SCVC COACHES
Darren Causon,
Head Coach 18U
18U: DARREN CAUSON
Darren is from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He played varsity volleyball at the University of Manitoba, and was a member of the 1994 CIAU (now U Sports) Silver Medal winning team. He started his coaching career as an assistant for the U of M women’s team, coached junior high and high school teams in Manitoba and BC, coached many provincial men’s teams, and was an assistant coach with Team Manitoba who won a Bronze Medal at the 2001 Canada Summer Games.
Darren moved to the Coast five years ago, and is currently teaching Physical Education at Kinnikinnick Elementary. For the past 5 years, he has coached the Senior Girls’ team at Chatelech Secondary. He also coaches elementary aged volleyball, basketball and Ultimate at Kinnikinnick.
Since 2017, Darren has coached with SCVC at the 16U, 17U and 18U age groups.
In his spare time, he enjoys camping, mountain biking, golf (lots of golf) and playing old timer hockey with the Relics!
In 2021, Darren took over as Club Director of the Sunshine Coast Volleyball Club.
CERTIFICATION:
Certified Level 3 Volleyball, National Coaching Certification Program
Certified Advanced Development Coach, National Coaching Certification Program
Kiran Janapala,
Assistant Coach 18U
18U: KIRAN JANAPALA
Kiran Janapala is from India and moved to Sunshine Coast in June 2016 as a part of employment in Howe Sound Pulp and Paper in Gibsons working as Electrical & Instrumentation Maintenance planner.
He played in the High School National Volleyball Championship as a setter & outside hitter ended with a silver medal. He continued playing volleyball up until the University level which resulted in a bronze medal.
Upon his arrival on Sunshine Coast, he joined volleyball drop-ins in Gibsons and participated in the recreation club tournaments in Richmond Oval.
In the year 2022, he joined SCVC and volunteered as assistant coach for the 2022 U18 team. In March 2023, he became a certified coach for the SCVC Club and continued as an assistant coach for the 2023 U18 team and ended with silver medal in the Provincial Championship 2023 held at Richmond Oval.
He is passionate about volleyball, as a further step in 2023 he became the Certified Volleyball BC (VBC) Referee.
Apart from Coaching, he runs Gibsons drop-in volleyball. Kiran was a professional Badminton Player back in India ended in playing at the University level. He continues to play badminton and also plays cricket during the summer.
Certifications include:
National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) certification in 2023
Level 1 (Local) VBC Referee Certification in 2023
In Training for Level 2 (Provincial) Certification
Sara Schutz,
Head Coach 16U
16U: SARA SCHUTZ
Sara grew up in California playing volleyball both indoor and on the beach, throughout high school, club teams, and college. Moving to the Coast in 1993, she raised 3 children involved in sports both on and off the coast. She started her volunteer coaching career in 1995, and has been coaching multiple sports ever since.
Besides being involved with youth on the Coast Sara’s passions are mountain biking, gardening, music and anything in nature.
Mark Villanueva,
Assistant Coach 16U
16U: MARK VILLANUEVA
Mark Villanueva was born in Ontario, and grew up in the Greater Toronto Area until moving to the Sunshine Coast in 2018. In Ontario, Mark received his Physical Education and Biology undergraduate degree at Brock University, where he was employed as the University’s volleyball intramural convener. Mark received his teaching degree at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia, and has taught a middle-school program at the Sunshine Coast Alternative School since 2019.
Mark has been involved in volleyball since a young age, and has played on both indoor and beach teams throughout elementary school, high school, university, and adulthood. He played “middle” for most of these teams, but has experience setting and hitting outside. His most recent volleyball experiences are playing local weekly drop-in and co-coaching Chatelech’s U16 girls’ team. Because of his passion for sport and working with kids, he is currently working towards getting full volleyball coaching certification.
Mark loves playing and teaching many different sports including ice hockey, ultimate frisbee, basketball, baseball and more. He roots for the Toronto Toronto Raptors, Blue Jays, and Maple Leafs!
Jeannine Fitzsimmons,
Head Coach 15U
15U: JEANNINE FITZSIMMONS
Jeannine is from Alberta and moved to the Sunshine Coast in 1994. She played volleyball in high school and College. Started coaching in 2013 when her one of five daughters started to play for the Sunshine Coast Volleyball Club .
Being self employed with a small business of 35 years has allowed her flexibility to be able to volunteer to coach many elementary, high school and club volleyball teams. She has taken her players to playoffs and provincial competitions for Indoor and beach volleyball. She has always enjoyed working with youth to achieve a future in volleyball and to continue to hone their skills for competition.
Certifications for Volleyball include:
Certified Development coach 2013
In Training Advanced Development for Indoor and Beach volleyball since 2017
InTraining Performance coach 2017
Jeannine or Jan Fitzy , Momma J , will answer to any of those . Loves riding her dirt bike on the mountain and spending time with family .
Emily Arsenault,
Head Coach 14U
14U: EMILY ARSENAULT
Emily grew up on the Sunshine Coast. She started playing volleyball at West Sechelt Elementary and played as a SCVC athlete for 5 years.
Some notable memories from her athletic career were playing for SCVC’s U14 team that was ranked 1st in the province after the regular season, and being named to the NSSSA’s All Stars List in her senior year of high school volleyball.
Emily is a multi-sport athlete and moved on to play Ultimate for the Carleton University Women’s (U Sports) team in college.
Emily began her coaching journey in 2011 and has coached at the elementary, high school and club levels for various teams over the years, including 6 years coaching with SCVC. Emily obtained her NCCP Certification in 2017.
After some time away in Ottawa completing her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience, she is back on the coast and excited to take on the U14 team this year.
Emily is passionate about mental health and holistic athlete development and looks forward to bringing this perspective to her teams!
Dylan Chow,
Assistant Coach 14U
14U: DYLAN CHOW
Dylan grew up in Vancouver where he played volleyball for 5 years at Vancouver Technical Secondary as a libero, and competitively for Apex Volleyball Club. Dylan was an assistant coach for girls (U14-U18) ice hockey for 3 years beginning in 2011.
In 2016, Dylan moved to Sechelt to join the fire department and has been a member ever since. A large contribution of his time in the fire service is dedicated to instructing and recruit-firefighter development. Between 2018 and 2019, he completed 2 Half Ironman Races and 1 full Ironman race which placed him 6th in Canada.
Dylan maintains an active lifestyle and enjoys many sports but is looking forward to returning to coaching.