Coaching Staff
Steve Schwartz – Head Coach, PSIA
At the age of seven, Steve followed his older brothers into the sport of ski racing. His formative years were spent on the Wilmot Ski Team in Wilmot, WI.
Having collected over a decade of on snow experience and local success in the USSA Central, Region II; Steve continued his ski racing career at New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire. The team trained at Pat’s Peak in New Hampshire and competed in Division III of Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (NCCA).
After graduating college, Steve began coaching with the Wilmot Ski team in 2003 and cemented his commitment to snow sports education in 2006 when he became a certified PSIA. He maintains his PSIA status through continuing education programs and regular on snow seminars.
Steve lives in the northern suburbs of Chicago with his wife Brett and their son Alec.
Jon Schwartz – Program Director, Coach, PSIA Level 3
Coach Jon has been teaching children to ski and race for over 40 years. An alumni of the Wilmot Ski Team, he has raced and trained at the junior, high school, and College level. Jon began teaching ski lessons at age 13 as a Jr Instructor and has not missed a season teaching and coaching since. He is a 30 year member of the Professional Ski Instructors of America and a gold pin, Certified Level 3 Instructor – the highest level – and an accredited PSIA Trainer and Children’s Specialist. Jon has written ski curriculum for Evergreen Ski Club, as the Ski School Director, and is the co author of the current (and past two) ski lesson curriculum manuals and staff trainer for The Snowflake Club.
Jon has been the Head WIJARA Race Coach (Wisconsin Illinois Iowa Jr Alpine Racing Association) for the past decade and is currently serving a second term as president.
Johnathan Beldin – Coach, USSA Level 100
On snow shortly before his first birthday, Johnathan found his way to the sport of ski racing with Wilmot Ski Team when he was eight. It did not take long for him to fall in love with the sport and was an
active member of the team through high school.
After 10 years of racing very successful racing in WIJARA, USSA Central Region II, and FIS Mid-Am series events, Johnathan attended the University of Notre Dame and retired from racing after the USCSA Central Championship his freshman year.
Though he could often be found coaching younger as a high schooler and intermittently on college
breaks, Johnathan officially joined the coaching staff at Wilmot in 2018 after graduating from college. He
immediately pursued a Level 100 coaching certification through USSA and is now entering his fifth
season as a coach.
Johnathan currently lives in Rockford, IL where he is currently completing his final year of medical school
and enjoys riding his bike on the country roads in the offseason.
Ashley Childress – Coach
Ashley learned how to ski at Wilmot when she was two years old. She eventually joined the race team at age seven and raced until she graduated high school at 17. While racing for Wilmot she participated in USSA and FIS and qualified for four Junior Championships. She began coaching for the team in the 2021-22 season.
Ashley recently earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and is currently pursuing her master’s degree at DePaul.
Bill Childress – Coach, PSIA level 2, USSA level 200
Bill started his ski racing career with CMSC in 1981 and raced with CMSC. Eventually, the racing interest of his daughter Ashley took over and Bill became a Wilmot ski racing parent along with his wife, Sally. They enjoyed many weekends racing in WIJARA, USSA and FIS.
While his daughter was training with the Wilmot Ski Team, Bill decided to start working at the ski school. In 2016, Bill was asked to join the team as a coach.
He completed his PSIA level 2 instructor certification in 2009 and coaches level 200 certification in 2019. He is also officially licensed as a USSA referee and USSA chief of race.
Nolan Gallery – Coach
Nolan grew up racing for Sundown Mountain as part of the WIJARA racing league and taking home the Shelly Glover Award in 2011. At the age of 15, Nolan started teaching kids the basics of skiing while competing in WIJARA and Nastar races.
In college, he stepped away from ski racing to focus on studies and taught alongside his old coaches for Sundown on breaks. After college Nolan worked for Vail Resorts in Vail as a Race Event Coordinator focused on providing the public an experience of a lifetime trying out ski racing and hosting the 2015-2016 Lindsay Vonn Open along with assisting on race days with course maintenance.
Most recently he has worked for Vail resorts in Minnesota at Afton Alps as both a ski instructor and race coach before his current position as coach at Wilmot.
Kevin Kullby – Coach
Kevin began ski-racing at Wilmot when he was five years old. He continued skiing until he graduated college in 1984 after a four-year living and racing experience in Steamboat Springs Colorado in the early 70s. During his time in high school and college he raced USSA Mid-Ams, qualifying out of the Central Division for the Junior Olympics and twice for the Nor-Ams. He continued ski racing into his mid 30s in Masters events and raced in the US Masters Nationals in Big Sky Montana in 1995.
He helped coach at Wilmot during college winter breaks and coached racers at a club in Madison, Wisconsin. After college, he coached alongside Wilmot coaches Grant Brown and Bob Larsen through 1995, traveling with younger racers to USSA events. He returned to the program in 2015 and helped out a few seasons, took a few off and now he’s glad to be back.
Sergey Osipov – Coach, PSIA Level 3
Sergey started ski racing in high school on a small hill near Moscow, Russia. He and other racers would cut walnut sticks in a nearby forest and use them as slalom gates. Later, he was part of his university ski racing team and competed on regional level. In the U.S., he continued ski racing at Wilmot with CMSC beginning in 1998 and continues racing with CMSC today.
Sergey began coaching with Wilmot in 2008. He achieved his PSIA level 1 in 2008, level 2 in 2009 and level 3 in 2010.
Andrew Schwartz – Coach, PSIA 2, CS1, USSA Level 100
Andrew is an experienced ski race coach whose lifelong passion has been teaching his students the fundamentals of alpine skiing. He has been a part of the ski racing world at a very young age and has worked on ski coaching with every age from youth to adult, guiding them through their skiing journey. Andrew was a nationally ranked junior USSA racer, FIS racer and PSIA 1, 2 and Children’s Accredited Certified instructor since 2001. He is a senior instructor and Jr. Instructor Trainer at the Snowflake Ski Club for over 20 years and was the former Technical Director and Assistant Ski School Director for Evergreen Ski Club.
Andrew’s passion for coaching children is evident in his pursuit in the Children’s Specialist Certification with PSIA. He was a pole vault specialist at the University of Missouri and nationally ranked in the NCAA Division I-Big 8 conference while in college. He was inducted into the prestigious Mizzou Letterwinners Club.
Andrew joined the Wilmot Ski Team coaching staff in 2020 and is committed to passing on his knowledge and inspiring the next generation of competitive racers.
Vaclav Vavrinek – Coach
Vaclav started skiing at the age of five years old. From when he was nine through age 18, he was on the national Czechoslovakia Ski Team. He began coaching with Snowflake Ski Club based out of Highland Park in 2010 and eventually transitioned to the Wilmot Ski Team.
Always active, Vaclav coaches a triathlon youth team in the off season. He enjoys biking, hiking and spending time with his family.