The Athletic Department is excited to announce new coaches and coaching changes for the winter sports season. Tim McVaugh will assume the role of head coach for the boys varsity hockey team. Tim will be joined on the bench by assistant coach, Jan Flaska. Both the boys and girls varsity hockey teams will be supported by assistant coach, John Abraham. On the slopes, Emma Coffin will assume the role of head coach for the girls ski team. Emma will work alongside long time ski coach, Marc Dancer who will work primarily with the boys team. Sean Clark will assist head coach, Mark Spencer and the boys varsity swimming & diving team and the wrestling team will be joined by assistant coach, Edrik Lopez.
“This winter our programs already have excellent leadership. Adding these new members into the mix will be great for our programs and student athletes,” commented Athletic Director Bob Howe. “I’m excited to experience a winter season at Deerfield and to watch our coaches in action with their teams.”
Head Coach, Boys Varsity Hockey – Tim McVaugh
Tim will take on the role of head coach for the boys varsity hockey team after serving as an assistant coach for the team for the past 8 years. Tim graduated from Bowdoin College in 2007, where he majored in American History and played ice hockey. Voted MVP by his teammates, Tim was also elected team captain for his final season. Off the ice at Bowdoin, Tim worked for the college as assistant sports information director and did his best to explore the Maine coast. After graduating, Tim played professionally in Germany for one season, helping his squad win the league championship.
Assistant Coach, Boys and Girls Varsity Hockey – John Abraham
John is a native of Montreal, QC. He has been studying and working in the New England region for the past 6 years. John spent his junior and senior years of high school at the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, CT where he captained the soccer, hockey and track teams during his senior year. While at Loomis John’s advisor was current Deerfield Athletic Director Bob Howe.
After graduating, a first generation college student, John moved on to Dartmouth College where he majored in History. At Dartmouth John served as a junior captain of the track team and was also a member of the rugby team, and was a member of the Student-Athlete advisory committee. He spent part of his junior year of college playing rugby for the Canadian Maples Leafs development team in Argentina and Chile.
At Deerfield, John is an assistant coach for the boys soccer, both the boys and girls hockey and track teams. In addition to his coaching responsibilities, John will serve as an athletic inter in the Athletic Department.
Assistant Coach, Boys Varsity Hockey – Jan Flaska
Jan is an assistant coach for the boys’ ice hockey and lacrosse teams at Deerfield Academy. Currently, he is also the head coach of the Slovak National Lacrosse team and a former captain, and he is the Director of Coaching for Franklin County Football Club (FCFC), a soccer club based at Deerfield Academy. He has coached soccer at the University of Chicago, women’s ice hockey at Harvard University, and lacrosse at Boston University and the University of Chicago. A 1996 graduate of Bowdoin College, Jan contributed to the soccer, hockey, and lacrosse teams there, and served as captain three seasons.
Co-Head Coach, Alpine Skiing – Emma Coffin
In her 2nd year at Deerfield, Emma will take on co-head coaching responsibilities of the alpine ski team after serving as an assistant coach for the team last year. A cum laude Smith College graduate, Emma majored in Chemistry and minored in Exercise and Sports Studies. She was a four-year member of the soccer and ski teams, and captain of the ski team. In her time at Smith, she earned All American honors and Academic All American honors and was the freshman, sophomore and junior Athlete of the Year.
Assistant Coach, Boys Varsity Swimming & Diving – Sean Clark
Sean enters his 1st season as Assistant Coach for the varsity boys swim team. He spent last season coaching Amherst High School swim team to 170 lifetime best records. Prior to that, he was the head coach at Binghamton University. During eight years there, team members registered 1600 personal bests, 24 different athletes established new school records, and Binghamton sent the first male swimmer in school and conference history to the NCAA Division I Championships.
For four years, Sean served as the America East Coaches’ Chair for Swimming & Diving. On three occasions, he and his assistants were recognized as the conference’s Coaching Staff of the Year. His squads balanced athletic accomplishments with academic success, usually receiving Scholar All-America Team awards.
Sean fell in love with the sport at a young age in Central Pennsylvania. He competed at YMCA and high school State meets, and the YMCA National Championships. In college at UMass-Amherst, he twice earned the Minuteman Award for hard work and dedication. He was elected captain, and finished his career as a school record holder on three relays. He completed his B.S. in biochemistry.
Assistant Coach, Co-ed Varsity Wrestling – Edrik Lopez
Dr. Lopez grew up playing baseball in Puerto Rico and Florida. He played high school baseball as a catcher. While pursuing his doctorate at the University of California at Berkeley, he played in San Francisco’s Adult Hardball League. Moreover, while finishing his dissertation at Columbia University, he played in New York City’s Men’s Adult Baseball League. During this time, he also coached baseball youth leagues. In essence, Dr. Lopez has never not played ball.
In 2006, Dr. Lopez began grappling, training in the martial art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Jiu-jitsu mixes wrestling, judo, and ground grappling techniques to submit an opponent and winning a match by getting them to “tap out.” Dr. Lopez received his black belt from America Top Team mixed martial arts after ten years of continuous training. He has been teaching jiu-jitsu for the past four years.