Cara Cocchiarella

Education Chair

Dr. Cara Cocchiarella (Ed.D., Educational Leadership) is a coach developer with Win Win Consulting and a Professor in Health and Physical Education at Clark College in Vancouver, Washington. She is dedicated to empowering sports leaders in pursuit of excellence and to ensuring access and quality programming for all athletes.

Her continued engagement and growth in the field of coach development is driven by her passion for inclusive, holistic, athlete-centered coaching, rooted in quality coach education and support.

Melissa Otterbein

Member at Large

Melissa Otterbein, MPH, CHES, is the Senior Manager of Fitness & Healthy Lifestyles at Special Olympics International. She is the Managing Editor for the Journal of Emerging Sport Studies, a certified USA Triathlon Level II, and US Masters Swimming certified coach. She was previously the Coaching Education Manager at USA Triathlon, where she developed an elite triathlete and paratriathlete leadership development program.

Her research has primarily focused on sport based youth development and athlete mental health, with emphasis now on health promotion for people with intellectual disabilities through fitness. As a coach for athletes across the lifespan for over 15 years and former Division I athlete, Melissa values sport as a catalyst for psychosocial development.

Cam Kiosoglous

President

Cam Kiosoglous is an Assistant Professor at Drexel University and a long time National Team and Olympic coach.

He currently serves as the Coordinator of Sport Science at USRowing and has worked with a variety of organizations in coaching development. His research interest includes long-term coach learning, reflective practices and professionalization of coaching.

Kristen Dieffenbach

Executive Director

Kristen is an associate professor of Athletic Coaching Education at West Virginia University and an Association of Applied Sport Psychology Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC).

She has been working as a coach and coach educator for over 20 years and her research interests include professionalism and ethics in coaching, coach development and support, and athlete talent development.

Christina Villalon, PhD

Accreditation Chair

Assistant Professor – Director of Sport IMPACT Lab

Research Areas: Coach Development Systems, Coach Education and Development, Psychosocial Aspects of Sport

As a third-generation coach, Villalon has created resources for coach developers, facilitated multiple coach development workshops, and worked on projects for a variety of community sport organizations and national governing bodies. Her current research interests largely focus on improving coach development systems. She has also published research in the areas of sport psychology and sports media.

Dr. Villalon completed her PhD in Coaching and Teaching Studies at West Virginia University, MS in Kinesiology (Psychosocial Aspects of Sport and Exercise) at the University of North Texas, and BS in Communication with a minor in Business at Cornell University.

Heidi DeLio Thibert

At-Large Board Member

Heidi is the U.S. Figure Skating Director of Coaching Development and Education. Heidi is a former competitive figure skater, a U.S. Figure Skating triple Gold Test Medalist, and a Master Accredited Coach of figure skaters from the learn-to-skate level to the national and international levels.

Heidi served on the U.S. Figure Skating Board of Directors and on the Professional Skaters Association (PSA) Board of Governors in the past. Always following her curiosity to discover better ways of coaching, she was awarded the USOPC “Doc” Counsilman Sport Science Coach of the Year Award in 2009.

Heidi has been attending coaching education/ development conferences and summits since 2010 and completed the USCCE Coach Developer Academy in 2018. Drawing on the collective expertise from many of those events, Heidi and her staff have recently collaborated to create the U.S. Figure Skating Core Certification.

This certification will serve as the foundation for a coaching development pathway and tiered coach accreditation system: “Coach I.C.E. (Inspiring Coaching Excellence)”.

Troy Engle

Secretary

Troy Engle is the current Athletic Director at St Johnsbury (VT) Academy – an independent secondary school. From 2014-2023, Engle worked for the Singapore government in sport focusing primarily on coaching development.

He was among the first cohort of the ICCE Coach Development Academy and recently served on the working group that rewrote the ICCE Coach Development Framework.

Prior to his tenure in Singapore, Engle spent roughly 30 years as a college track and field coach, most recently as Head Coach of Men’s and Women’s cross country and track and field at the United States Military Academy.

Dr. Zeljka Vidic

At-Large Board Member

Zeljka is an Associate Professor and the Program Coordinator for the M.A. Sports Coaching and the Undergraduate Sports Coaching minor at Western Michigan University. Her Ph.D. in Education with an emphasis in Sport/Exercise Psychology.

Her current research is in the area of sport and performance psychology examining the impact of mindfulness and psychological skills training interventions with college athletes and students.

Dr. Vidic is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant through the Association of Applied Sport Psychology (AASP), certified HeartMath Trainer, certified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator trainer, and has completed training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Originally from Croatia, Dr. Vidic is a former Division I collegiate tennis player and has coaching experience at the Division I, Junior College and High-school levels. She still enjoys playing tennis and exercising.

Sean Dahlin

Secretary

Dr. Sean Dahlin is currently an assistant professor/program coordinator of sport management at Central Washington University. Before CWU, he was an assistant professor for two years at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

Sean earned his Ph.D. in Sport Management from Ohio State University and has more than 10 years of experience in athletic administration and coaching at the intercollegiate and high school levels. He centers his research on coaching effectiveness, organizational culture, and leadership styles, particularly within intercollegiate athletics.