BOYS SOCCER

Brad Pollard - Head Coach (2008 - Present)

Brad Pollard took over as the Valley Catholic boys soccer coach in the summer of 2008. Despite having to overcome many injuries, the Valiants had a productive season. The Valiants were co-champions at the Catlin Gabel Jamboree and made the league playoffs. Coach Pollard put the competitive nature back into the boys soccer program. Along with his assistant coaches, Coach Pollard also coaches Westside Metros Soccer Club. He holds an NSCAA National License and is always working to further his coaching education. He has coached for clubs in Colorado and Oklahoma and for Sherwood High School as head JV coach and for James Irwin Charter High School in Colorado Springs, where he took the varsity program to the state playoffs two out of three seasons as head coach.

Stan Rodriguez – Assistant Boys Soccer Coach (2008-Present) Coach Rodriguez has been with Coach Pollard since he took over the program in 2008.  Stan was the JV coach in 2008 leading them to an overall winning record.  As the JV coach he was instrumental in the development of some of this year’s varsity players.  Coach Rodriguez also coached at Sherwood high school and is active in club soccer during the high school off-season.  This fall Stan will focus his coaching duties on assisting the varsity program.  Stan brings an excellent understanding of skill development and offensive positioning to the coaching staff.

GIRLS SOCCER

Austra Bloms - Head Coach (2010 - Present)

Austra Bloms arrives back at Valley Catholic after attending the St. Mary of the Valley Middle School in 1989-91. As a little girl, Austra played on boys teams in St. Paul, Minnesota (there were no girls teams then). When she moved to Oregon in 1989, she joined her first girls soccer team. She was recruited to play for ODP, LO Premiere Soccer during her teens; in high school she was Co-MVP at Westside Christian HS on the Men's Team (again there was no girls team). Coach Bloms received a scholarship to play for NAIA Div. 1 Concordia University in Portland. She tore her ACL at the beginning of her sophomore year, red-shirted, and was recruited to play for NCAA D-I Florida Atlantic University. On a full ride at FAU she won a spot on the U.S. National Deaf Soccer Team in 1999, led her team to an historic 1st-place international win, and landed a permanent spot on the 2005 Women's Deaf Team Olympics Squad. She was selected as co-captain for seven years and led the team to an Olympic Gold Medal at the 2005 Deaf Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. Coach Bloms has been coaching soccer since 1994 and is thrilled to be back in Oregon as a part of the Valiants coaching staff and is confident she will add spice to the conditioning side of soccer.  Austra will take over the program this fall after serving as varsity assistant and JV coach at Valley Catholic in 2008 and 2009.  Austra is committed to continuing to build Valley Catholic into one of the state’s premier soccer programs. The Valiants have competed in the state tournament in each of the last five seasons

Adama Doumbia- Assistan Coach (2010-Present) Coach Doumbia joins the soccer staff this upcoming fall, coaching with  Austra Bloms.  Adama has an extensive background coaching youth soccer, and was most recently an assistant coach at Corvallis High School.  His focus will be on fundamentals and skill development. 

VOLLEYBALL

Justin Denham did not wait long to make his mark on the volleyball program.  In his first season as head coach he captured the school’s first league championship in four seasons.  Under Coach Denham the Valiants made their third consecutive appearance at the OSAA state championships.  The Valiants brought home a 3rd place trophy.  He began his volleyball playing career in 1996 for Camarillo High School in Southern California (he was also Camarillo’s tight end in football). In his second season, he was named to the all CIF Southern Section team as a middle blocker. He played volleyball for Harvard University from 1999 to 2002, where he earned a degree in archeology, earning four varsity letters, three as a middle blocker and one as an outside hitter. He was ranked nationally in 2000 for hitting percentage, in 2001 for kills/game, and in 2002 for aces/game, blocks/game, and hitting percentage. Coach Denham began his coaching career as a summer volunteer assistant at Mammoth Lakes High School in California before the ’99 high school season, working primarily with middle blockers and outside hitters. He gained extensive summer-camp coaching experience beginning in 2000 as an assistant court coach for skills camps at Brandeis University and Wellesley College. He returned to those positions the next summer, working camps also at Bentley College and, in 2002, became head coach of the Brandeis and Wellesley camps. In 2006 he became an assistant coach for the University of Oregon Women’s volleyball program under head coach Jim Moore, who in 2006 was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year and in 2007 College Volleyball Update National Coach of the Year. Coach Denham’s duties included coaching offensive skills and philosophy as well as analyzing opponents’ match films and preparing scouting reports. After graduation from the University of Oregon’s Law School, he assumed a head-coaching position with the Oregon Juniors Volleyball Academy in Portland, leading his U16 team to a first-place finish in their division at the 2008 regional tournament. He continues to coach for OJVA in 2009.

) Melissa Efstathiou began her playing career in Hawaii and came to La Verne University to play college volleyball where her team won a Division III National Championship.  Melissa has been involved with the Valley Catholic volleyball program since 1997 as an assistant under Becky Kemper, Nolan Hee and Justin Denham. Melissa helped the 2009 Valiants to a league championship and 3rd place finish at the OSAA state championships. 

Wendy Rigoni - JV Coach (2009-Present)Wendy Rigoni played at the University of Montana as a setter and stayed with the program as an assistant coach.  Since returning to Portland, Wendy has coached club volleyball with Oregon Juniors Volleyball Academy for five years. In 2010 Wendy will continue to coach the JV program and assist the varsity program. 

Megan VanDomelen- JV2 Coach (2009-Present) Megan VanDomelen graduated in 2003 from Valley Catholic. She played varsity volleyball for 2 years and received honorable mention all-state her senior year. She went on the play collegiate volleyball at Pacific University for 4 years where she earned honorable mention her junior year. Megan graduated from Pacific with a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis in accounting/finance. She is currently working in the Accounting department for Intel. Last year Megan coached one of Valley Catholic’s CYO teams

CROSS COUNTRY

Tommy Manning - Head Coach Boys (2007 - Present)

Tommy Manning comes to Valley with an impressive running resume in both track and cross-country. He took over the boys cross-country program in 2008 after a stellar high-school and collegiate career and now also is head track coach. Coach Manning is a graduate of Jesuit High School, where he earned eight varsity letters in track and cross-country and in 2000 helped lead the Crusaders’ cross-country team to the 4A State Championship. He was also track State Champion in the 1,500 meters in 2001. He went on to compete in both track and cross-country at Georgetown University (Division I; Big East Conference). As a Hoya he earned All-American honors in the 800 meters and the Distance Medley Relays. In addition to coaching, Mr. Manning teaches History and Government at Valley Catholic and serves as the Chairman of the Social Studies Department. In the fall of 2007 he helped Brooks Feldman win the District Cross Country Championship and in 2008 two Valley freshmen were among only four individual runners from Valley’s district to qualify for the State cross-country meet.In 2009 Coach Manning was named the districts coach of the year, and his girls track team capture their third consecutive district championship.   Coach Manning is looking forward to the opportunity to make Valley’s distance and middle-distance programs among the state’s best. .  

Eric Berge - Head Coach Girls (2007 - Present)

Eric Berge ran four years of varsity cross-country and track for Gonzaga University, representing the Bulldogs in the West Coast Conference cross-country championship all four years. In 2003 and 2004 Gonzaga finished 2nd in the WCC and competed in the NCAA Division 1 West Regional Championship. Coach Berge was a member of the 2004 WCC All-Academic team. He was a teammate of Valley colleague Tommy Manning at Jesuit High School in Portland, when the Crusaders won the cross-country State Championship in 2000. Upon graduation from Gonzaga in 2005, he worked for a year with the Passionist Volunteers International in Kingston, Jamaica. He began teaching religion at Valley Catholic in fall 2006 and is now finishing up a master’s degree at Portland State University. Coach Berge serves as head coach of the Valiants’ girls cross-country team and as an assistant in the track program. Coach Berge has brought home consecutive fourth place OSAA state trophies (2008 and 2009). 

Joe Manning joined the Valley Catholic English department in 2008. He currently teaches English 7 and 8 and is an assistant coach for the boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams. Joe went to Ridgefield High School in southwestern Washington, running cross country and track, then to Gonzaga University, where he majored in journalism, served as editor-in-chief of the Gonzaga Bulletin, the university’s newspaper, and won All-West Coast Conference honors in cross country. Joe then earned a Master’s Degree in Education at Notre Dame as a member of the ACE (Alliance for Catholic Education) program and, just before coming to Valley, taught English at St. Malachy’s School in Los Angeles. Coach Manning has also spent a great deal of time starting our Middle School Cross Country program, which will be in its’ second year in 2010.

FOOTBALL

John Perrigo - Head Coach (2007 - Present)

Over the past five years John Perrigo has worn many hats around the Valley Catholic campus. He has been strength and conditioning coach, outdoor club advisor, head JV boys basketball coach, 7th-grade CYO basketball coach, head football coach and head baseball coach. While coaching the baseball team in 2007 he led the Valiants to their greatest season when they won league and league tournament titles and advanced to the quarter finals of the State Tournament, finishing the season 27-1. He was named 2007 West Valley League Baseball Coach of the Year. John was a star high-school football player in Montana and then played four years for Northern Arizona, where he was Defensive Captain and a two-time All Big Sky Conference selection. John played professional football in Finland (where he served as player/coach), was Defensive Coordinator for the Parma Panthers of the Italian Professional League, and was defensive line coach for Laurel (Montana) High School football camp for five summers. In 2007 he was named as the school’s first head football coach. 

Ben Grimm - Assistant Coach (2008 - Present)

Ben Grimm is in his fourth year as a coach with the Valley Catholic athletic programs, his third with the football team. In 2008 he served as head 8th grade basketball coach for the Middle School, winning the City Championship, and as the High School JV2 basketball coach. Coach Grimm will continue his duties as the offensive and defensive line coach. He and his wife live in Beaverton with their two daughters.

Pat Walsh - Assistant Coach (2008- Present)Pat Walsh joined the staff in 2008 as an assistant coach.   Coach Walsh works closely with Coach Grimm as the offensive and defensive line coach.  He has several years of youth football and basketball coaching experience.  Pat has also spent time coaching in the boys’ basketball program at the middle and high school levels.   This fall Pat’s youngest son, Liam, will join the Valley Catholic football team. 

Greg Barton- Assistant Football (2010-present) -) One of the area’s most respected and well known football minds joins the Valley Catholic coaching staff this year.  Greg Barton will take over the play calling as the offensive coordinator for the Valiants.  Coach Barton’s background in football is extensive, including having played a combined six seasons as a professional in the NFL and the Canadian Football League.  After several coaching stints (including Franklin, Beaverton, and Jesuit) Coach Barton has focused on the development of younger football talent.  Coach Barton was the Junior Sports Manager at the Multnomah Athletic Club for 18 years, and is the founder of the Barton Football Academy.  His son, Taylor, is one of the most decorated quarterbacks in Oregon History, and has taken over as the owner of the Barton Football Academy.  In 2008 Coach Barton was inducted into the Long Beach City College Football Hall-of-Fame.

Arbie Steele- Assistant Football coach  (2010-Present)- ) Coach Steele is a graduate of Beaverton High School where he played football on their second place state team in 1997. He began his coaching career with the THPRD basketball program from 1999-2002. Coach Steele has coached Youth Football from 2006-2009, including an undefeated season in 2008. Coach Steele comes to VC fresh from coaching baseball for Aloha JBO the past few springs.