ARES Coaching Team
Experienced coaches with a focus on fun, education and personal excellence.
Darragh O'Malley
Coach & Fencing Technical Lead
UIPM Level 3 Pentathlon Coach, NCCP Fencing & Swimming Coach.
Athletic Career Highlights:
Junior Worlds, Senior Worlds, and FISU Games Teams.
Fencing National & North American Cup tournament champion.
What I love about coaching: Seeing the athletes grow and mature not only as athletes, but at individuals is very rewarding. Seeing the athletes come to training with a smile on their face, train hard, and leave with a smile on their face makes me glad to be a coach.
Elizabeth Rodriguez
Coach
NCCP Fencing Coach.
Athletic Career Highlights:
Russian National Team (2011 - 2015).
UIPM U19 World Championship - 4th (2012).
UIPM U19 World Championships - Gold (2012).
What I love about coaching: Coaching is a great opportunity to share my experience with the next generation. It is a joy to work with athletes who have passion to develop their skills. I like to be a mentor and help athletes grow not only in their sports career, but also as individuals.
Gina Konshcuh
Wheelchair Fencing Lead Coach
Joel Riker-Fox
Coach
Wheelchair Fencing Specialist
Athletic Career Highlights:
Can AM
Nationals
What I love about coaching:
UIPM Level 1 Pentathlon Coach. NCCP Trained Coach.
Athletic Career Highlights:
Pan American Games (2019).
UIPM Pentathlon & Laser-Run World Championships (2019).
What I love about coaching: I love having the opportunity to help promote an active lifestyle. Working with youth can be so rewarding when you see athletes improve while having fun.
Joshua Riker-Fox
Sport Manager and Coach
ο»ΏLoreto Gajardo
Coach
UIPM Level 3 Pentathlon Coach, NCCP Fencing & Swimming Coach
Athletic Career highlights:
Pan American Games medalist (2007) & Olympian (2008).
UIPM World Cup relay medalist, w/ Melanie McCann (2015).
What I love about coaching: Seeing athletes commit to goals and strive to reach them. I enjoy seeing how the values of sport develop one's character, build confidence and shape athletes into great people.
UIPM Level 1 Pentathlon Coach. NCCP Trained Coach.
Athletic Career Highlights:
Pan American Games (2015).
UIPM Junior World Championships (2015).
What I love about coaching: I love being able to motivate and inspire youth athletes to achieve goals, encouraging them to attempt new things, and develop new skills. I very much find pleasure witnessing their enjoyment with sport, life and getting better every practice.
Olivia Li
Coach
Rosario Gajardo
Coach
UIPM Level 1 Pentathlon Coach, NCCP Fencing Coach
Athletic Career highlights:
Pan American Games (2023)
Junior Pan American Games (2021)
What I love about coaching: TBD
UIPM Level 2 Pentathlon Coach. NCCP Trained Coach.
Athletic Career Highlights:
UIPM Youth World Championships (2014).
UIPM Junior World Championships (2015).
What I love about coaching: I love motivating the athletes to give their best effort in each practice and each competition. It is very satisfying to see how happy they are when they achieve their goals. Knowing that I was part of that process fills my heart with joy.
Riley Norman
Coach
Surina Elidrissi
Coach
NCCP Fencing Coach.
Athletic Career Highlights:
National Fencing Circuit podium results in all categories U15 and up.
Represented Canada from age 14-21.
What I love about coaching: I enjoy helping students reach their full potential by developing their skills and abilities. Seeing their growth translate into competitive success is deeply motivating for me.
UIPM Level 1 Pentathlon Coach. NCCP Trained Coach.
What I love about coaching: I love the opportunity coaching brings to experience Fencing through new eyes. Watching athletes move through the stages of learning to come to their own understanding and successfully master a skill is so rewarding, and perfectly exemplifies the diverse nature of the sport!
Connor Chow
JR Coach
Quinn Schulz
JR Coach
UIPM Level 1 Coaching Certification.
Athletic Career Highlights:
UIPM JR Worlds Finalist.
Fencing Nationals SR Epee Top 16.
What I love about coaching: I enjoy coaching because I have the opportunity to teach new athletes skills and techniques, as well as build their confidence and help them reach their goals. Coaching has allowed me to share my own insights, to help others in reaching their full potential.
UIPM Level 1 Pentathlon Coach, LSI Swim Instructor Certification, NCCP Trained Coach.
Athletic Career Highlights:
Pan American Games Finalist.
UIPM U19 World Championships - 9th.
What I love about coaching: Coaching is an rewarding experience for me as I have the opportunity to introduce to, and guide amazing kids through the sport I love. The challenge of re-framing and communicating skills into actionable steps that can be implemented by the athletes is something I really enjoy.
