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NAVC U17 Griffins Coaching Staff

Head Coach - Trent Schmidt

Trent graduated from Notre Dame High School in Red Deer and went on to play 3 years as a Red Deer College Kings with two ACAC silver medals. He also achieved two 5th placements at Nationals during the first two years (2010-12), and ACAC gold and CCAA silver in his third year as captain of the team (2013). Trent also coached club in Red Deer as an assistant for U13/U14 in his first year, U15 in his second year and head coached U17 in his third year of coaching. Last year he was the head coach for our NAVC U18 Green Bears.  Trent's expectation of this season is to build upon the great success the team has had at the provincial and national tournaments, in previous years as well as to achieve great individual improvement to provide the opportunity to all players that want to move on to the post-secondary level.

Assistant Coach - Travis Czainski

Travis graduated from Hunting Hills High school in Red Deer and continued on to play three years as a setter for the Red Deer College Kings. During his first two years as a king, they won two ACAC silver medals in Provincials, but took disappointing losses in  Nationals quarter finals one year and in the semi final the next years. In his third year, they won the ACAC Provincial Gold and went on to achieve a CCAA national silver.  He is now currently playing in the CIS for the MacEwan University Griffins.  While playing in Red Deer, Travis was an assistant coach for Hunting Hills and for the Central Alberta Kings for two years. This will be Travis' third season coaching with NAVC and he is very much looking forward to coaching the U17 Griffins team.

Assistant Coach - Chris Buffi

This will be Chris's 6th year of coaching and 5th with NAVC. Through out his coaching years, Chris has always strived for the best in his teams. He believes in incorporating the LTAD into his coaching philosophy as well as transferring it into his practices and teams. Chris is currently a physical education teacher at Strathcona high school in Edmonton where he has coached the junior boy’s team for the past three years. As a Physical education teacher being active is a major priority in his life. This stemmed from his years at the University of Alberta as part of the Track and Field team. It also allowed him to learn many ways to stay physical fit and to train to become the best athlete as possible. He passes this knowledge  onto all of his teams that he has coached over the years. Volleyball is a passion that has stayed with Chris since he began playing it in junior high and still to this day in men’s league. Chris is looking forward to this year and a new beginning with the NAVC U17 Griffins.

Assistant Coach - Kirsten Sorensen

This is Kirsten's first season coaching with NAVC.  Kirsten attended Notre Dame High School in Red Deer and was a member of the Team Alberta program during her club years.  She played 3 years at Red Deer College winning 2 ACAC bronze medals and played her final 2 years of eligibility in the CIS conference with Memorial University while completing her Kinesiology degree.  Kirsten was also named to first and second all star teams along with Academic All Canadian four of the 5 years she played.

Kirsten has been previously involved with the RDC Queens Club volleyball program as a head coach for U13, U14 & U15 women's team as well as an assistant coach for the U14, U17 & U18 women's teams.  During the summers, Kirsten also coached summer volleyball camps and elite performance clinics for the past five years. Kirsten also coached a high school boys team in St. John's, and was an assistant coach with the Harry Ainlay Jr. Girls team this past fall. She is a competitive individual with a strong passion for coaching. She is looking forward to developing players skills, confidence, and knowledge of the game. 


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