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.

After spending almost 6 years in the University of North Carolina at Pembroke athletics department, I am excited to join YULA Girls Volleyball! I had served 3 seasons as an assistant volleyball coach prior to transitioning into administration in 2015, where I oversaw 16 varsity teams as the Associate AD for NCAA Compliance and Senior Woman Administrator.

As a former member of the NCAA DII Claflin volleyball team, I hope to bring a wealth of volleyball knowledge to YULA having coached in various capacities for 13 years. I have served as the head volleyball coach at 3A Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, 3A Orangeburg Prep School, and was the assistant coach at 4A Century High School; having helped lead the Diamondbacks to a 4A Idaho State Championship in fall 2011. I have attended the USA Volleyball High Performance Coaches Clinic in Colorado Springs and was active in the USAV Girls’ High Performance Tryouts as both a Court Coach and Evaluator each year from 2009-2013.

Having my ACE Certified Personal Trainer certification, I hope to grow our student-athletes not only in the aspect of volleyball IQ, but additional aspects of nutrition, mobility, and strength. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing the overall growth in student-athletes from the start of the season through the end. I am a 2009 graduate of Claflin University, having earned a bachelor’s degree in sport management along with a minor in business administration. I earned a master’s of physical education with an emphasis in athletics administration from Idaho State University in 2011.

Have you ever believed in something so passionately that’s changed your life and ultimately your perspective on how you see the everyday details? Volleyball has done that for me. As I continued to compete throughout high school, winning 3rd place at the State Finals as a captain, I learned about self-discipline and work ethic, knowing results directly reflected my effort and diligence. During club season, as a captain my junior and senior year, we qualified for Nationals, earning 4th in the National Bracket both years. At Elmhurst College, my team went to the NCAA Division III Final Four, ranking #1 in the nation that season; these seasons forced me to come face to face with my biggest weakness, teaching me to creative problem-solve and pay close attention to the details. When playing at any level and at any age, volleyball can teach many lessons if you pay attention. I work to continue to foster an environment that allows my student-athletes to excel fundamentally but also inspire confidence, allowing the individuals to accomplish more than they thought they could.

Coach Demetrus McCray has 20+ years combined both of playing professional football and basketball as well as coaching in all age groups, including varsity high school, collegiate levels, internationally, semi, and professionally. He played defensive end for two different teams in the NFL practice league. Coach McCray led the East Texas Timber Rattlers, an arena-pro football team, to the first ever international championship game in Mexico. His long list of accomplishments include training and aiding the first American football player from Colombia to get signed to a professional football team in the US, launching the first ever ladies tackle football team in Colombia, aiding a school outreach program in Santiago, Chile, coaching the Honduras team to a winning football game against Guatemala in the 2018 Central America Bowl to just name a few. He is also the recipient of the Diamond Award from the Jamaican American Football league, the Excellence Award from the Italian Parliament during the American Football World Summit in Santiago, Chile, and recipient of the highest award of Honor from the Colombian Military for Mac Sports Football development in Cali, Colombia in November 2018.

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.

Olden Polynice was born and raised in Port au Prince Haiti. He later immigrated to New York city with his family. Entrepreneur and Humanitarian. Polynice is a former national Basketball Association (NBA) player who spent 15 years in the league. In 2005 Polynice started NextStar Basketball a company that coaches and trains High School, College and NBA players. His collaboration with the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund helped increase awareness and support for Haitian relief after the 2010 earthquake.After high school he decided to attend the University of Virginia where he led them to the 1984 Final Four in his freshman year as the starting center. He left school after his junior year to turn professional. He played 1 year in Italy and then was drafted in 1987 by the Chicago Bulls. He was later traded to the Seattle Sonics for Scottie Pippen.

Polynice says “hard work, dedication and attention to details” as well as his mantra of No Excuses, Just Results were keys to his success before, during and after basketball. He is looking forward to helping to turn around the YULA Girls program with Tyus!

I started playing when I was 14 years old and went to Los Angeles High School playing Varsity my senior year. I attended SMC and then received a basketball scholarship from Northwest Christian University in Eugene Oregon. After graduation, I had the opportunity to play in Essen Germany the summer of 2005. After my playing days, I still wanted to be around the sport, so I continued to play in the Venice Beach Basketball and Drew League. But I felt my passion wasn’t being met. My passion is deep with teaching the fundamentals of basketball, I have created. I have a concept that I would like to lead a team with. I want to stress the value footwork, fundamentals, and repetition to show what hard work and dedication to the detail will do for a team. I want our drills to be our offense so the game can be second nature. We participate in drills that are in game situations and fundamentally sound and drilled. Our Defense is what we pride our self in. I want to be able to educate basketball players on making the game as simple and fun as possible.

Hi! I am a Mom of 2 with a passion for swimming. I have been teaching swimming lessons for over 17 years and a coach for more than 13 years. I remember learning to swim and those moments are invaluable to me as an adult. I’ve swam competitively and I currently compete in Olympic distance triathlons. I’ve been a swim coach for many different teams- YMCA, USA age group teams, k-8 private club teams, and this is my 10th year coaching YULA. I have designed swim programs in different areas of the country and my swim school, Revolution Swim School, is a leading school in the L.A. area. I love swimming-I teach a lot of fear based students as I have a degree in psychology & use therapeutic techniques to overcome fears to swim safely & effectively through the water. I also love coaching. It brings me joy to see individuals working hard and smashing their goals.

I grew up playing soccer, but quickly became a multisport athlete. I also played basketball and competed in track and field. Running track is where I discovered my passion for running. I am a recent graduate of the University of San Francisco with Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and a Minor in Child and Youth Studies. While studying, I had the opportunity to intern with the national non-profit Girls on the Run where I trained pre-teen girls to perform a 5k in addition to administering a social-emotional curriculum. I also had the opportunity to assist with the track and field team at the University in conjunction with assisting the strength and conditioning staff with teams like tennis and cross country. I’ve always wanted to work with youth, especially if it’s being active. There is so much character development involved in sport, and specifically a lot of mental toughness that is gained in a sport like distance running. My goal is for these young ladies to have fun and become stronger as individuals as well as athletes.