Meet The Coaches

As an LA native, Ms. Novak grew up in Agoura Hills playing Volleyball, Basketball and Softball for Agoura High. She received her BA in Communications and Psychology from San Diego State University and her Masters Degree in Athletic Administration/Sports Management from Indiana University Bloomington. Novak was a Division 1 college athlete competing on the Women’s Rowing team at SDSU. She also spent some time studying in Israel at Neve Yerushalyim in Har Nof.

The Majority of her career has been spent in both college and professional athletics. She worked at UCLA in Recruiting and Special Events for athletics and at Pepperdine as the Manager of Sales and Service for their athletic department. Following her time in College Athletics she spent 5 years working with the LA Clippers in Sales and Service where she created Jewish Heritage Night. The 49ers was her next stop working with a professional team and the Super Bowl before she came back down to LA to be the Manager of Premium Sales for LAFC. For over a decade she has held many positions with the JCC Maccabi games from being a basketball and soccer coach to the delegation head, which is the position she currently holds. Competing in the games herself is why she wants to help recreate her experience with the games. Novak is also an adjunct professor teaching online course in Sports Management for Indiana University. Additionally, she is a Sports Consultant for Camp Moshava Alevy in Running Springs. Her vision is to make sure any girl who wants to compete on an athletic sports team has a chance to do so at YULA Girls High School.

Coach Liran Zamir moved to Los Angeles from Jerusalem in 2019. Last season he was the assistant men’s volleyball coach at Santa Monica College and will be a part of the SMC coaching staff this year as well. Prior to moving to LA, Zamir coached in the small city of Nili, Israel. He was a coach for the U16 club teams (boys and girls) and led the youth program to national championship (U12, 4X4) for boys and girls in 2018-19 season.

Prior to that, Coach Zamir spent two years with the Hapoel Jerusalem Volleyball Club, coaching the boys U16 and U20 teams leading the U16 team to promote to top division. In addition, Liran has a few achievements with high schools teams in Jerusalem and Modi’in.

Coach Zamir played for the Hapoel Jerusalem men’s volleyball team in the premier league of Israel. He is also certified as a personal gym trainer, and in the middle of his M.A. in sports management at the University of Kansas.

I was born and raised in Jerusalem, and was a professional soccer player in the Women’s League and on Israel’s National Soccer Team. After suffering an injury I was forced to quit and decided to pursue my dreams as an actor and educator. I completed my national service as a counselor for homeless youth at risk in Tel Aviv, and then moved to the U.S to pursue my Bachelors in Theater at California Institute of the Arts. I am thrilled to join the YULA Girls family and to share my deep passion and love for soccer. As athletes we gain tools that will change our life, such as confidence building, team work, overcoming challenges, and developing a strong sense of self and responsibility. I build practices that focus on fitness, technique and strategy, using tools that simultaneously develop team building and healthy communication. My coaching technique is rooted in mutual respect. I believe that if a player enjoys their training, feels valued and respected, they will want to invest more in the sport and have a higher success rate. I am excited to build a powerful soccer team with YULA Girls, and to give each player the positive experience I believe every teenage athlete should have.

I grew up in Erie, PA but attended Evert Tennis Academy/Boca Raton Prep in Florida for high school. I played college tennis at Purdue University and was also a founding father of the Alpha Alpha Chapter of ZBT. Upon graduation in 2011, I worked for Babolat USA as a Marketing and Promotions Coordinator before getting into the coaching profession. From 2013-2019, I was a collegiate coach at Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, and most recently Duke University. While at Oklahoma State, we won back to back Big 12 Titles along with an NCAA Team Final and Elite 8 appearance. While at Duke University, we won an ACC Title and made back to back Final Fours. I was lucky enough to coach 9 All-Americans.

I also had two short stints on the pro tour with Alison Riske in 2016 (WTA top 25) and Shelby Rogers (WTA 50) from Dec. 2019 to March 2020.

I have been in love with the water since I was 4 years old, and I was a competitive swimmer for many years. I swam all the way through college, earning a scholarship to UCLA which afforded me many opportunities. I worked as a Senior Training Officer/Lifeguard for LA County for 17 years. I retired with a full captain status from the county to pursue additional avenues. Through my many mentors and former coaches, I learned I not only loved to compete in the water, but I had a true passion for educating others. I continued my education earning a Master’s in Adaptive Physical Education. After my time with the county, I finally retired and opened a swim school teaching the basics of water safety. This swim school is now known as Aquatic Safety Instruction, LLC founded in 1978. On an average we run 700 students of all ages through our instructional programs and over 1800 campers through our Aquatic Management partnership with local camps. Also, I speak at the United States Swim School Association on the subject of adult drowning prevention in addition to sitting on many cases in the capacity of an expert witness.