Diciolla), Assistant Coach                          

    Angela helped coach varsity and was the lead JV coach for three years. She is now spending time as a mom when not a librarian at the Winnetka campus, but still helps run the table at home games. Angela was first introduced to water polo while a swimmer on the Shabbona Park Swim Club in Chicago. Throughout grammar school and high school, Angela participated in both intramural and women’s water polo teams. This gave her the chance to compete against many club and college teams, as well as in the Prairie State Games. Angela is a graduate of the University of Iowa, where she played water polo for one year on the university’s club team.

Angela is married to Barclay Burns, and they have one child and another on it's way.

Maggie Casteleyn (formerly George), now teaching & coaching at Libertyville H.S.  

    Coach Casteleyn was with New Trier Girls Water Polo for three years from 2001 to 2004. She is a graduate of Washington and Lee University where she did some work with the water polo program. Maggie swam for Coach Onstott in high school at Cy-Fair High School in Houston Texas. She was an assistant swimming coach at NT from 1997 to 2004. Maggie is married to Max Casteleyn and they recently had their first child.

Robin Gordon, Assistant Coach    

Robin coached the freshman team for two years at New Trier, the second while student teaching at the Northfield campus. Her love for Water Polo started here at New Trier as a four year team member. She has helped run the Intramural and Summer Fun water polo programs. Robin substitute taught at NT and worked at a local elementary school before student teaching, and is now teaching full-time at another area school. She hopes to get back into water polo coaching soon!

 

Brad Gregorka, Assistant V & JV CoachNTGWP logo

Brad graduated from the University of Michigan in 2005 with a degree in environmental science and an interest in urban and environmental planning. During his career at U of M, he helped lead his team to two Big Ten Titles and a National Championship. In addition to coaching other sports and reffing high school water polo in Michigan, he was an Assistant Coach (F, JV, and V) with the Ann Arbor Pioneer Girl's Water Polo Team in 2006. Brad worked for Tallgrass Restoration during the 2008 season, an environmental restoration company based out of Schaumburg, but is now working on his graduate degree at the University of Illinois. We hope to have him back in 2011 and maybe the summers in between. In his first year at New Trier, he was also an Assistant Coach with the boy's team.

 

Mike Leissner, Head Coach                                                          

    Coach Leissner served as the head coach of New Trier Girls Water Polo for 8 years from 2002-2009. He is a graduate of Indiana University where he learned to play water polo on their club team and was a swimming letterman for James "Doc" Counsilman. While a member of the water polo club, he was a four year starter, all-conference selection, team captain & MVP, and won a Big 10 championship. He also served as the clubs treasurer for two years and vice-president for one. Prior to attening IU, he graduated from Stevenson High School where he later returned to coach swimming and started the boy's and girl's water polo teams in 1990-91 (a swimmer & tennis player in high school). He was the head coach of both teams for six years. Starting with their second year, both teams qualified for the state tournament the next 5 years with the girls teams twice earning 4th place finishes. During that time, he had 27 players named ISA All-State and 26 NISCA All-Americans. In 1997 he coached the Mundelein High School boy's team to a 4th place finish at state. Returning to Stevenson again in 1997, he was the assistant girls water polo coach, while taking over as head coach for the girls swimming & diving team and the Patriot Aquatic Club (which he was a founding coach in 1992).

   Coach Leissner continues assisting both the girls and boys New Trier Swimming & Diving Teams as he has since the fall of 2000. During the day, he is the instructional assistant for Kinetic Wellness classes in the pool at both campuses (Winnetka 1st & 4th qtr with Sophomore Health, Northfield 2nd & 3rd qtr.with freshmen). He has also coached with the New Trier Swim Club in the summer and directed Summer Fun Water Polo at NT during his tenure as head coach. In all, he has been coaching for over 25 years, 19 at the high school level. He served the Illinois Swimming Association (ISA) as Secretary for water polo and member of the By-laws committee. He initiated the proposal for IHSA sanctioning of water polo and authored the original season guidelines. He is a life member of USWP, has been a Midwest Zone Camp staff coach and is semi-active in masters swimming & water polo- not that you could tell:).

Mike is married to Michelle and they have a son and daughter.

 

Diana Mayer (formerly Brown), Assistant Coach                                                         

Diana and her husband Jamie moved to Conneticut, and had two children in 2008, which has put her coaching and teaching career on hold. She taught special education at Northfield and is staying active teaching part-time at her local JCC. She played intramurals at Michigan State University as an undergraduate. She also coached girls swimming three years at NT, and has coached volleyball and club swimming.

 

Meredith Stevens, Assistant Coach                                         

    Meredith coached at New Trier in two tours or duty for two years each, the same place she started to play water polo. In fact, she is one of the founding members of the New Trier Girls Water Polo Team! She played with the boys team for two years before she persuaded Coach Goodspeed to start the girls team, "after she got like 400 girls to come out for the team" according to him. She played water polo and graduated from Bucknell University. She is currently teaching at North Shore Academy and still helps out here working the table at home games.

Anne Wolff, Assistant Coach                                              

    Anne is working at the YWCA and the Flying Fish Swim Team. She is also one of the founding members of the New Trier Girls Water Polo Team (see Meredith Stevens above)! She is a graduate of, and former player at the University of Kansas. Anne coached three years with the Trevians, serving as a volunteer her first year. She was most recently the lead coach for the freshman team in 2005 and also coached swimming. Anne has promised to stay in touch and come to help (or just hang out and check on the girls) as often as possible.