MEET OUR COACHES
MICHAEL RIVERA
Founder
Head Coach - 5th Grade
Coach Rivera is founder of the Virginia Hurricanes AAU Girls Basketball Club. Michael coached the 10U Hurricanes team that finished in 6th place at the AAU National Championship Tournament (Division II) in Orlando Florida in August 2010. Coach Rivera coached several other Hurricanes teams that competed in AAU District Qualifying Tournaments and AAU National Championship Tournaments. From 2012 to 2015, Michael coached Division I Arlington Girls Travel teams competing in the Fairfax County Youth Basketball League. Michael has coached numerous youth sports teams throughout the Northern Virginia area over the past 15 years, including basketball, flag football, baseball and softball. Coach Rivera is dedicated to teaching basketball skills and fundamentals.
KATIE FUDD
Head of Player Development
High School
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. 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.
LIZ ALTMAIER
Head Coach - High School
Coach Altmaier is the head JV girls’ basketball coach at Marshall High School and was the assistant JV girls’ basketball coach at McLean from 2015-2017. She previously coached McLean Select girls’ basketball in the Fairfax County Youth Basketball League, and has been coaching skills camps since age 15. Coach Altmaier played Division I varsity basketball at Harvard University. During her time at Harvard, her team won two Ivy League championships and made one March Madness appearance. Before Harvard, Liz was a three year starter at Pinewood High School in California, winning two state championships, two Northern California titles, four section titles, and four league championships. Liz was named to the division All-State, all-section, and all-league teams.
GREG RUBIO
Head Coach - High School
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 three years ago, and began coaching with the Hurricanes in 2016.
BRIAN BURKE
Head Coach - 8th Grade
Brian grew up in the Northern Virginia area and started on his high school team, which went undefeated in its district and won the regional championship before finishing its season in the quarterfinals of the VA State Tournament. He also played on a NOVA AAU team. In college, he played one year on the junior varsity team at James Madison University. He has served as a shooting instructor at multiple basketball camps for both boys and girls, and he coaches a CYO team in Arlington County.
LEAH HURST
Head Coach - 7th Grade
Leah is a currently an assistant coach for the women's basketball team at Marymount University and this will be her second year with the Hurricanes. She graduated from Marymount University in 2018 where she was the starting point guard from 2014-2018. During her senior year she won the Capital Athletic Conference Championship where she was also named CAC Player of The Year, D3hoops.com First Team All-Region, VaSID First-Team All-State and team MVP. Throughout her college career she had 3 NCAA appearances reaching as far as the Sweet 16, was a 2-time First Team All-Conference player, lead her conference in assists during her junior and senior season, is a 1000+ point scorer and had 500+ career assists. Prior to college she played 5 sports throughout her high school career at St. Mary’s Annapolis where she won the women’s basketball IAAM B conference championship.
MAKENZIE FANCHER
Assistant Coach - 5th Grade
Originally from southern Pennsylvania, Makenzie joined the Virginia Hurricanes program in summer of 2019. She brings over five years of coaching experience from her time with the York Thunder (PA) AAU program, where she was an assistant coach alongside her dad and brother. Makenzie also played four years of Division III college basketball as a combo point guard/shooting guard at Christopher Newport University from 2014-2018. Throughout her college career, CNU clinched the Capital Athletic Conference championship in 2017 and made 3 NCAA tournament appearances, including two Sweet Sixteen runs and one Final Four in 2017. Makenzie earned VaSID Second Team All-State and CAC First Team All-Conference honors her senior year, and was nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year award in the same year. She also received CAC Second Team All-Conference honors her sophomore and junior years.
CHRIS WERTZLER
Head Coach - 6th Grade
Chris joined the Hurricanes program in 2018. Growing up in the capital of the Big Blue Nation, Lexington, KY, he played multiple competitive sports, including two years of college basketball. More recently, he has had many successful years of coaching youth sports, including coaching alongside fellow Hurricanes coaches Greg Rubio, Mike Burns, and Rod Volz.
JOHN LOMAS
Head Coach - 6th Grade
John has been involved with the Hurricanes for 4 years, and is in his 2nd year as a Hurricanes coach. John has 8 years of experience coaching girls’ basketball in Arlington, including coaching players in 1st through 8th grades. John is also a coach with Arlington Travel Basketball in the Fairfax County Youth Basketball League, and currently coaches a 5th grade ATB team. He previously was an assistant coach for an 8th grade ATB team that finished undefeated during the 2018-2019 FCYBL regular season and playoffs. John has also coached girls flag football in the Arlington NFL Youth Flag Football League.
CURT SMITH
Head Coach - 5th Grade
Curt is in his second year with the Hurricanes. He brings 7 years of experience coaching girls’ basketball in Falls Church. Curt has coached girls teams ranging from grades 2 through 8.
KENDRA ERVIN
Head Coach - 4th Grade
Kendra 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 over 6-seasons of coaching both girls and boys in recreational soccer and basketball.
SARAH NORTHWAY MARIA
Head Coach - 4th 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 eight years of experience coaching AAU, travel and rec basketball as well as individual skills training.