Our Coaches
Our coaches stress the importance of fundamentals, team basketball and having fun. Team practices are pre-planned, disciplined and organized, with a focus on skills work. We supplement our team practices with outside trainers and guest coaches. The Hurricanes strive to prepare girls to play and succeed at the high school level and beyond.
Michael Rivera
Founder
Head Coach-8th Grade Basketball
Head Coach-10U, 12U, 14U, 17U Flag Football
Coach Rivera founded the Virginia Hurricanes Girls Basketball Club in 2008. Mike has coached numerous Hurricanes basketball teams in local, regional and national tournaments. He has also coached girls teams for Arlington County Travel Basketball (Division 1). Mike has coached many other youth sports teams throughout Northern Virginia over the past 20 years, including flag football, baseball and softball. In 2015, Coach Rivera began coaching girls flag football teams in NFL Flag Football tournaments. Mike has become the most successful girls flag football coach in the country, winning an unprecedented five NFL Flag Football National Championships. Coach Rivera is dedicated to teaching skills, teamwork and sports IQ.
Katie Fudd
Head of Player Development
Katie came to the Hurricanes program with extensive coaching experience as she is the former Head Girls’ Basketball Coach at Potomac School in McLean, Virginia from 2003-2013. Katie is also the founder of Game-Time Skills basketball training program and the GTS Fusion program that competes in the exclusive Girls Under Armour Associate (GUUA) circuit. Over the years, Coach Katie has provided skills training to players from all levels including over 100 collegiate players and several professional basketball players. Coach Katie is a former 4th round draft pick of the Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA. She graduated from Georgetown University in 2001, where she finished her career with 2,027 points. She led the Big East in scoring for both the 1999 and 2000 seasons. Prior to transferring to Georgetown, she was ACC Rookie of the Year in 1996-1997 at North Carolina State University. She attended James Madison High School (Vienna, VA) in 1996. While at Madison, she set the all-time school scoring record (boys or girls) and a host of other school records, many of which she still holds. In both her junior and senior seasons, Madison finished runner-up in the Virginia Group AAA State Championships. In 2006, Katie was named the #18 all-time athlete, for all sports, in Northern Virginia history by the Connection Newspapers. In 2017, Katie was elected to the Virginia High School Hall of Fame.
John Kelly
Co-Head Coach - U17
John grew up with a basketball coach for a father and started playing when he could walk. John was the starting point guard on a nationally ranked high school team that won the NY state championship. John played basketball at the University of Rochester and went to two national championships (won one, lost one). John coached basketball for many years including at high school and college basketball camps, AAU, and high school in fall leagues. John’s goal is to help the players develop by focusing on their individual areas for improvement. Winning is nice, but it is more important that the girls play hard every game and practice, become better players, learn the game, strive to meet high standards, and enjoy the process.
Camryn Conklin
Co-Head Coach - U17
Camryn grew up playing travel basketball for SYA. She began her AAU journey in the 7th grade and played for the Vogues in her final seasons. She was a three-year Varsity basketball player for Centreville High School and a team captain/starter in her Junior and Senior years. Camryn graduated high school in 2017 and played Division I Soccer at Longwood University.
After college, she coached her first AAU team for the Hurricanes in the spring of 2023. This past winter, Camryn returned to her alma mater as an assistant coach for the JV program at Centreville High School.
John Lomas
Co-Head Coach - U15
John is in his 6th year as a head coach for the Hurricanes. He has 10+ years of experience coaching girls’ basketball in Arlington, including coaching players in 1st through 9th grades. John has also coached for Arlington Travel Basketball (ATB) in the Fairfax County Youth Basketball League (FCYBL). Coach John's 7th grade girls ATB team grade team finished the 2021-22 FCYBL season as undefeated regular season and playoff champions, and had over a 90% winning percentage playing against 8th grade AAU teams in several tournaments outside of the FCYBL. He previously was the head coach of an ATB 5th grade girls team that finished the 2019-2020 FCYBL season as the undefeated regular season champion and playoff runner-up, and before that, an assistant coach for an ATB 8th grade girls team that went 16-0 to win the regular season and playoff championship during the 2018-2019 FCYBL season.
Eighteen players from the class of 2027 that have played for Coach John on Virginia Hurricanes and/or Arlington Travel Basketball teams made their varsity high school teams as freshmen (Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Bishop O’Connell, Georgetown Visitation, Holton-Arms, George C. Marshall, Meridian, St. Andrews, Wakefield, Washington-Liberty, West Potomac, Yorktown).
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John's approach prioritizes developing basketball IQ and decision-making with fundamental skills.
Greg Rubio
Co-Head Coach - U15
Before moving to the area, Greg coached basketball for nearly 15 years at levels from middle school to varsity, including as head Freshman and Junior Varsity and Assistant Boys’ Varsity Coach at Bartlett High School (Tennessee) from 1993-2002. Throughout that period, he worked each summer as a director at Bartlett’s basketball camps, providing instruction to boys and girls from 2nd through 8th grades. In addition to basketball, Greg coached Track and Field at Bartlett for 12 years. Greg played high school basketball in Memphis, Tennessee and ran track in high school and at Rhodes College. Locally, Greg has coached rec and AAU youth teams in Arlington for the past seven years. He co-founded the Arlington Team Dream AAU program in 2013 and began coaching with the Hurricanes in 2016.
Curt Smith
Head Coach - 8th Grade
Curt is in his sixth year with the Hurricanes. He brings 10+ years of experience coaching girls’ basketball in Falls Church. Curt has coached girls teams ranging from grades 2 through 8.
Carly Rivera
Assistant Coach - 8th Grade
Carly is a recent graduate of Columbia University where she played point guard from 2019-2023 and was a member of the team that won the 2023 Ivy League Championship. Carly was a four-year Varsity player at St John's College High School and led St. John's to three consecutive WCAC Championships and was named to the WCAC All Conference First Team.
Maddy Decou
Assistant Coach - 8th Grade
Maddy is in her fifth year coaching with the Virginia Hurricanes at varying grade levels. Her experience as a collegiate basketball player at Marymount University from 2016-2018 has provided her with a solid foundation in the sport. Currently, Maddy holds the position of head varsity girls basketball coach at Washington-Liberty High School. Before assuming her current position at Washington-Liberty, Maddy demonstrated her love for coaching across the spectrum, from elementary school to high school levels. This diverse experience attests to her proficiency in honing players' abilities at every stage of their development.
Alex Eisenberg
Head Coach - 7th Grade
Alex is in his third year coaching with the Hurricanes. He has coached for 9 years with Arlington Travel Basketball where he was named the 2016-2017 FCYBL Coach of the Year for the 7th Grade Girls Division 1 and won two Girls Division 1 Championships. Currently, Alex also coaches the Yorktown High School Boys JV coach. His other experience includes coaching basketball at the Recreational, AAU, Travel and High School levels.
Sarah Northway Maria
Assistant Coach - 7th Grade
Sarah Northway Maria is a 1997 graduate of the University of Connecticut where she played basketball for Geno Auriemma and was a member of their 1995 35-0 National Championship team that reached two Final Fours. Her team was the inaugural inductee into UConn's Huskies of Honor program and she was a two time Big East Academic all-star selection. At Brainerd High School in Brainerd, Minnesota, Northway was a High School All American, two time All State and three time all conference selection as well as a 1,000 point scorer and a finalist for the Miss Minnesota Basketball award. After college, she earned her law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2001 and practiced corporate law in Washington, DC until deciding to stay home full time to raise her four children. She has over twelve years of experience coaching AAU, travel and rec basketball as well as individual skills training.
Kendra Ervin
Head Coach - 6th Grade
Kendra is in her fourth year coaching with the Hurricanes. She also has coached for three years with Arlington Travel Basketball, and she was named the 2022-23 FYCBL 5th Grade Division 1 Coach of the Year. She played collegiate basketball at Emory University. In addition to being a three-year letter winner contributing to Emory’s women’s basketball program as a point guard/shooting guard, Kendra was an All-American javelin thrower for the Emory track and field team. Kendra grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and played basketball for Norfolk Academy, where she was a three-time first team all-conference selection and a 1000+ point scorer. While in high school, Kendra played for the Boo Williams AAU team. Prior to attending law school, Kendra served as an assistant women’s basketball coach at Virginia Wesleyan College and also was the assistant JV coach at Norfolk Academy from 2002-2003. Kendra also has multiple seasons of experience coaching both girls and boys in recreational soccer and basketball.
Lizz Kauffman
Head Coach - 5th Grade
Lizz is in her third year as a head coach for the Hurricanes. A native of Philadelphia, she played basketball collegiately at the University of Richmond where she was a four-year letter winner and two-year team captain. Lizz spent her summers working at Strive/Sports Challenge Leadership Program and is a Positive Coaching Alliance certified coach. She has a B.A. in Leadership Studies from the University of Richmond and a Masters of Teaching from Virginia Commonwealth University. After graduating, Lizz became the head varsity basketball and volleyball coach at St. Catherine's School in Richmond, VA. She was an elementary school teacher for ten years before staying home to raise her three girls. In addition to her experience coaching high school varsity basketball, Lizz has coached a number of elementary and middle school aged girls sports teams, including three years as the head coach of a championship winning Arlington Travel Basketball team.