Year-round Mentor Coaches

Sarah VanWagenen started playing ultimate in 2006 in Los Angeles, CA.  Taking naturally to the game, she was invited to play on the reigning champion team in the Los Angeles Ultimate League after only one hat league season.  She has since played for the LA based competitive mixed club teams Metro and 7 Figures, both of whom went to the USA National Club Championships.  She was awarded the Best Female Player in Los Angeles in 2008.  Most recently, she played for the United States Mixed Masters National Team at the World Championship of Beach Ultimate in Italy, winning a silver medal.  A fiercely competitive athlete, she is also wholly committed to ultimate’s Spirit of the Game and is thrilled to be bringing her love of the game to the youth of Israel and Palestine.

Hometown: Tel Aviv, Israel

How long you have been playing frisbee: I’ve been playing Ultimate for 8 years.

With what community you work: Daburia, Kfar Tavor, Buena Nujidat, Tuba Zangaria

Brief history of playing experience: Playing ultimate since 2003. Have been playing in different club teams around Israel along the years, and some competitive ultimate in the States. In 2011 became a coach for the Israeli national youth teams and flew as a coach to EYUC 2011 in Poland. That same year also flew along with the Israeli open team to the European Championship (EUC’11) in Maribor, Slovenia.

Has been producing and organizing Ultimate events in Israel. A Flow board member (Israeli Flying Disc Association).

Jez has been playing Ultimate since 1994. Inspired by the handout of free mini-frisbees at a promotional night at the student union, he became a founder member of Sheffield University ‘Phat’Eds’. After playing with London’s ‘Violently Happy’ he moved to Israel in 2002, and helped to establish Haifa’s ‘Hucking Crazy’. Jez currently plays (albeit slowly and poorly) with ‘The Basic Joy of Play’, a team built to exemplify love of the sport and ‘spirit of the game’.

Jez has been involved in Ultimate Peace since 2009. He was a part of the initial UP ‘roadshow’ coaching team that traveled the country spreading their love for the game, and he was a coach at both 2010 and 2011 UP Summer Camps. He is currently leading the coaching team of the ongoing program in the Jerusalem region.

On arriving in Israel, Jez established a non-profit organisation to work to improve educational achievement in socio-economically deprived regions of the country, and encouraging Arab-Jewish dialogue.

Jez grew up in Manchester, England. He currently lives in Tel Aviv, and works as a professional Israel tour guide.

 

 

 

 

Elana Cohen

 Elana was happy and humbled to work at the 2010 and 2011 Ultimate Peace camps.  Fresh after graduating from NYU in 2010, where she spent years on the women’s team the Violet Femmes, Elana moved to Israel and has been there more or less since.  She loves working with the kids and thinking about the finer points of Ultimate.  When she can take time out of her busy schedule, Elana assists the on-going Camp UP program and loves keeping up with the kids and their communities.  Playing frisbee all year is pretty sweet, too!

 Hailing from Seattle, Washington, Avi was super excited to be involved with Ultimate Peace camp in 2011!  Upon just graduating from Carleton College, Avi moved to Israel for a year to study Ulpan and take other classes at Tel-Aviv University.  Already being in the area and having frisbee experience from Carleton, as well as having a passion for working with kids and spreading peace, Camp UP was a perfect experience for Avi.  He loved being at Camp and is excited to see where it’s heading.  Avi is helping out throughout the year with other mentor coaches as his schedule permits.

Hometown: Raanana, Israel

How long you have been playing frisbee: I’ve been playing frisbee for 8 years.

With what community you work: Raanana?

Brief history of playing experience: I played for Israel in WJUC 2006 (junior worlds), EUC 2007 (junior European), EYUC 2011 (junior European) and EUC 2011 (open European).

I have been coaching ultimate for 3 years.

Hometown: Haifa, Israel

Playing Frisbee for 7 years

Working with Tamra and Arabe.

Started playing back in 2005, played with team Israel Juniors at worlds 2006 (WJUC), European championships 2007 (EUC), coached Team Israel Juniors at European Championships 2011 (EYUC) and played with Team Israel in the 2011 European Club Championships – open division (EUC).

Name: Rebecca Polivy
Hometown: Bloomfield, CT
Town of Residence: Jerusalem

Bio coming soon.

I’m from Boston, MA

I’ve been playing since 1998

I work with Ein Rafa, Beit Zahur, and Jericho

Played in college at JHU, summer league in Boston since 1998, various club teams from Baltimore and Boston (Medicine Men, New Noise, Quiet Coyote)