KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Chris Snyder

Chris Snyder is the director of coaching and coach education for the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC). In his current role, Mr. Snyder and the coaching department support the USOPC by working in coach education, coaching development and coach recognition for all Olympic and Pan-American Sports, as well as working as an advisor for US Paralympic sport on coaching. The coaching department has created various resources that aid the National Governing Bodies of sport from a mobile application system for sharing coaching resources, to a formal long term athlete development system called the American Development Model (ADM). The coaching department also operates all high-performance coaching programs for Team USA to grow the level of quality coaching by national team level coaches. Mr. Snyder also represents the USOPC in a leadership role with project play 2020, where the USOPC is helping to impact the U.S. through youth coaching and ADM programming that can grow great coaching in America.

Previously, Mr. Snyder served as the manager of coaching education and training for U.S. Lacrosse in Baltimore, Maryland. He has also coached competitive sports for over 18 years at the collegiate, high school and competitive club levels.

FEATURED SPEAKERS & PRESENTERS

Libby Cravens

Libby is an ultimate player, coach and organizer who was a long-time member of the ultimate community in Austin, Texas, prior to relocating to the Northeast. She was one of only a handful of girls playing in Texas as a high schooler in the mid-2000s before playing with the talented players of Texas Melee in college/graduate school. More recently, she has joined the masters division, coached/played club mixed and continued coaching in the YCC U-20 girls' division out of Philadelphia. She has enjoyed coaching and organizing across all levels, but is most passionate about her role as a girls’ outreach coordinator for the Girls’ Ultimate Movement. She feels that investing time and energy in creating opportunities and spaces for girls and womxn to play more ultimate is extremely valuable.

Off the field, Libby is a pediatric speech-language pathologist who works as the team lead for a deaf/hard of hearing child study team and lives with her partner/teammate, Michael, in New Jersey.

Michelle Ng

Michelle is the co-founder of Without Limits, an organization dedicated to fostering relationships within the women's ultimate community and promoting and furthering the growth and development of the women's division. Over the past decade, Michelle has organized 100+ tournaments and clinics across North America and has mentored dozens of college players.

In addition to her work with Without Limits, Michelle worked for one year as the manager of competition and athlete programs (college) for USA Ultimate and for over five years as a strategic sales and partnership manager for VC Ultimate. On the field, she has been fortunate enough to qualify for the College Championships, National Championships, and World Ultimate Club Championships multiple times and has captained nine different seasons across five different teams. Michelle currently works as a program manager for a large tech company and continues to remain deeply involved with Without Limits.

Berend Van Heuvelen (BVH)

Ben is a decorated ultimate player, national team coach and organizer on the board of Disc New York. Van Heuvelen will fulfill his seventh coaching appointment and his first as head coach of a World Ultimate and Guts Championship (WUGC) team at the upcoming 2020 event in the Netherlands. In 2016, Van Heuvelen served as an assistant coach for the U.S. National Team at WUGC, helping lead the men’s squad to a gold medal. He also coached the U-20 National Team to five consecutive world titles in the men’s division of the World Junior Ultimate Championships, first as an assistant in 2004 and 2006, and then as a head coach in 2008, 2010 and 2012. In 2018, Van Heuvelen led his New York-based club team, PoNY, to its first national title. BVH is also a two-time world champion as an athlete on both ends of the age spectrum: as a member of the U-20 National Team in 1998, and as a member of the masters men’s team at the 2017 World Championships of Beach Ultimate.

Ben is the editor-in-chief of an independent news organization called Iraq Oil Report, along with being a partial owner and board member.  Prior to journalism, he was a high school teacher and co-commissioner of a 20+ team high school league in Washington, DC.

Kelsey Wentling

Kelsey works as a River Steward at the Connecticut River Conservancy, a watershed nonprofit located in Western Massachusetts. In this role, she advocates on behalf of the river and all of its inhabitants to protect and preserve our natural resources, while engaging communities in citizen science projects. She helps to organize a watershed-wide 'Source to Sea' cleanup, coordinating over 3,500 volunteers to remove waste from the river and its tributaries, while using the event to advocate for legislative reform to trash policy. She has an M.S. in Environmental Conservation and has worked in outdoor education, nonprofit outreach, and analyzed the impacts of cannabis cultivation on greenhouse gas emissions.

Kelsey organizes a women's team (PLOW) out of Western MA and sits on the board of Valley Ultimate. She spends her free time running the valley's ridge lines and trails, and she is excited to explore how the Ultimate community can act as leaders in sustainability through waste and carbon reduction practices.

Tim Morrill

Tim is the co-founder of Morrill Performance, the Ocean City Beach Classic & the USA Ultimate 2 x Beach Champions - Humiliswag. After finishing his Masters in Exercise Science (UNI) and completing 3 years as a university strength coach, Tim founded Morrill Performance in 2011 as a platform for the pursuit of developing athletes to the fullest of their potential. MP has facilitated over 100 workshops in over 22 countries world wide. Tim has a diverse resume having worked as a Division 3 strength coach at Salisbury University (2008), a Division 1 strength coach at the University of Northern Iowa (2009 – 2010), the Men’s Health # 1 Gym in America Mike Boyle Strength & Conditioning in Boston, MA (2011-2013) and at the National Strength & Conditioning Association (2010). Since his inception of MP Tim has focused the majority of his efforts on training ultimate frisbee players. He has presented at national conferences for both the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and USA Ultimate. 

Erica Baruch

Erica Baurch is the founder of Erica Baurch Consulting. USA Ultimate has been working closely with Erica since 2019 to implement

diversity, equity and inclusion strategies. 

Eboni Preston-Laurent

Eboni Preston-Laurent is the Senior Manager, Diversity & Inclusion Director at US Lacrosse. We are excited to have Eboni share her experience with D&I Implementation with a National Governing Body and a growing sport. 

Mariejo (MJ) Truex

MJ is the Senior Direcot of Education, Programs and Services at USA Swimming. MJ's work at USA Swimming has been successful in creating more diversity and inclusion and we are excited to have her join the EDI panel.